UAMS Ribbon Cutting
UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., left; Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D.; Robin McAtee, Ph.D.; and Claudia Beverly, Ph.D., R.N., use scissors to cut the ribbon on the new Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program facility at UAMS

Providing new opportunities for the elderly to stay in their homes as they age, the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging celebrated the opening April 15 of the Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program in Little Rock.

Developed at the UAMS Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education in Springdale, the caregiver training program offers four levels of certification for paid caregivers and two workshops for those who provide care to their family members.

“This is one of the ways UAMS has directed itself to the social and health needs of the population,” UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., said. “This is to provide the skills and community settings for individuals and families to be able to stay together when under other circumstances they may not be able to.”

A $3,015,565 grant in 2009 from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to the Arkansas Aging Initiative of UAMS enabled the initial replication of the Schmieding program. In 2010-11, sites were established in Jonesboro, Pine Bluff, Texarkana, and West Memphis.

In 2012 the Reynolds Foundation gave UAMS a phase II grant of $7.7 million to continue the initial programs and to add sites in Fort Smith, Little Rock, Hot Springs and El Dorado.  The Fort Smith program opened in 2012. Hot Springs will be open in July and El Dorado will be open by October.

Those attending the ribbon cutting and grand-opening event in Little Rock included  Rahn; Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., executive director of the Institute on Aging and chair of the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine; Claudia Beverly, Ph.D., R.N., associate director of the Institute on Aging and director of the Arkansas Aging Initiative, which oversees nine Centers on Aging across Arkansas; and Robin E. McAtee, Ph.D., R.N., the principal investigator for the Reynolds Foundation grant.

The Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program was inspired by Lawrence H. Schmieding, who had struggled to find competent, compassionate home care for a brother with dementia. In 1998, the Schmieding Foundation donated $15 million to UAMS to establish and construct the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education in Springdale. Working in partnership with the Arkansas Aging Initiative, a program of the UAMS Institute on Aging, the center developed a unique, high-quality caregiver training program specifically for older adults living in their homes.

The Little Rock program is located in the UAMS Institute on Aging at 629 S. Jack Stephens Drive. The center contains a classroom and a learning laboratory that simulates a home environment. To learn more about the Schmieding program in Little Rock, visit www.arcaregiving.org or call (501) 526-6500 or (toll free) (877) 762-0015.

The expansion of the Schmieding program is occurring at a critical time for Arkansas, which ranks 10th nationally in the percentage of people older than 60.

“We at UAMS are excited to be part of a program that is so important to Arkansas,” Wei said. “Elder care touches everyone, and it will become more critical as our baby boomers grow older and as an increasing number of aging adults opt for living at home rather than a long-term care facility.”

“Given the growing caregiving needs of our older adult population, this is an opportune time to replicate a proven caregiving educational program to help address these needs,” McAtee said.

The expansion of the Schmieding program is being built on a solid foundation established by the UAMS Institute on Aging and the Arkansas Aging Initiative, Beverly said.

“We now have the infrastructure to help ensure a successful expansion,” Beverly said. “The Arkansas Aging Initiative provides unparalleled access to rural older adults and local health care and community networks.”

The UAMS Schmieding Center in Springdale has trained hundreds of home care workers and has been recognized outside of Arkansas. The Schmieding training method, which may be unique in the United States, has garnered visits to Springdale from representatives of the International Longevity Center and leaders in the fields of aging.

“I want to thank the physicians here at UAMS,” McAtee said. “We’ve had a lot of interest from them about sending their patient families here. They know families need this. We have the training they need to stay in their homes.”

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it was named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, it has committed more than $230 million to improving the lives of elderly people throughout the United States.

Original Source: http://www.uamshealth.com/news/?id=5351&sid=1&nid=9801&cid=6

Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting
Left to right: Mardell McClurkin, April Mayo, Terri Hocott, Robin McAtee, Jeannie Wei, Robert Huston, Ron Orick,
Back row: Mary Ellen Jesson, LuAnn Renfro, Crystal Cullen, Lana Howard, Fred Taylor, Rosemary Alcon, Claudia Beverly, Gretchen Orosz, Larry Wright, Gilda Underwood

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation today celebrated the opening of the Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program in Fort Smith, providing new opportunities for the elderly to stay in their homes as they age.

Developed in northwest Arkansas in partnership with UAMS, the Schmieding caregiver training offers four levels of certification for paid caregivers and two workshops for those who provide care to their family members.

A $3,015,565 grant in 2009 from the Reynolds Foundation to the Arkansas Aging Initiative of UAMS enabled the initial replication of the Schmieding program. Between 2009 and 2012, sites were established in Jonesboro, Pine Bluff, Texarkana and West Memphis. In 2012 the Reynolds foundation gave UAMS a phase II grant of $7.7 million to continue the initial programs and to add sites in Ft. Smith, Little Rock, Hot Springs and El Dorado. All eight programs will be up and running by October 2013.

Those attending today’s ribbon cutting and grand-opening event in Fort Smith included Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., executive director of the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and chair of the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine; Claudia Beverly, Ph.D., R.N., associate director of the Reynolds Institute on Aging and director of the Arkansas Aging Initiative, which oversees nine Centers on Aging across Arkansas; Robin E. McAtee, Ph.D., R.N., the principal investigator for the Reynolds grant; Gretchen Orosz, MD Director of the West Central Center on Aging, Jeremy Drinkwitz, COO with Spark’s Regional and Don Heard, EdD, MBA, Director of the Area Health Education Center, West.

The Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program was inspired by Lawrence H. Schmieding, who had struggled to find competent, compassionate home care for a brother with dementia. In 1998, the Schmieding Foundation donated $15 million to UAMS to establish and construct the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education in Springdale. Working in partnership with the Arkansas Aging Initiative, a program of the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, the center developed a unique, high-quality caregiver training program specifically for older adults living in their homes.

The Fort Smith program is located in the West Central Center on Aging, at 512 S. 16th St. The center contains a classroom and a learning laboratory that simulates a home environment. To learn more about the Schmieding program, visit www.arcaregiving.org or call 1-479-478-8819 or toll free 1-877-762-0015.

The expansion of the Schmieding program is occurring at a critical time for Arkansas, which ranks seventh nationally in the percentage of people older than 60 (18.7 percent).

“We at UAMS are excited to be part of a program that is so important to Arkansas,” Wei said. “Elder care touches everyone, and it will become more critical as our baby boomers grow older and as an increasing number of aging adults opt for living at home rather than a long-term care facility.”

“Given the growing caregiving needs of our older adult population, this is an opportune time to replicate a proven caregiving educational program to help address these needs,” McAtee said.

The expansion of the Schmieding program is being built on a solid foundation established by the Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Arkansas Aging Initiative, Beverly said.

“We now have the infrastructure to help ensure a successful expansion,” Beverly said. “The Arkansas Aging Initiative provides unparalleled access to rural older adults and local health care and community networks.”

Since its inception, the UAMS Schmieding Center in Springdale has trained hundreds of home care workers and has been recognized outside of Arkansas. The Schmieding training method, which may be unique in the United States, has garnered visits to Springdale from representatives of the International Longevity Center and prominent leaders in the fields of aging.

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it was named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, it is one of the largest private foundations in the United States.