Medical briefs

Published: August 5, 2007

Officials with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will hold a training workshop Aug. 13 in Oklahoma City to train new counselors to help Medicare recipients and applicants better understand the federal program.

The free workshop will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Alpine and Calypso rooms of MetroTech, 1900 Springlake Drive.

Topics will include Medicare prescription drug coverage, private programs, application procedures and more.

No prior Medicare experience is required to participate.

Participants should register in advance. Social Security Administration and Senior Health Insurance Counseling Program staff members also are invited to participate.

For more information or to register, call (800) 763-2828.

To encourage more people to give blood during the summer, Oklahoma Blood Institute officials are offering free movie tickets to anyone who gives blood between Monday and Aug. 12 at an institute sponsored drive.

Summer emergencies can deplete community blood supplies, making donations of all blood types important, officials said.

Donors also will receive T-shirts, health checks and discount coupons for the Oklahoma City Zoo.

Oklahoma Blood Institute is a nonprofit community blood organization that supplies more than 100 hospitals in Oklahoma and north Texas.

For more information or to find a blood donation site, go to www.obi.org or call (877) 624-4483.

Walkers are sought to participate in the Oklahoma City Walk from Obesity, Sept. 29 at the Oklahoma City Zoo.

Proceeds will benefit the American Society for Bariatric Surgery and the Obesity Action Coalition to support research, education, prevention and treatment of obesity.

Nationally supporters raised more than $500,000 in 2006.

Registration is $25 per person and corporate gifts and sponsorships also are sought.

For more information, go to www.walkfromobesity.com and click on "join a walk” or call Abby Banks at 360-7100.

To help learn how families can better care for their loved ones from a distance, the Alzheimer's Association has awarded a nearly $200,000 grant to the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing.

The two-year grant will fund research by Lazelle Benefield, a professor at the OU Health Sciences Center who is studying ways to provide social and technological support for Alzheimer's patients whose families live in other cities.

"Remaining at home as long as possible can be socially, emotionally and economically beneficial for people with dementia and their families,” Benefield said. "I believe people deserve to age in place, and this study is an important step to help them do this.”

Benefield's project is a continuation of her work to understand what families from several cultural backgrounds need to take care of parents with dementia who live at home alone. The study will look at the most difficult aspects of caring for parents from a distance, including coordination of services, and ways to make care giving easier and more efficient.

Researchers want to devise a proven method of long-distance care that may include technology.

The master's of business administration program at Oklahoma Christian University has grown to more than 200 students since its beginning in 2000. The program will now be housed in the newly named Graduate School of Business.

"Our primary goal is to provide an MBA program worthy of a premier private business school,” said Ken Johnson, chair of the Graduate School of Business.

The undergraduate school of business, which has been a part of Oklahoma Christian since the 1950s, will remain the same. Currently, 260 students are enrolled in accounting, business administration, finance, management and marketing degrees.

Mid-America Christian University's newest master's degree teaches leadership skills to people seeking a career in state or local government.

The new degree prepares graduates for positions in local or state government agencies or to run for elected office. The advisory council for the degree program includes four state legislators as well as state agency leaders and media veterans.

Master of Leadership Public Administration degree classes begin this month on the campus in south Oklahoma City and in towns across Oklahoma, thanks to interactive educational television.

Compiled by Staff Writers Susan Simpson and Beth Gollob

Comments