by Mary Ellen Dellefield, PhD, RN

1. Be brave!  Although some participants know all about making scientific or clinical posters, please do not be intimidated by this. There is a first time for everyone! The guidelines for the CALTCM poster presentations are on the CALTCM website.

2. Be practical and be brief. Write no more than 250 words excluding the title, names, and affiliations.  Writing something that is short may be harder than you realize! The submission deadline has been extended to Friday February 10, 2017. This is coming up quickly. Once your poster is accepted, you will have until April 28, 2017 to conduct your work and make a poster.  Click here for details.

by Tim Gieseke MD, CMD

Several years ago, AMDA House of Delegates voted to allow a PA or NP to become a member of the Board of Trustees.  This is the board that implements policies approved by the House, but also works with our executive director, Chris Laxton, to advance the mission and vision of AMDA, the Society of Post-acute and Long Term Care Medicine.

Music & Memory℠ is designed to improve the lives of residents suffering from Alzheimer's, dementia, and other cognitive disorders. Music & Memory℠ provides training for providers in how to set up personalized music via iPods for residents, and then weave it into their daily plan of care.

Thanks to a 1.4 million dollar grant awarded to the California Association of Health Facilities (CAHF) in August 2015 from the California Department of Public Health, CAHF will be providing Music & Memory℠ training to 300 skilled nursing facility teams over the next 3 years, and distributing equipment for 4,500 skilled nursing residents in these participating facilities at no charge.

by Debra Bakerjian, PhD, APRN, FAAN, FAANP

It is hard to believe that it is already December, it seems like I just finished writing the last update – how time flies by!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!  As I think back on the months since I last wrote, it has been an eventful six months that has had a great impact on all of us!  I am sharing some of my own reflections about a few key issues and hope that will spur your thinking as well.