City of Beverly Hoarding Task Force

Update

2010-09-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

Several things to be aware of as we approach our Fall agenda:

There will be no task force meeting in September - our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 9:30 at the Beverly Council on Aging

The following is information from A & E's television series - Hoarders:

"Hoarders on A&E is now in its third season. We are actively searching for hoarders and their famlies willing to share their stories in this groundbreaking documentary television series that sheds much needed light on this complicated and often “secret” condition.

We will provide free and compassionate services for the hoarder which will include but not limited to mental health support, professional organizers, and professional cleanup and/or junk removal services. Our goal is to help the hoarder and their families take a big step on the road to recovery from this disorder. If there are other agencies already involved, our goal is to work with them and the hoarder to come up with the best possible outcome for those impacted by the hoard.

Hoarders chosen to be profiled in this series will also be offered a significant “after-care” package that will ensure ongoing mental health and/or organizational support. Each case will be considered on an individual basis and services will be tailored to fit the individual’s needs. All of our professionals have experience in treating this population and are appropriately trained and credentialed.

We are looking for individuals who are willing to spend 4 days sharing their stories on camera. We understand that compulsive hoarding is an extremely emotional and difficult disorder. Therefore, it is our hope that by sharing the personal stories it will help others realize they are not alone. We will also share the right way for families and friends to approach a hoarder to hopefully avoid contentious and dangerous living environments.

What we are looking for:

1. Individuals willing to tell their story.
2. Individuals motivated to change by a ticking clock or crisis caused by hoarding that needs to be addressed immediately.
3. We need to show how the hoarding has impacted friends and/or loved ones. These individuals will need to appear on camera and share their side of the story.

If you or someone you know is a compulsive hoarder, please go to our website at http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/ for more information and to apply.

You can also email us at Hoarders@sfpseattle.com or call
our toll free hotline 1-877- 492-1722"

A focus group will be sponsored by the Greater Boston Regional Hoarding Network. The group is comprised of 6 community agencies in collaboration with one another for the purpose of helping regional communities develop and institutionalize a multidisciplinary coordinated response to hoarding. The information garnered through the focus group will aid the Network in achieving this goal.

The Intensive Skills Training in Hoarding Disorder Intervention is a four-week program that will provide you with the skills for intervening in complex cases of hoarding disorder. Taught by Dr. Christiana Bratiotis, Dr. Jordana Muroff and Boston University School of Social Work Dean Gail Steketee, this specialized cognitive behavioral treatment protocol was developed by Drs. Gail Steketee and Randy Frost.

Each week will focus on particular clinical skills, including: assessment, model building and treatment planning, skill building, cognitive therapy, exposure, and motivational interviewing.

Recent research into hoarding disorder and community-level intervention will be integrated into the course and participants will have opportunities to present cases, develop specific treatment plans, and practice effective therapeutic methods for working with this challenging disorder.

The class begins Tuesday September 7 and runs for four consecutive weeks from 6-9 pm, ending on September 28 and will be held at Boston University School of Social Work. You will receive 12 CEs, and the tuition is $375+ an application fee of $25. Please register online at www.bu.edu/ssw/pep.

Northeast Senior Health's SenNet Breakfast this month will be Hoarding: How a Community Responds. I'll be speaking on a panel along with Laurie Grant, LCSW and Hoarding Outreach Specialist from GLSS and Shelly Luckenbill, Esq. and Protective Services Supervisor from NSES.

Update

2010-04-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

Task Force Members: We are not attending the May 4th meeting held at North Shore Elder Services. NSES is meeting with members in their catchment area that day. We will let you know when a future task force meeting has been established.

Updates

2010-04-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

Meeting notes April 8, 2010:

The final version of the Beverly Hoarding Task Force brochure is complete! Thank you all for your help on this project. If you would like a copy please let Laurie or Teri know and we will send it out in the mail.

Clutterbugs support group, is going well... the group is journaling goals and reporting back to the group. The group will continue to meet in May, the 1st and 3rd Thursday. If you are available to co-facilitate please let Laurie know. The dates for May: the 6th and 20th, 10-11:30 a.m.

North Shore regionalizing, we are in the process now of working with North Shore Elder Services to move towards a North Shore Task Force. More info to follow!!

As a group we went over our successes and celebrated the work we have accomplished over the past 4 years. The group is ready to merge with North Shore Elder Services so that we can gain new members and work towards larger scale projects.

A meeting date has been set for June 10th at 9a.m. for the next meeting, held at the Beverly Senior Center. We will keep this meeting date for now, so plan on attending, unless you hear otherwise.

Updates

2010-04-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

Update:

The Regional meeting hosted by MASSHOUSING on March 22nd was a huge success... 120 people attended from all over the North Shore. The workshop included an educational presentation Hoarding 101, a description of the new hoarding assessment tool, and some time to share projects the Beverly Hoarding Task Force has accomplished and that we are working on this year ... also we used the time to invite new people to attend.

