Technology for Long-Term Care : Related Websites

Web Site Links

ABLEDATA

Advance for Nurses

AgeSource Worldwide

s disease to wills and estate planning. The site includes materials from 25 countries.

AGS Foundation for Health in Aging (FHA)
FHA is a national non-profit organization established in 1999 by The American Geriatrics Society. It advocates on behalf of older adults and their special health care needs.

Alzheimer's Association
The Alzheimer's Association is the leading, global voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care and support, and the largest private, nonprofit funder of Alzheimer research.

Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center
The ADEAR website will help you find current, comprehensive Alzheimer's disease (AD) information and resources from the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

American Academy of Audiology
The American Academy of Audiology provides quality hearing care services through professional development, education, research, and increased public awareness of hearing and balance disorders.

American Academy of Dermatology (AAD)
The Academy advances the diagnosis and the medical, surgical, and cosmetic treatment of the skin, hair, and nails; advocates high standards in clinical practice, education, and research in dermatology; and supports and enhances patient dermatological care.

American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (AAPM&R)
The AAPM&R advances the specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation, promotes excellence in physiatric practice, and advocates on public policy issues related to persons with disabling conditions.

American Art Therapy Association
The Association promotes standards of professional competence for therapists who use the creative process to help people of all ages improve their emotional well-being.

American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA)
AAHSA is an association of member organizations which offer the continuum of aging services: adult day services, home health, community services, senior housing, assisted living residences, continuing care retirement communities and nursing homes. AAHSAs commitment is to create the future of aging services through quality people can trust.

American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics, and Pedorthics
The mission of the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics, Inc. (ABC) is to establish and promote the highest standards of organizational and clinical performance in the delivery of orthotic, prosthetic and pedorthic services.

American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA)
ADTA promotes the use of dance and movement as powerful tools for mental and emotional health. ADTA maintains high standards for education, training, and professional practice for dance/movement therapists.

American Dietetic Association (ADA)
The American Dietetic Association is the worlds largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. ADA is committed to improving the nations health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy.

American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR)
AFAR supports and advances healthy aging through biomedical research.

American Health Care Association (AHCA)
As the nation’s largest association of long term and post-acute care providers, AHCA advocates for quality care and services for frail, elderly and disabled Americans.

American Hearing Research Foundation
The American Hearing Research Foundation funds significant research in hearing and balance disorders, and helps educate the public about these topics.

American Heart Association (AHA)
The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency to help reduce disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
AIHA supports the scientists and engineers who are committed to protecting the health and safety of people in the workplace and the community.

American Nephrology Nurses' Association (ANNA)
ANNA promotes excellence by advancing nephrology nursing practice and positively influence outcomes for individuals with kidney disease.

American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
The AOTA advances the quality, availability, use, and support of occupational therapy through standard-setting, advocacy, education, and research on behalf of its members and the public.

American Pain Foundation (APF)
The APF improves the quality of life of people with pain by raising public awareness, providing practical information, promoting research, and advocating to remove barriers and increase access to effective pain management.

American Physical Therapy Association
This Association represents and promotes the profession of physical therapy. It meets the needs and interests of its members in order to address the physical therapy needs of members of society and to develop and advance the art and science of physical therapy, including practice, education and research.

American Psychological Association (APA)
The mission of the APA is to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people’s lives.

American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.)
A.S.P.E.N. is dedicated to improving patient care by advancing the science and practice of nutrition support therapy.

American Society on Aging (ASA)
ASA provides resources, publications, and educational opportunities to enhance the knowledge and skills of people working with older adults and their families.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 140,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists, speech-language pathologists and speech, language, and hearing scientists.

American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA)
Recreational therapists are healthcare providers who use recreational therapy interventions for improved functioning of individuals with illness or disabling conditions. ATRA supports the recreational therapy profession.

American Urological Association (AUA)
AUA promotes the highest standards of urological clinical care through education, research and in the formulation of health care policy.

Amputee Coalition of America (ACA)
ACA advocates for the rights of people with limb loss. This includes access to, and delivery of, information, quality care, appropriate devices, reimbursement, and the services required to lead empowered lives.

Arthritis Foundation
The Arthritis Foundation is the only national not-for-profit organization that supports the more than 100 types of arthritis and related conditions. The foundation helps people take control of arthritis by providing public health education; pursuing public policy and legislation; and conducting evidence-based programs to help people live a better life with arthritis.

Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA)
ALFA is the largest national association exclusively dedicated to professionally operated assisted living communities for seniors. Assisted Living Federation of Americas member-driven programs promote business and operational excellence through an annual conference, research, publications, and executive networks. The Assisted Living Federation of America works to influence public policy by advocating for informed choice, quality care, and accessibility for all Americans.

Assistive Technology Loan Programs
This search in Google will help you find organizations which lend assistive technology products. Some are state-affiliated, while others are programs of non-profit organizations or schools of higher learning.

Bathing Without a Battle
This website is a companion to a CD and video for caregivers of people with dementia. The site describes person-centered methods for making the bathing experience more enjoyable for both caregivers and the people they are bathing. It also describes products that can be used to implement these methods.

Canadian Best Practice Recommendations for Stroke Care
Section 5.5, Rehabilitation: SCORE Recommendations for Lower Limb and Gait, provides advice for improving mobility, transfer skills, and spasticity.

Center for Aging Services Technologies
The CAST Clearinghouse offers information on technologies for aging services, including products currently available, pilot projects, and projects in the development stages.

Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA)
CATEA is a multidisciplinary engineering and design research center dedicated to enhancing the health, activity and participation of people with functional limitations through the application of assistive and universally designed technologies in real world environments, products and devices.

Center for Health Design
The Center for Health Design helps healthcare and design professionals to improve the quality of healthcare through the built environment using evidence-based design (EBD).

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
CMS's mission is to ensure effective, up-to-date health care coverage and to promote quality care for beneficiaries.

Communication Connection
Communication Connection is a geriatric consultation service.

Consumer Coalition on Assisted Living (CCAL)
The CCAL is a national education and advocacy organization focused upon the implementation of principles, research, policies and programs to foster person-centered living in the community and in assisted living.

Culture Change Now!
This movement shares practical information and advice on restructuring nursing homes and reorganizing the way things work, in order to convert long-term care facilities from wards and wings into personal care homes.

Dementia Design Info
This companion site to Technology for Long-Term Care, also produced by Polisher Research Institute and IDEAS, is a tool for people designing long-term care facilities. The site lists design features for various spaces and notes how these features address specific needs of residents.

Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA)
The FCA is a public voice for caregivers. Its programs on information, education, research, services, and advocacy support family caregivers nationwide.

Family Center on Technology and Disability
The Family Center on Technology and Disability provides a wide range of resources on assistive and instructional technologies, from introductory fact sheets through CEUs for practitioners and educators.

Full Circle of Care
Hands-on help for family caregivers.

Gerontological Society of America
The Gerontological Society of America supports the conduct, education, training, research and dissemination of knowledge regarding aging.

Glaucoma Research Foundation
The Glaucoma Research Foundation works to prevent vision loss from glaucoma by investing in innovative research, education, and support with the ultimate goal of finding a cure.

Green House Project
The Green House model is a de-institutionalization effort designed to restore individuals to a home in the community by combining small homes with the full range of personal care and clinical services expected in high-quality nursing homes.

Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing: Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training videos
The Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) videos, developed by the Hartford Institute of Geriatric Nursing, are now freely available on the ConsultGeriRN website (formerly GeroNurseOnline).

I.D.E.A.S., Inc.
I.D.E.A.S., Inc. is a research and consulting group that helps long term care providers—nursing homes, assisted living, retirement communities, home health agencies, the staff who work, and residents who live in these settings—create more resident-centered, resident-directed settings.

IDEAS Institute
The mission of IDEAS Institute is to provide solutions that improve the lives of older adults through the conduct of rigorous applied research. Our staff examine the therapeutic potential of the environment—physical, social and organizational—as it relates to frail and impaired older adults. Serving older persons, their caregivers, and the community, the IDEAS Institute seeks to be a premier resource of information and environment—behavioral research centered on improving care and quality of life for people with chronic forms of physical and cognitive decline, including, but not limited to, Alzheimer’s disease. Our areas of expertise lie in dementia care, long term care, environmental design and modifications for older adults and those with dementia, caregiver/staff education and research.

Institute for Safe Medical Practices (ISMP)
ISMP is the nation’s only 501c (3) nonprofit organization devoted entirely to medication error prevention and safe medication use.

Lippincott's Nursing Center.com
This site provides nursing continuing education credits through online journal readings and testing.

