Prominent geriatrics professor to present at TAMC
on ‘Helping Older Adults in Crisis’
On Monday, May 19, local physicians, nurses and other caregivers to the elderly will have an opportunity to hear from a leading expert on geriatric health. TAMC will host a presentation by Dr. Marilyn R. Gugliucci, University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine professor and director of its geriatrics education and research department.
The dinner presentation will begin at 5 p.m. in TAMC’s new conference center on the second floor of the East Wing Annex Building at the A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital campus in Presque Isle. The discussion topic will be “Helping Older Adults in Crisis.”
Event Coordinator Lynn Turnbull, MHA, BSN, RN, and director of clinical education at TAMC, said attendees will gain valuable knowledge from Gugliucci’s research, which will benefit many care providers throughout the county.
“Aroostook County is largely populated by aging and elderly people,” said Turnbull. “The mission of TAMC is to restore, maintain and improve the health of our friends and neighbors in a compassionate and professional environment. This presentation allows us to extend that mission into the community.”
Gugliucci’s presentation will include recent project findings from her own focus group research with older adults on their impressions of “help” and “crisis.” The professor of geriatrics is accomplished and active in her field and will offer important information to the event attendees.
Gugliucci is a Fellow of the American Geriatrics Society, as well as the Gerontological Society of America and a past-chair of its health sciences section. She is also a Fellow of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education and the Maine Gerontological Society. Her expertise and passion in the field of aging has resulted in numerous presentations nationally and internationally.
In Maine, Gugliucci served on the board for Maine Legal Services for the Elderly for 12 years and is the past-president of the Maine Gerontological Society.
The event will feature a dinner and is expected to conclude at 6:30 p.m. There is no cost to attend, but seating is limited. Interested individuals can contact Linda Menard at 768-4172 to register. CME credits will be available.
Community invited to TAMC open houses
As TAMC continues to celebrate National Hospital, National Women’s Health and National Nursing Home weeks, a series of open houses are planned at the medical center Friday, May 16 to showcase some key areas involving women’s health in particular.
“Women’s health is unique from the rest of the family in many ways, and we want to celebrate that,” said Lucy Richard, nurse practitioner and provider at TAMC’s Women’s Health Center, a customer service-based health care office for women only.
“In our setting, women’s health is addressed from a holistic perspective, which embraces a wellness approach, rather than being problem-focused; lifespan perspective, which recognizes that women have different health and psychological needs as they encounter transitions across their lives; and a social perspective, which recognizes that women routinely perform multiple overlapping social roles,” said Richard.
Richard plans to provide tours during the Women’s Health Center open house, which will also offer free glucose screenings and body fat analysis to attendees. Someone will also be on hand to explain the new patient portal, myEMSHealth, and to assist those who want to sign up.
Open houses will also be held simultaneously in the Women’s & Children’s Health Department and in Medical Imaging Services. Hours for all three events are from 3-7 p.m.
“Our open house is really intended to serve multiple purposes,” said Pam Lilley, RN, manager of the Women and Children’s Health Department. “We understand that there are a lot of stresses involved with impending motherhood, and we want to ease that burden. Education is one way to do that. We are offering several presentations that will be helpful to new and prospective mothers. Meeting the staff and seeing the facilities can also increase their comfort level with what is to come.”
In addition to seeing the birthing suites and other facilities and getting familiar with staff, it’s also an opportunity for those who delivered their babies at TAMC in recent years to come back and show off their children to the staff who helped to deliver them.
“We encourage moms to bring their children along,” said Lilley. “We have a new chalk wall in front of our nursery for kids to draw on, and we will be giving out little TAMC coloring books and crayons, as well as offering a small craft project so children can make a picture frame for their new brother or sister, or for someone else in the family.”
A series of educational presentations will also be featured during the open house in the Women and Children’s Health Department: Epidural Pain Management, 3:30-4 p.m.; Breastfeeding, 4-4:30 p.m.; Relaxation Techniques During Labor, 4:30-5 p.m.; and Prenatal Massages, 6-6:30 p.m.
A car seat safety technician will be available from 5-7 p.m. to provide details on the Child Seat Safety Program and answer questions about proper installation and safe choices in car seats. A public health nurse will also be on hand throughout the event to talk about the free nursing services available for pregnant women, parents and their newborns, and children under 5 with special needs through Maine CDC Public Health Nursing.
While these two open houses are predominantly geared toward women, the third open house is broader in nature. An open house in Medical Imaging Services will celebrate the relocation of the nuclear medicine suite to the radiology department, as well as celebrate some new equipment that provides enhanced services for patients. A special ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. in that area to officially “open” the new nuclear medicine suite.
“Previously our radiology department was spread out, with some services on the main floor and some in the basement,” said Randy Bacon, TAMC imaging services manager. “Nuclear medicine has now been relocated to the imaging services area, right by the main entrance. This move will be a great benefit for patients, since the services are more easily accessible. Prior to this move, patients had to check in and wait for a staff member to lead them to an area farther away downstairs.”
One new piece of equipment being showcased during the open house is a new SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomography) camera that is used for nuclear cardiology, bone scans, GI scans and other tests.
“The new SPECT camera delivers better image quality than our old camera,” said Bacon. “It also allows remote reading capability for nuclear cardiology studies, so that cardiologists can view the results from a computer in their office rather than having to come to imaging services to view it.”
TAMC’s new ultrasound equipment will also be showcased during the event. This equipment provides better penetration power and better image quality than previous equipment, according to Bacon. The equipment has allowed TAMC to perform better ultrasound-guided biopsies, including breast biopsies.
FMI on the open houses, visit www.tamc.org or call the TAMC Communication and Development Office at 768-4012.
