Better Jobs Better Care, a research and advocacy program for frontline caregivers, has released a tool kit to help providers recruit and retain caregivers, and other resources for long-term care facilities. The program has also expanded to Australia, said Robyn Stone, senior vice president of research at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. She spoke to McKnight's during AAHSA's annual conference in Philadelphia in October. To access BJBC materials and to learn more about about BJBC, go to www.bjbc.org.

The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging encourages members to tell their caregiving stories to the press on an ongoing basis. Position yourself as a go-to person in your community, advises Lauren Shaham, vice president of communications for AAHSA. She offered her expertise at the association's annual conference in Philadelphia earlier this month.

The Long-Term Care Solution Campaign is an effort to reconfigure the current financing system for long-term care, explains Doug Pace, director of the campaign for the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. He spoke during AAHSA's 2008 annual convention in Philadelphia.

The Green House Project is "growing in a very health way," says founder Dr. Bill Thomas. He advises interested long-term care facilities to go for the "whole package" when transforming to a Green House model.

More members are engaged in Quality First since it began more than six years ago, said Bruce Rosenthal, vice president of the program for the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. He spoke during AAHSA's annual conference earlier this month in Philadelphia.

Two teams of interior design students from Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media, Arts & Design competed to create a "dream" room for a skilled nursing resident. The showdown occurred during the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging's annual conference this week in Philadelphia. See video and story for more.

Four food-service teams competed in the first-ever Chef Challenge at the 2008 conference of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. See video and story for more.

The United States needs to engage in comprehensive healthcare reform, said David Walker, former U.S. comptroller general. "The government has over-promised and under-delivered--especially in healthcare," he said.

The United States is in an economic crisis, but the country has faced such rough periods in the past, said Larry Minnix, president and CEO of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. "Our message to our members is basically we have to deal realistically with the situation so pay attention to the basics back home," he told McKnight's Monday during the association's annual convention in Philadelphia.