MedlinePlus®
MedlinePlus® is the National Institutes of Healths Web site for patients and their families and friends. Produced by the National Library of Medicine, it brings you information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand. MedlinePlus offers reliable, up-to-date health information, anytime, anywhere, for free.

National Aphasia Association (NAA)
The NAA is a nonprofit organization that promotes public education, research, rehabilitation and support services to assist people with aphasia and their families.

National Association for Continence (NAFC)
The NAFC is a national, private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people with incontinence, voiding dysfunction, and related pelvic floor disorders. Its purpose is to be the leading source for public education and advocacy about the causes, prevention, diagnosis, treatments, and management alternatives for incontinence.

National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL)
The NCAL is the assisted living voice of the American Health Care Association (AHCA). It is dedicated to serving the needs of the assisted living community through national advocacy, education, networking, professional development, and quality initiatives.

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)
This is a service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The NCCDPHP leads efforts that promote health and well-being through prevention and control of chronic diseases. It promotes the prevention of risk factors, establishes tailored interventions to help eliminate health disparities, accelerates the translation of scientific findings into community practice, promotes social, environmental, policy, and systems approaches that support healthy living, and develops a skilled, diverse, and dynamic public health workforce and network of partners to promote health and prevent chronic disease at the national, state, and local levels.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
This is a service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC’s Injury Center now functions as the focal point for the public health approach to preventing and treating injuries.

National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD)
The NCPAD is an information center concerned with physical activity and disability. Its website provides information and resources for EVERYONE, from guidelines to consider before starting any kind of exercise program to factsheets on many popular activities, games, recreational pursuits, and sports that have been adapted to allow people with disabilities to participate as fully as they wish, become as active as they wish.

National Council on Disability (NCD)
The NCD is an independent federal agency. It provides advice to the President, Congress, and executive branch agencies to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability, and empowers individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society.

National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE)
NCPIE is a coalition of over 125 diverse organizations whose mission is to stimulate and improve communication of information on appropriate medicine use to consumers and healthcare professionals.

National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC)
The NDIC is an information dissemination service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The NDIC increases knowledge and understanding about diabetes among patients, health care professionals, and the general public.

National Eye Institute (NEI)
The NEI is one of the Institutes that comprise the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It conducts and supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the special health problems and requirements of the blind.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
This is a service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It provides national and world leadership to prevent workplace illnesses and injuries.

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
The NIAMS is one of the Institutes that comprise the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its mission is to support research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases; the training of basic and clinical scientists to carry out this research; and the dissemination of information on research progress in these diseases.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
The NIDDK is one of the Institutes that comprise the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It conducts and supports basic and clinical research on many of the most serious diseases affecting public health.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
NINDS is one of the Institutes that comprise the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The mission of NINDS is to reduce the burden of neurological disease. It supports education, research, and the dissemination of research on the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of neurological disorders and stroke, and supports basic research in related scientific areas.

National Institute on Aging (NIA)
The National Aging Institutes Web site is an institute of the NIH, a U.S. Federal Government agency that provides accurate, up-to-date information about aspects of aging research, information about clinical trials, educational materials and resources about aging for the general public, and information for researchers and health professionals.

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
The NIDCD is one of the Institutes that comprise the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It supports biomedical and behavioral research and research training in the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language. It also conducts and supports research and research training related to disease prevention and health promotion; addresses special biomedical and behavioral problems associated with people who have communication impairments or disorders; and supports efforts to create devices which substitute for lost and impaired sensory and communication function.

National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)
NIDRR provides leadership and support for a comprehensive program of research related to the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities. All of our programmatic efforts are aimed at improving the lives of individuals with disabilities from birth through adulthood. NIDRR has unique institutional relationships with the other federal agencies that conduct disability research through the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR), which the director of NIDRR chairs. In addition, NIDRR co-sponsors research programs with other federal government agencies and with foreign governments and international agencies.

National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC)
NKUDIC is is an information dissemination service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). It increases knowledge and understanding about diseases of the kidneys and urologic system among people with these conditions and their families, health care professionals, and the general public.

National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF)
NPSF works to improve the safety of patients.

