Congratulations to Milta Oyola Little, DO, the newly installed President of the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, (AMDA-PALTC). Little is associate professor in the division of Geriatrics and a senior fellow in the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development.
In addressing the organization during its annual meeting in Tampa March 9 to 12, Little inspired members to seize this time to advocate for substantive improvements in long-term care quality. With the memory of the pandemic’s terrible toll in nursing homes still fresh in the public’s mind, and with critical national shortages in the nursing home care force she urged members to the momentum to create change.
AMDA-PALTC is the premier professional organization for clinicians caring for complex patients in skilled nursing facilities and other long-term care settings. These interprofessional providers not only provide clinical care, they are also leaders in their facilities – providing critical oversight of quality improvement, infection control, staff education, and other services.
The COVID pandemic hit long-term care residents and staff incredibly hard, and AMDA-PALTC members are the unsung heroes who worked tirelessly to push out critical information, education, and provide care to our most vulnerable patients. Now they are seizing the moment to advocate for much-needed legislative changes to improve staff and resident well-being and safety
“The healthcare providers practicing in the rapidly changing landscape of post-acute and long-term care are facing a variety of structural, financial, and regulatory challenges,” Little said. “The members and leaders of AMDA-PALTC are the experts who can turn these challenges into opportunities to improve the care delivered in our spaces. We will continue to leverage our partnerships with key stakeholder organizations and government leaders, and lead anti-ageist efforts to combat the negative attitudes, perceptions, and treatments of the aging members in our society.”
Little has extensive experience in caring and advocating for older adults across care settings, including the entire post-acute and long-term care continuum, inpatient geriatric consultation, outpatient primary care/consultation, home care, and hospice. She currently serves as medical director for The Forest at Duke Continuing Care Retirement Community and for the North Carolina Longevity Health Plan Institutional Special Needs Plan (a Medicare Managed Care insurance).
Her primary scholarly interests are interprofessional education, deprescribing initiatives, and implementation of Dementia-Friendly and Age-Friendly Health System programs across settings of care. She is currently working on the implementation of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy and development of clinical programs to address the longitudinal needs of PLWD and their caregivers in the Duke Health system.
Dr. Little has spent a significant portion of her entire medical career teaching and practicing in the post-acute and long-term care continuum, including serving as attending physician in five skilled nursing facilities and as medical director for three nursing homes, an assisted living, a home care agency, and a hospice agency.