Five Essential Strategies for Safe, Respectful, Quality Care for Bariatric Residents

Following the presentation participants will be able to:

• Identify clinical concerns pertinent to bariatric residents generally.
• Make well-informed equipment decisions to meet the needs of bariatric clients.
• Review facility design to support a bariatric-friendly environment.
• Identify cultural  competencies necessary for your staff to provide respectful, quality care to this population.
• Identify worker safety considerations and strategies for preventing worker related injuries

• Long-Term Care Facility Managers
• Risk Managers
• Directors of Nursing
• Nurse Managers
• Director of Quality Improvement
• Shift Supervisors
• Chief Medical Officer
• Administrators
• C-Level Executives
• Business Managers

About the Speakers

Kathryn M. Pelczarski, Associate Director, Health Systems Group

Ms. Pelczarski has over 18 years experience in healthcare consulting. Her role at ECRI includes the development of new services, service line leader of patient safety services (e.g., alarm coverage assessments, bariatric-readiness assessments), and project management of major projects related to technology assessment, strategic technology planning, patient safety, equipment planning, acquisition assistance, and utilization studies.  In addition, she served as Technical Editor for ECRI's special report: Bariatric Services: Safety, Quality, and Technology Guide.

Linda Wallace, M.S.N., Program Director, Continuing Care
Ms. Wallace has more than 15 years experience as a health care risk manager.  She was the co-developer of a healthcare error prevention, identification, and analysis program that offers tools for use by managers in investigation, predictive analysis; and change analysis.   She directed the development of ECRI's Risk Manager Survey; a web-based tool which delineates the position, authority, and responsibilities of the risk manager in continuing care organizations.  She is associated with the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management, has received certification as a healthcare risk manager, and served as a charter member of Virginians Improving Patient Care & Safety.

Amy Goldberg-Alberts, Senior Risk Management Analyst, Continuing Care
Ms. Goldberg-Alberts responsibilities involve providing administrators, clinicians, risk and quality managers with strategies for improving culture of safety for continuing care residents and staff.  She was involved in the development of ECRI's Continuing Care Risk Management (CCRM) program, devoted to issues of concern to aging services providers.  She is active in the Philadelphia Area Society for Healthcare Risk Management and is a Fellow of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management. She is faculty on a variety of aging services and risk management programs nationally.

Note:  ECRI is an independent, nonprofit health services research institute (visit http://www.ecri.org/ ), widely recognized as the world's most trusted organization for unbiased, reliable information on health care technology, healthcare risk and quality management, and environment management.