Inside this issue
- Get to know a state op-er
- Safety update: Flu shot clinics
- Why is everyone always picking on me?
- Kudos
- Core Values
- Staff updates
- Training
- Voc updates
State Service
Web sites
SOCP Connections
Connections Archive »»
Anne Augsburger interviewed two more employees this month. You can read their responses below in the "Get to Know a State Op-er" column. Here are Anne's questions and Brenda's and Heather's responses.
Meet Brenda Vyhnal,
Office Specialist 2
Brenda is responsible for: CORE (incident reports), vehicles, cell phones, pagers, petty cash, the phone list, and just about everything. Also she has a sneaky habit of filling my mailbox whenever I am not looking.
- How long have you worked for State Op? Four years. I came here from Contracts and Procurements.
- What is your favorite movie? 300.
- What's the last book that you read? Probably an Ann Rule – a true crime novel.
- Do you have any pets? Three Cats – Bleu, Belle, and Bubba – mom, dad and baby.
- What's your favorite ice cream? Anything chocolate.
- Do you have a hobby? Scrapbooking but I don’t get to do it as often as I would like.
- What's your favorite part of your job? I like interacting with all of the staff and site managers in the homes.
- What are you listening to in your car on your way to work? My son griping.
- Where did you go on your last vacation? Victoria, Canada – I loved it and I can’t wait to go back.
- If you had to be someone on Gilligan's Island, who would it be? I think that I would be Gilligan, because he is so naive, I don’t even think that he realizes that he is stranded on the island – he is oblivious.
Meet Heather Hoover, Site Manager
Heather is the site manager at the Gath Road group home. She has been a behavior specialist, a program rep at Wasco, a central trainer and a site manager, while working for SOCP.
- How long have you worked for State Op? Since 1990.
- What is your favorite movie? Transformers.
- What's the last book that you read? A Dean Kuntz novel – I don’t remember the name.
- Do you have any pets? A dog named Lilly and two cats, Sammy and Fluffy. Fluffy took a turn in the dryer and barely survived. She was pregnant at the time and we called her kittens Downey and Snuggles. The kids call her the mean kitty now; she is still bitter.
- What's your favorite ice cream? Chocolate chip cookie dough.
- Do you have a hobby? Kayaking and gardening.
- What's your favorite part of your job? Meeting with the people who live here at the group home, it keeps me based.
- What are you listening to in your car on your way to work? NPR – I like to get real depressed before I come to work.
- Where did you go on your last vacation? Sunriver.
- If you had to be someone on Gilligan's Island, who would it be? I would like to be a blend of the professor and Mary Ann.
Flu Shot Clinics
The Public Employees Benefit Board (PEBB) is pleased to sponsor flu shot clinics this fall. For a list of the Flu Shot Clinics go to: www.oregon.gov/DAS/PEBB/flushots.shtml or call the safety office at 503-945-9086. Please note the following information:
- Flu vaccinations are “free” to all PEBB members covered by a PEBB medical plan (including covered dependants age 12 and older).
- Non-PEBB-members (ineligible part-time employees, temporary employees, contract employees, dependents not covered by a PEBB medical plan, etc.) may receive a flu shot at a PEBB-sponsored clinic by paying a $30 fee (exact cash or personal check, only).
- Parent or guardian consent is required for minors under the age of 15.
- PEBB members must show their insurance card and complete a one-page insurance form at the time of service.
- Members may attend any listed clinic.
- Neither FluMist nor pneumonia shots will be available; individuals who want these should contact their personal healthcare provider.
- The federal government anticipates sufficient supplies of flu vaccine will be available this year.
Flu facts
- Influenza affects 10-20 percent of the population every year.
- Flu shots reduce the risk of influenza by up to 90 percent.
- Flu shots are recommended annually to provide protection.
- Vaccination is the single greatest way to prevent influenza and its associated illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths.
- Persons infected with influenza will “shed” the virus for 24-48 hours prior to having symptoms. This shedding is very infectious to those around them.
- Flu vaccination not only protects the individual, but also protects family members and other close contacts by decreasing the risk of influenza transmission.
- Among healthy working adults, influenza vaccination is shown to be cost effective in reducing illness.
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Influenza is a killer, causing an average 36,000 deaths every year. There are an average of 200,000 influenza related hospitalizations every year, 57 percent who are among those younger than 65 years of age. This does not include outpatient visits. - The majority of deaths from influenza are among people 65 years of age or older.
- It is impossible to get the flu from the flu shot.
- Most people have no adverse reaction to the flu shot. The most common reaction is a mildly sore arm. Some people have mild flu-like symptoms that last one to three days.
- It takes one or two weeks to develop immunity after a flu shot.
- If you develop influenza during this time, it is because you were exposed to influenza prior to developing immunity.
- When influenza vaccine is plentiful, vaccination is encouraged for everyone, high-risk and healthy.
- A flu shot protects against seasonal human flu, which causes about 36,000 deaths in the US every year. It does not protect against the avian flu (commonly referred to as bird flu). To date, there have been no cases of avian flu in humans in North America.
Why is everyone always picking on me?
