The Advocate vol. 2, 2015

This communication tool comes from the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman to long-term care facilities administrators and directors. The Office's objective is to share information regarding various topics of long term care.

A course on collaboration between social workers and general practitioners during their vocational training

The educational programme reported was an experiment in the vocational training scheme of the department of General Practice, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Holland, and is now part of the course. The programme focused on the training in team function (co-operation) given to trainee GPs and social workers. It became clear that both groups during their professional training develop markedly different attitudes and views about patient (client) care. These differences form a fundamental handicap in any discussion about teamwork. During the programme the students were made aware of this divergence of viewpoint and were taught how to handle these resulting handicaps and, if possible, to eliminate them.

The Voice Vol. 4, 2014

April is National Volunteer Month Welcome to Stacia Timmer Continuing Education info LTCO Facts

The Voice, Vol. 8, 2014

Spotlight on Cairn Reisch Continuing Education Legislation introduced volunteer coordinators assigned to regions Recruitment & marketing survey

The VOP Voice vol. 7, 2014

Spotlight on Melanie Kempf volunteer Ombudsman Program facts Continuing Education Free educational events

The VOP Voice Vol. 6, 2014

Spotlight on Pam Railsback Continuing Education Iowa by the numbers

The VOP Voice, Vol. 3, 2014

Tips for Effectiveness Continuing Education Amazing Village Designed for People with Dementia Helpful Resources

The VOP Voice Vol. 5, 2014

Spotlight on Julie Pollock Continuing Education Consumer Voice Fact Sheet - What is Financial Exploitation

The VOP Voice Vol. 11, 2014

Spotlight on Meredith Funke, AmericCorps VISTA Continuing Education New Resources for volunteers

The VOP Voice Vol. 10, 2014

Spotlight on Kim Cooper Person-Centered Matters: Making Life Better for Someone Living with Dementia Continuing Education New Resources for Volunteers

The VOP Voice, Vol. 9,2014

Voter Rights Continuing Education

The VOP Voice, Vol. 4, 2015

Spotlight: Cindy Pederson Continuing Education National volunteer Month Wrap-Up Events & Conferences Peer Group Meetings Training Refresher Articles, Websites & Videos May is Older Americans Month

The VOP Voice Vol. 8, 2015

Spotlight on Merea Bentrott Continuing Education VOP Communiques VOP Trivia Ombudsman Tidbit

Social inequalities of functioning and perceived health in Switzerland: a representative cross-sectional analysis.

Many people worldwide live with a disability, i.e. limitations in functioning. The prevalence is expected to increase due to demographic change and the growing importance of non-communicable disease and injury. To date, many epidemiological studies have used simple dichotomous measures of disability, even though the WHO's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) provides a multi-dimensional framework of functioning. We aimed to examine associations of socio-economic status (SES) and social integration in 3 core domains of functioning (impairment, pain, limitations in activity and participation) and perceived health. We conducted a secondary analysis of representative cross-sectional data of the Swiss Health Survey 2007 including 10,336 female and 8,424 male Swiss residents aged 15 or more. Guided by a theoretical ICF-based model, 4 mixed effects Poisson regressions were fitted in order to explain functioning and perceived health by indicators of SES and social integration. Analyses were stratified by age groups (15-30, 31-54, ≥55 years). In all age groups, SES and social integration were significantly associated with functional and perceived health. Among the functional domains, impairment and pain were closely related, and both were associated with limitations in activity and participation. SES, social integration and functioning were related to perceived health. We found pronounced social inequalities in functioning and perceived health, supporting our theoretical model. Social factors play a significant role in the experience of health, even in a wealthy country such as Switzerland. These findings await confirmation in other, particularly lower resourced settings.