SpecialtyAutomated ™ recently revealed their new computerized test, the Online Trail Making Test Part B ™ , at Mae Volen Senior Center. The Online Trail Making Test Part B ™ was a hit.

This is the very first time ever that this test, originally developed in 1944 as part of the Army Individual Test Battery, has been successfully automated in a completely online and self-service format available in numerous languages. Online Trail Making Tests ™ level the playing field for people of all ages, cultures, and educational backgrounds.

Trail Making Tests are regularly issued on paper or with the aid of an administrator to obtain a snapshot of general brain function of patients. Trail Making Tests Part A and Trail Making Test Part B are widely used to screen for brain function, brain injury, dementia, and various psychiatric illnesses. However, the use of paper and pencils render these traditional tests as environmentally destructive. Paper and wood products threaten forests, destroy trees, and constitute a significant amount of municipal solid waste burden. The Online Trail Making Tests™ are therefore ideal, green alternatives to these traditional brain assessments.

Since several versions of the paper and pencil-based Trail Making Tests exist, the Online Trail Making Tests ™ represent the first for a rapid, standardized, and objective Trail Making tool that can be used by clinicians, physicians, and government agencies. Instant scores and feedback are automatically provided. Online Trail Making Tests ™ are also designed to engage individuals with special needs and disabilities, who are typically excluded from traditional trail making tests when they are unable to write or hold a writing instrument.

Studies show that the Online Trail Making Tests Part B ™ may be used to evaluate individuals for nursing home admission, assisted living admittance, 24-hour retirement community care evaluations, or as potential indicators for driving problems. In fact, the American Medical Association recommends the Trail Making Test Part B as one of two cognitive assessments for senior drivers.

Sandy H. Straus, CEO and Chief Engineer with SpecialtyAutomated, said that the debut of the Online Trail MakingTests ™ at Mae Volen Senior Center showed that officials at Mae Volen share the same vision of supporting seniors as well as people of all ages who require brain function assessments. Data collected from the exhibit will be used for technical publications to improve cognitive screenings and motorist safety.

"Every clinical environment, state motor vehicle department, and transportation agency can benefit from our online tests to save significant time, labor, and other expenses. Any agency in need of streamlining its operations will now want to add our Online Trail Making Tests ™ to their repertoire." added Straus. "Our exciting, online static and dynamic visual acuity screening tests are also must-haves for clinicians and agencies."

SpecialtyAutomated Systems Corporation offers the largest selection of proprietary multimedia and interactive online tests for vision, knowledge, cognition, and driving skills.

This year, Mae Volen Senior Center celebrates its 40th year as a premier facility in Boca Raton that provides special health and human services programs to seniors to supplement their daily activities at home.

Broward Health Chris Evert Children’s Hospital recently celebrated the official opening of its Transitional Sickle Cell Day Treatment & Wellness Center.

Through a $249,861 grant from the Health Foundation of South Florida and a check presented by Broward County Mayor Josephus Eggelletion, Jr. for $175,000 from proceeds that were collected at the 2007 annual Mayor’s Gala, Broward Health established the center to improve the quality of life for teens and young adults living with sickle cell disease.

(Front row l-r) Rhonda A. Calhoun, Vice Chair, and Joseph Cobo, Treasurer, North Broward Hospital District Board of Commissioners; Frank Nask, President/CEO of Broward Health; Rebecca Stoll, Secretary, North Broward Hospital District Board of Commissioners; Alice Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Broward General Medical Center; Jasmin Shirley, Vice President, Community Health Services, Broward Health; and Shelley Dagen, Immediate Past Chairman, Health Foundation of South Florida.
(Back row l-r) Rudolph Roskos, Medical Director, Chris Evert Children's Hospital; Peter Wood, Vice President of Programs and Community Investments Health Foundation of South Florida; Rep. Oscar Braynon II, D-Miami Gardens.

Housed in the Chris Evert Children’s Hospital, the center is designed with a focus on sickle cell patients 18 and older to assist them as they leave their pediatrician and enter the world of adult care. It includes eight patient beds, a nutrition center, and an entertainment area for patients while they receive not only medical treatment for sickle cell crisis, but also obtain wellness care in order to avoid a crisis.

Once enrolled in the program, care is monitored and overseen by a case manager from Broward Health's Community Health Services. By offering disease case management, wellness care and sickle cell treatment, the program will reduce emergency department visits, inpatient hospital stays and costs associated with treating the disease. To expedite care and decrease the severity of a crisis, patients are able to bypass the emergency department and go directly to the day center.

Hospice by the Sea has received a $10,000 grant from the Ernst and Gertrude Ticho Charitable Foundation to promote its 41-minute instructional DVD on caregiving.

The grant will cover, in part, the costs of airing 30-second television spots to advertise Hospice by the Sea’s caregiver DVD, "A Lifeline for Caregivers." The spots will run on cable and broadcast channels in Palm Beach and Broward counties.

(l-r) Jeff Pasternak, The Ticho Foundation; Cindy Hassett, Director of Grants and Special Projects, Hospice by the Sea; and Paula Alderson, President and CEO, Hospice by the Sea. Photo by Barbara McCormick.

"A Lifeline for Caregivers shows family caregivers how to safely care for their loved ones who are seriously ill," says Paula Alderson, president and CEO of Hospice by the Sea. "Nearly 40 percent of caregivers have never had any formal training in caregiving, yet, often suddenly, are put in the role of having to handle skilled nursing tasks, such as dressing wounds and giving medications."

This lack of education, coupled with the long and strenuous hours caregiving entails, causes anxiety, stress, depression, and fatigue. As a result, caregivers suffer higher-than-normal rates of accidents and illness.

The Ticho Foundation chose to support "A Lifeline for Caregivers" because of its potential to positively affect the mental well-being of caregivers, says Jeff Pasternack, a representative of the foundation.

"A Lifeline for Caregivers" is an important vehicle in Hospice by the Sea’s Sylvia Wolens Caregiver Education Program, a program that provides caregiving skills, self-care techniques, and a resource library for family caregivers.