The clutterbugs support group has officially met two times. The group has already celebrated successes from some of its members! The group will continue to meet the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month at the Beverly Senior Center. If you would like to refer someone to the program we ask that they speak to Teri or myself, Laurie before they attend the first meeting (978) 921-6017.

Meeting, February 11, 2010

2010-02-22T10:59:00.000-08:00

Thank you to the group for another great meeting. We had a full agenda and a good discussion.
At the meeting:

We went over our brochure, still working on final updates- hoping to finally have this complete by the end of the week!
The plan for the Clutterbug support group was discussed. Hoping to start the group on March 18th! Location to be determined, time 10-11:15 a.m.
The Regional Statewide Hoarding Committee is hosting a regional meeting at the Beverly Senior Center, the date will be Monday, March 22nd, time 9-11. Registration should have been sent to everyone on our listserv, if you did not receive an invitation please register at http://www.masshousing.com/
NS Elder Services funding to form a north shore task force was discussed. We will keep everyone updated on the time line and when we can expect to start working together
Information was shared regarding the Cape Ann Time Bank

Training Opportunity

2010-02-11T09:35:00.001-08:00

Friends of the School of Social Work 14th Annual Professional Development

Workshop
Buried in Treasures - Understanding and Treating Hoarding
Presented by Gail Steketee, PhD, MSW
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Veterans Hall, Ellison Campus Center

Salem, Massachusetts

9 am-1 pm
Earn 3.0 CEUs or PDPs

Attendees: $30
Current Salem State student: $15

Questions? Contact Alumni Affairs at

alumni@salemstate.edu or 978.542.7530.

Opportunity for help

2010-01-27T07:13:00.000-08:00

The production company, Discovery Studies, is putting together a documentary on hoarding. If you know of someone that is ready for help they will provide cleaning services and therapy in exchange for their willingness to tell their story. Please contact Candice at (240) 662-4163 asap.

Clutter Bug Meeting #2

2010-01-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

The second meeting of Clutter Bugs will be held on Tuesday, February 2nd at 10 a.m.
The group is still in the planning stages. Discussion will focus on how to model and structure the group.
Clutterbugs only at this meeting.

Beverly Hoarding Task Force.. in the Boston Globe

2010-01-15T10:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/01/10/when_clutter_turns_to_crisis/

If you are interested in attending a meeting of the Beverly Hoarding Task Force please contact Laurie Grant or Teri McDonough at the Beverly Senior Center (978) 921-6017.

Reminder the first meeting of Clutter Bugs will be held on at the Beverly Senior Center on Tuesday, January 19th at 10 a.m. Help us brainstorm and plan the group.

Meeting December 3, 2009

2009-12-22T07:33:00.000-08:00

The meeting started by welcoming Andrew De'Franza and Lindsey Staveley from Turtle Creek/Turtle Woods. Andrew and Lindsey informed the group about the supportive housing model at Turtle Creek/Turtle Woods. Resident's have the option of an on site care manager from Senior Care, Inc. to conduct an assessment of their needs to remain living independently. If care is needed, Associated Home Care is available as an option. There is also a 24-hour attendant, available to all residents, if needed. The goal of having on site care is to promote and ensure if residents want to, they have the opportunity readily available to age in place.

Thank you Andrew and Lindsay for your informative presentation and for welcoming the group to Turtle Creek/Turtle Woods- the coffee was a nice addition!

The group then discussed the upcoming group: Clutter Bugs. The first meeting, possibly first two meetings, will focus on gathering information from attendees and allow those that attend the chance to brainstorm and let us know what they need from a group.

The 1st brainstorming meeting of Clutter Bugs will be held on January 19th at 10 a.m. at the Senior Center. Please let Laurie know if you would like a flyer e-mailed or mailed to you. A second date, if needed, has been set for February 8th at 3 p.m.

The next Beverly Hoarding Task Force Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 11th at 9 a.m. at the Beverly Council on Aging

So far agenda items for that meeting include: Discussion of information gained from Clutter Bug meeting (s), we are inviting a speaker from the Cape Anne Time Bank to join us, items to add to our financial resources list, and time for roundtable discussion.

THANK YOU TO ALL PARTICIPANTS IN THE TASK FORCE!!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS and HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

Clutter Bugs

2009-10-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

Are you a clutter bug? Do you know someone who is?

The first clutter bug support group will be held

Tuesday, January 19th

10 a.m. at the Beverly Senior Center

(more info to follow)

October 8, 2009

2009-10-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

Meeting held at the Beverly Senior Center, 90 Colon Street, Beverly

Regionalizing was discussed:

next steps visiting Western MA meeting to see how they operate, their by-laws and structure. The proposed mission of the North Shore Hoarding Task Force: to provide education, awareness and resources on the issue of hoarding and to assist North Shore communities addressing this growing concern. A time frame was discussed- as Spring 2010.

