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Physical Disabilities & Aging

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Photo by Alena Shekhovtcova from Pexels

The FDA has approved and authorized for emergency use updated COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) that include a monovalent (single) component that corresponds to the omicron variant KP.2 strain of SARS-CoV-2. These vaccines were updated to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by circulating variants. Two vaccines are available for use in the United States: 2024–2025 Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and 2024–2025 Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. There is no preference for one vaccine over the other when more than one vaccine is recommended for an age group

Who should get the vaccine?

Everyone ages 6 months and older should get the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine. This includes people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine before and people who have had COVID-19. The COVID-19 vaccine helps protect you from severe disease, hospitalization, and death.

It is especially important to get your 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine if you are:

  • Ages 65 and older,
  • At high risk for severe COVID-19
  • Have never received a COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Are living in a long-term care facility
  • Are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant, or might become pregnant in the future.
  • Want to lower your risk of getting Long COVID

People who recently had COVID-19:

  • People who recently had COVID-19 may delay getting a COVID-19 vaccine for 3 months.
  • The risk of getting COVID-19 is less likely in the weeks to months following a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Certain factors could be reasons to get a vaccine sooner rather than later, such as:

  • Personal risk of severe COVID-19
  • Risk of COVID-19 in a family or household member or other close contact
  • local levels of COVID-19 illness

Keep in mind‎:

  • Vaccine protection decreases over time, so it is important to stay up to date with your COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer, more reliable way to build protection than getting sick with COVID-19.

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Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

RCPA will be hosting our fall golf outing to support the RCPA PAC on Monday, September 23, 2024, in conjunction with the Annual Conference. Conference attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, and presenters can now register to participate in the RCPA PAC’s golf outing at the Colonial Golf & Tennis Club at 4901 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112. Registration and lunch will be held from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, with the shotgun start beginning at 12:00 pm.

Sponsorships are available for this worthwhile cause. We hope you will consider becoming a golf outing sponsor; it is a great way for your organization to receive name recognition as well as an opportunity to support the RCPA fundraiser!

Not a golfer but would still like to support the RCPA PAC? For your convenience, you can now make a personal online contribution, which will provide financial support to state legislators or representatives who have demonstrated a strong, consistent, and positive interest in our legislative priorities. If you are interested in learning more about the RCPA PAC or donating, please visit our website, download the PAC FAQ Card and Donation Card, or email Jack Phillips, Director of Government Affairs.

See you on the golf course! If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact Christine Tartaglione.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released an informational bulletin, as well as a slide presentation, that are related to continuity of coverage for individuals receiving home and community-based services (HCBS). The purpose of the bulletin is to highlight the federal renewal requirements and available flexibilities to promote continuity of coverage.

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

The office of Medical Assistance has issued an update on EVV compliance to advise providers of changes to the manual edit thresholds for Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) records in both personal care services (PCS) and home health care services (HHCS), effective with dates of service on and after January 1, 2025.

This bulletin applies to providers enrolled in the MA Program who render PCS and HHCS to beneficiaries or participants in the MA fee-for-service (FFS) delivery system, including through home and community-based services waivers and the managed care delivery system via Physical HealthChoices or Community HealthChoices. Beneficiaries may receive services in the following programs:

  • Office of Developmental Programs (ODP): Adult Autism Waiver, Community Living Waiver, Consolidated Waiver, Person/Family Directed Support Waiver, and Base Funded Program;
  • Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL): OBRA Waiver, Act 150, and Community HealthChoices; or,
  • Office of Medical Assistance Programs (OMAP): MA FFS and Physical HealthChoices.

Read the full bulletin here. This bulletin will be a key topic at the RCPA PD&A meeting on September 11, for which you can register here.

If you have any questions, please contact Fady Sahhar or Melissa Dehoff.

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The PA Department of Labor & Industry’s Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) has developed a draft of the Financial Needs Test (FNT) policy. The draft will be posted on OVR’s website for public review beginning August 30, 2024. Virtual meetings will be held via Zoom at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, to provide an overview of the policy and take questions and comments. Please note that the content will be the same in both meetings. The public is invited to comment on the draft policy for 30 days. Comments may be directed to OVR’s Public Comment Resource Account through September 20, 2024.

Meeting Information

CART and sign language interpreters will be available for these meetings via the Zoom link. Additional auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Please send your request to OVR’s Public Comment Resource Account.

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Caregiver supporting sick elderly man in the wheelchair during stay in the hospice

An Elder Boom is Coming, Are We Ready to Care for the Aged?
Geoff Gross, Philadelphia, founder and CEO of Medical Guardian

Aging adults are at the center of many strategic conversations lately and I hope that continues. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, the population of Pennsylvanians aged 60 and over is projected to surpass 3.8 million by 2030 — the fifth highest in the country — accounting for one in three Pennsylvanians. Soon, older Pennsylvanians are expected to outnumber every other age group which is unprecedented in U.S. history, according to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB).

This dramatic demographic shift impacts strategic planning and product development in all industries from housing, to health care, and beyond. How older adults are living is also shifting. Instead of slowing down, aging adults are demonstrating that aging can be an exciting period of growth, reinvention and maintained independence. This shift in lifestyle also requires a deep rethinking of how to support older adults.

Fortunately for Pennsylvanians, Governor Shapiro’s strategic plan for older adults, Aging Our Way, proposes strategies to bring together services and investments from 29 different commonwealth agencies in new ways that address the shifting needs of this growing population. But we can’t stop with a plan; it needs funding, voices and ambassadors to ensure it goes into action so that Pennsylvania’s largest population is taken care of.

I encourage you to reach out to your legislators and ask them to support funding, planning and programming for our older adults. It is time to invest in those who got us through some of the most challenging times in our country’s history. It is time that we care for, engage with and uplift Pennsylvania’s — and all — older Americans.

Read the full article here.

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Thursday, September 5, 2024
11:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT; 10:00 am – 11:00 am CDT;
9:00 am – 10:00 am MDT; 8:00 am – 9:00 am PDT
Register Here

Dr. Jonathan Pool
Speaker Bio:

Dr. Jonathan Pool is a music therapist and researcher at the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research located in Cambridge, England. He is a senior arts therapist at Chroma, providing clinical supervision to many therapists across the United Kingdom.

He trained as a music therapist and then as a researcher at Anglia Ruskin University. He was awarded his PhD in 2013 for his research in brief group music therapy for cognitive functional gains and emotional needs of adult brain injury survivors in community neurorehabilitation.

Jonathan’s work includes developing interdisciplinary interventions for people with acquired brain injury and their families. As a researcher, he is dedicated to developing evidence on the use of music and music therapy in assessment and intervention for people affected by neurological impairments and diseases, with a special interest in disorders of consciousness. He is passionate about improving lives and reducing suffering through the use of music.

Objectives: At the end of this session, the learner will:

  • Understand why a music-based assessment is ideal for the assessment of children and young people with Disorders of Consciousness (DoC);
  • Gain knowledge of the development of the MuSICCA – a music-based assessment tool;
  • Learn how the MuSICCA is used to assess consciousness in pediatric DoC;
  • Learn about how the MuSICCA is being tested for validity, reliability, and clinical utility; and
  • Understand how it can support goal setting and planning of care and treatment.

Audience: This webinar is intended for all interested members of the rehabilitation team.

Level: Intermediate

Certificate of Attendance: Certificates of attendance are available for all attendees. No CEs are provided for this course.

Complimentary webinars are a benefit of membership in IPRC/RCPA. Registration fee for non-members is $179. Not a member yet? Consider joining today.

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