By Brad Heath, Clinical Service Manager
Imagine waking every morning with the fear that everyone is out to get you, that others are exploiting, deceiving or planning to harm you. Imagine spending your day dodging contact with people, constantly doubting the loyalty and trustworthiness of family, friends and acquaintances. Imagine never being able to confide in anyone for fear that the information will be used maliciously against you. This is a glimpse of the disorder known as Paranoid Personality Disorder (PPD).
PPD is a condition characterized by excessive distrust and suspicion that others are trying to cause you harm. Individuals with this disorder are typically difficult to get along with because of their paranoia and hostility and often have problems with intimate relationships. Their hostility can often elicit a negative response from others, which just fuels their paranoia.
Individuals with this disorder are very critical of others, are unable to collaborate and have a hard time accepting criticism. They harbor grudges and are rarely able to forgive and forget. These individuals are pathologically jealous of others, with a need to control those around them, and can often become involved in legal issues as a result.
Individuals with PPD tend to exaggerate their accomplishments and distort real experiences. They may have secretive grandiose fantasies of being high-powered and high-ranking individuals.
Under stress, these individuals may experience brief psychotic episodes, usually not lasting more than a day. If, however, the psychosis persists, the illness may progress into schizophrenia.
Individuals with PPD comprise about 0.5 percent to 2.5 percent of the general population. This disorder is more common in males.
Some medications can offer relief by helping to decrease the level of paranoia and hostility. However, the underlying mistrust usually prevails.
Staff treating this type of individual should be very consistent and deliberate. Do not promise things that you can’t deliver; this will fuel the paranoia and mistrust. Take every opportunity to be forthright about your intentions. Announce ahead of time what you are expecting of the individual to build trust and rapport. Most of all, do not take personally any accusations, hostility or paranoia directed at you.
Anne Augsburger, QA and Training Manager
Several site managers and I completed four self-assessments during the month of August and I wanted to mention some things that really stood out. I know that folks would rather do just about anything other then a self-assessment, so thank you for all of your help.
Milton House - Eleshia Ledridge has successfully completed the long and arduous process of becoming an OIS certified instructor! Not only did she pass her solo certification training but also her instructor noted that she “has a better handle of the material than any other new trainer that she has observed.” Congratulations to Eleshia for a job well done.
Turner House - the staff there were very helpful with locating information that had been archived and even got a critical evaluation that we needed from Salem hospital. They were amazing.
River Road House - your books look fantastic. I have told others that your house should hold workshops on how to set up the program books. Also, you wrote some very nice and detailed progress notes. Very nice job!
Gath Road House - Each time I have been to Gath this month, there has been a lot going on in addition to the self-assessment. They had fire alarm inspections happening with the fire drill repeatedly going off, and people working on the roof. Throughout all of this activity, everyone was helpful and courteous. Everyone there went out of his or her way to help us and get us the information that we needed.
Rick Hethorn, VOC/Day Services Manager
Kudos to Dennis Granner for finishing up the Salem area homes with the Salem yard crew. Everyone has talked about the great job he and the crew have done. As of mid-September Dennis has returned all borrowed yard tools.
“Kudos” to everyone who participated at this years SOCP annual picnic. Most notably Chris Edwards, Keith Porter and the Quintessential Winds, all the BVS1s, Amy Davis, HR and the list goes on and on.
Special “thank you” to David, Jamie, Wayne, Gary, and staff from 24th Group Homes, Andrea, Lee and staff from Silverton Group Home, for all their hard work over the past several months on the yards crew. This crew did a fantastic job working together and tackling some pretty big landscaping tasks including mowing, weed and brush removal, bark dust spreading, pressure washing and edging. Each member of this crew maintained good attendance over the summer months even on the days it was very hot and difficult. A special “thanks” also to the accompanying staff who showed great mentoring and worked alongside each client.
By Lisa Harnisch
How do the Core Values get woven into the fabric of the department? It starts with you. It starts with seemingly small actions with big paybacks. SOCP has been devoting resources to training and other systemic ways to weave in the Core Values. By now you should have had the opportunity to attend the training. I personally have attended the training on several occasions, and each time I walk away with a renewed since of appreciation for the work that SOCP does for the clients in our care.
During the trainings, what shines through to me is that though the job may be rigorous, as a team of professionals you are looking out for our clients. DHS is lucky to have such dedicated staff at SOCP. As a part of the training you were asked to develop a plan for how you were going to put the values into action. How did you do? What did it look like? What has been the result?
Some of these actions may have been simple (some maybe not so simple), but I would argue that it is these seemingly small and simple actions that add up to big changes.
We would love to know what you are doing. Please feel free to contact me by phone or e-mail and share what successes you have had.
Lisa Harnisch, Office of Human Resources Training Unit: 503-945-6304 or lisa.s.harnisch@state.or.us
- Vicki Hemmert, BVS1: Assigned to Ina and Tigard.
- Cindy Barnett, BVS1: Assigned to Hampden.
Congratulations on your promotions.
Anne Augsburger and the Training Department reported that most staff from Shoreline, Milton and Russell attended the DHS Core Values Training. “Nice job” to those site managers and to all of the staff who have participated; we have had some great discussion and feedback around these trainings. Keep up the good work and let's get all our employees through the DHS Core Values Training.
SOCP picnic: Next year the picnic will be on Thursday, June 19. Please mark your calendars.
Halloween is coming soon. Ethelyn is already working on the haunted house for our Halloween party in October. More on that will be coming later.