MCQC August 2005 News Letter

They featured a panel of professionals representing the home health industry, the adult day care industry, the Area Agency on Aging, and the Veterans Commission. The seminars allowed each panel member time to present on organizational programs and resources and then allocated time for questions by the participants. Andy Conover, Executive Director for the Family Support Council stated, “the seminars provide participants with information about a variety of long-term care programs and services and an opportunity to ask questions in a friendly environment helping them to make more informed decisions.”
The seminars primary objectives are to increase the awareness of long-term care options for the public, community agencies, and professionals and to expand the dialogue on long-term care issues between the general public, community and government agencies. The Family Support Council and the Missouri Coalition for Quality Care will co-host two additional seminars this fall in St. Louis. These events are free but you must register to attend. Please register on-line at www.fscouncil.org or call the FSC office.

Understanding Options and Making Decisions
- Long Term Care in Missouri

2005 FALL SESSIONS

Thursday, September 29, 2005
Richmond Heights Community Center
8001 Dale Avenue
(Just East of Hanley and I-64)
6:00 p.m. Registration
6:30-8:30 p.m. Program

Thursday, November 10, 2005
Community Living, Inc.
1040 St. Peters-Howell Rd, St. Peters, MO
6:00 p.m. Registration
6:30-8:30 p.m. Program

PETITION DISMISSED

    On June 10, 2002, in the Circuit Court of Adair County, MO., a petition was filed by the Adair County Nursing Home District to change the election process of the Board of Directors of Twin Pines Adult Care Center to be At-Large instead of by district. The petition was presented ex-parte, at a bench conference, and the court granted the petition without notice or hearing. However, the court wisely exercised its discretion to set aside its ruling, and set the matter for public hearing when concern was voiced over the change by MCQC members Henry and Phyllis Krambeck.
    With legal assistance from Anthony DeWitt, of Bartimus / Frickleton / Robertson & Obetz from Jefferson City, a Motion to Intervene as Respondents was filed by the Krambecks (as representatives of MCQC) on July 22, 2002, stating that if the voting districts are dissolved, and directors are elected at large, then the statutory framework that gives the right of individuals in districts to elect their own board members will be eliminated and the smaller towns and rural areas will be deprived of adequate representation and their votes will be diluted.
    Over a 3-year period, several hearings were cancelled, a local judge recused himself, and on May 31, 2005, a Motion to Dismiss was granted to Petitioner, the Adair County Nursing Home District.
Our goal was achieved:

To prove that Voting Rights are Fundamental Rights
To prevent undoing through the courts what the voters did at the polls
Keep district voting to allow adequate representation
To show that district voting prevents previously voted out directors from becoming eligible for appointment and serving districts that did not elect them

MCQC — ALWAYS THE ADVOCATE
Our thanks to Anthony DeWitt and our many supporters for staying with us and believing in our mission.

The Vivian J. Roller Family Endowment awarded its first grant to the Family Support Council (FSC) for a series of community education seminars. The Family Support Council utilized the grant, in collaboration with the Missouri Coalition for Quality Care (MCQC), to plan and present four seminars entitled, Understanding Options and Making Choices – Long-Term Care in Missouri. The goal of the seminars is to educate the general public and nonprofit professionals about important issues, challenges, and resources available when making

long-term care decisions.
Today, over 15 million Americans use long-term care services. Over the next decade, the population needing long-term care assistance is expected to increase 30 percent as people live longer and as medical technologies advance. Georgia Sanders, Executive Director of the Missouri Coalition for Quality Care, explains, “a decision regarding long term care for your loved ones or for yourself is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. The seminars will assist in educating families about longterm care options and planning.”
The seminars are free, two-hour sessions located throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. The first two seminars were held in late spring/early summer of this year.

Alzheimer’s Association
“Let’s Talk” Helps People with Early Stage Memory Loss

“It makes me feel like I’m part of society again.”...“I’ve made new friends and I know we’ll be friends for a long time. Once you become isolated in your house, that doesn’t happen easily.”...“It helps me know that I’m not alone in the struggle to keep my brain.”
These are quotes from participants in an innovative program sponsored by the St. Louis chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Through this program, called Let’s Talk, these individuals receive a friendly phone call from another individual who also has early stage memory loss. Many of the call recipients and the call volunteers have become friends; hopefully, all benefit from the social contact and support they give one another.
Let’s Talk is open to anyone with early stage memory loss who lives anywhere in the state of Missouri or in the ten counties of Illinois served by the St. Louis chapter
of the Alzheimer’s Association. For more information, call Deb Bryer at (314) 801-0420 or 1-800-980-9080.