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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: January 24, 2006 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 5- 1 <br />SUBJECT: Preventive Home Visit Research Project for the Elderly with UNC Occupational <br />Science Division <br />DEPARTMENT: Aging PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />(1)Preventive Home Visit Project Jerry Passmore, ext. 2009 <br />Description Summary Kate Barrett, 968-2085 <br />(2) Letter of Participation TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />PURPOSE: To seek approval for the DOA's Eldercare Services to participate in a preventive <br />home visit research project to be submitted for NIH funding by UNC Occupational Science <br />Division. <br />BACKGROUND: For five years, the Department on Aging's Eldercare Services Division has <br />employed a full time occupational therapist, Vibeke Talley, OTR/L, who is part of the division's <br />inter-disciplinary team that works with older adults and their families in providing home and <br />community services. The Department on Aging is the only county aging program in the state <br />that employs an occupational therapist who focuses on home safety, fall prevention, and home <br />modifications to help older adults age in place. For several years, the UNC Occupational <br />Science Division has place students with Vibeke Talley as part of their required field placement <br />to graduate. In 2005 Vibeke Talley responded to 48 older citizen requests and referrals for <br />home assessments. <br />Vibeke Talley is recognized nationally and by the UNC Occupational Science Division as a <br />leader in the emerging field of community occupational therapy, She has been selected to serve <br />on the National Occupational Therapy Association's Commission on Practice for a three year <br />term. The North Carolina Occupational Therapy Association gave her the "Award of <br />Outstanding Practice in Gerontology" in 2001. Carol Woods Retirement Community, interested <br />in this preventive approach, paid Vibeke Talley's expenses in November, 2004 to fly to <br />Denmark (her native country) with UNC faculty for a 7-day fact finding trip. The purpose of the <br />trip was to collaborate with the faculty at the Danish Occupational Therapy Program and to <br />experience first-hand the Danish social model that focuses on prevention. In return, DOA and <br />UNC Occupational Science Division carried out a summer pilot program in 2005 at Carol <br />Woods with occupational therapy students conducting home visits.