National Resource Center for Safe Aging
The National Resource Center for Safe Aging (NRCSA), previously known as the National Resource Center on Aging and Injury (NRCAI), is a collaborative effort involving the Graduate School of Public Health and the Department of Gerontology in the College of Health and Human Services at San Diego State University. It is funded by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention and Division of Violence Prevention) in Atlanta, Georgia.

NHRegsPlus
NHRegsPlus is intended to make it possible to: search the content of any State’s nursing home regulations; compare any State’s regulations to the Federal nursing home regulations; compare regulations of all 50 States on hundreds of topics; see what’s new in regulations in a specific state or a specific topic; learn a glance how all 50 States regulate new construction; compare State regulatory processes, including waiver & exception policies; find examples of regulatory variations pertinent to resident autonomy, quality of life, and culture change in nursing homes; find up-to-date resources related to nursing home care and nursing home life; review analyses of regulatory variation; separate myth from reality about the relationship between Federal and State nursing home regulations and resident-centered culture change.

NIH Pain Consortium
The NIH Pain Consortium was established to enhance pain research and promote collaboration among researchers across the many NIH Institutes and Centers that have programs and activities addressing pain.

Nursing Spectrum and Nurse Week Continuing Education Courses
This site offers continuing educational opportunities for the nursing professions using various online media.

Office of Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy (DALTCP)
DALTCP is charged with developing, analyzing, evaluating, and coordinating HHS policies and programs which support the independence, productivity, health, and long-term care needs of children, working age adults, and older persons with disabilities.

Online Continuing Medical Education (CMEList.com)
This site provides links to organizations that provide continuing medical education opportunities.

Picker Institute
Picker Institute is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the principles of patient-centered care. In cooperation with educational institutions and other committed entities and individuals, Picker Institute sponsors awards, research and education to promote patient-centered care and the patient-centered care movement.

Pioneer Network
Pioneer Network is an association of long-term care organizations and healthcare providers that advocates for person-directed care.

Planetree
Planetree is a non-profit organization that provides education and information in a collaborative community of healthcare organizations, facilitating efforts to create patient centered care in healing environments.

Polisher Research Institute
Polisher Research Institute, the first research center in the U.S. to be sponsored by a geriatric facility, provides national leadership in improving the quality of life of older persons through the study of social and behavioral aspects of aging.

PRIME®
This site provides online continuing education activities for many types of healthcare personnel.

Recalls of Medical Devices
This FDA database contains a list of classified medical device recalls since November 1, 2002. It is updated as information becomes available.

Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Association of North America (RESNA)
RESNA is a professional society for individuals and organizations interested in technology and disability. RESNA contributes to the public welfare through scientific, literary, professional and educational activities by supporting the development, dissemination, and utilization of knowledge and practice pertaining to rehabilitation and assistive technology so that all citizens can achieve the highest quality of life.

Society for the Advancement of Gerontological Environments (SAGE)
SAGE is a collaboration of like-minded individuals with the common goal of improving physical environments for older adults.

Step Up to Stop Falls Toolkit
This toolkit contains a variety of fall prevention resources for older adults and the caregivers and health care professionals who work with them. Content can be downloaded directly from the Web site, including manuals, guides, presentations, and videos. Examples include: exercises to improve strength and balance, a home safety assessment checklist, and professional screening and competency guides.

The American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS)
AUGS is dedicated to research and education in urogynecology, and the detection, prevention and treatment of female lower urinary tract disorders and pelvic floor disorders.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights
Federal civil rights laws and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, together protect patient's fundamental rights of nondiscrimination and health information privacy. As the Department's civil rights and health privacy rights law enforcement agency, OCR investigates complaints, enforces rights, and promulgates regulations, develops policy and provides technical assistance and public education to ensure understanding of and compliance with non-discrimination and health information privacy laws.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and more affordable; and helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their health.

United States Access Board: a federal agency committed to accessible design
The Access Board is an independent Federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities. Created in 1973 to ensure access to federally funded facilities, the Board is now a leading source of information on accessible design. The Board develops and maintains design criteria for the built environment, transit vehicles, telecommunications equipment, and for electronic and information technology. It also provides technical assistance and training on these requirements and on accessible design and continues to enforce accessibility standards that cover federally funded facilities.

Vestibular Disorders Association (VEDA)
VEDA offers help to people with vestibular (inner ear balance) disorders.

Assistive technology is any service or tool that helps the elderly or disabled do the activities they have always done but must now do differently. These tools are also sometimes called “adaptive devices.”