Reviewed the goals of the task force:

1)to help agencies understand each others roles and limitations (access/confidentiality) and to develop procedures which allow better coordination between providers 2) to develop "at-a-glance" reference tool for first responders 3)to offer training to a cross section of the community-clients, families and professionals- about recognizing symptoms and implementing effective intervention strategies 4) to explore resources available in our community and produce/distribute list of providers. We Celebrated our Success ! 1) We continue to learn about available resources and each agencies role, inviting speakers to our meetings and updating each other on changes at our agencies 2) We do have a reference tool for 1st responders- distributed to police, fire and ambulance during the summer of 2008 3) We have, when asked given presentations and respond to calls each week from within and beyond Beverly (calls received from CA, D.C. .. and even London!) 4) We do have a resource list that is available and will be updated yearly

Goals for 2010:

Continue to meet, every other month- try to meet at different member locations in and around Beverly.

Offer a support group for individuals who hoard, monthly at the Senior Center - each member will be asked to help facilitate.

Develop a funding guide/hand-out, the members will think creatively to help people access funds, find help and available resources in these tough times.

Continue to invite interesting speakers to our meetings to attract more interest. Invite key people to our meetings, housing and Rep. Mary Grant.

Work towards a conference and regionalization of a North Shore Hoarding Task Force

Add PDF's to our blog- the resource list and other helpful hand-outs

Meeting: July 9, 2009

2009-10-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Attendees: Teri, Anne, Debbie, Cheryl, Susan, Dawn

Guest, Stephanie Schorow, working on article focusing on hoarding as public concern. Attending task force meetings in various communities.

Discussions around resource list distribution, finalizing brochure and task force expansion to regional group.

Outlined mission statement - to be finalized

Meeting June 11, 2009

2009-06-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

Attendees: Dawn, Diane, Anne, Naomi, Debbie, Teri, Kathy, Cheryl, Michelle, Susan, Miriam

Debbie brought the first 200 copies of the resource directory - many thanks for the efforts to get this out into your communities. Please stop by to pick up more if you'll be attending an event that you think would be a good opportunity to distribute. I'll also blast many groups on email to get it out on a greener circulation route. Send updates my way & we will aim to keep the info. current.

Anne will take a look at the brochure & I'll try to get an e- file out so that she can play with it a bit more.

Meeting May 14, 2009

2009-05-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

Attendees: Brian, Dawn, Michelle, Pat, Debbie and Teri.

Updates:

The resource list has been given to Debbie who has generously arranged for the initial batch to be photocopied. Hopefully at our next meeting, we'll be moving toward getting this important resource distributed into our communities, as this seems to be the greatest expressed need - who to call for assistance. If anyone has updates to the resource list, please send them to me via email or give me a call. This is a fluid document and the more current we can keep the information, the more helpful it will be to clients and providers.

The (very rough draft) of the brochure was distributed for review and I'll plan to bring that to next month's meeting as well as shoot an email out to our list - we are looking for feedback by the first week in July so that we can finalize that too.

A starter kit for beginning a local support group was requested from Clutterer's Anonymous.

The group discussed the expansion of the Task Force to include other communities on the North Shore and will look to begin hosting the meetings at various agencies/organizations to "cast a wider net." Please email or call with suggestions of other agencies that might like to be included in updates on our efforts/meetings. Also, if you know of a task force operating in your community, please forward the contact information to me for the group's chairperson(s). We'd really like this to be a coordinated effort and don't want to inadvertently overlook anyone.

The task force is working on planning our next conference and is looking for your thoughts on funding, venues to host, structure of the day, etc. Again, feel free to email these suggestions to me.

Next meeting:

Thursday, June 11, 2009 at Beverly Senior Center, 90 Colon Street, Beverly, MA

Meeting March 12, 2009

2009-03-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

Attendees: Susan K, Leslie, Cheryl, Laurie and Teri.

Reviewed and updated the resource list which will be finalized in the next couple of weeks by our NSCC student intern.

Cheryl discussed that trainings on hoarding sensitivity will take place in April and May for selected, contracted homecare agencies' supportive aides. This is through the Lifetime Association - a coalition of 6 ASAPs and will be presented by Merrimack Valley Elder Services.

The group had a good discussion about two training tracks:

1) direct service homecare providers and

2) clinicians

As part of further planning, it would be helpful to determine what the desired outcomes of training (i.e. trained facilitators for support groups, homemakers who are sensitive in effecting progress with hoarders) might be.

Laurie passed around information from Pink Sneakers Productions. They are looking for clients who are willing to share their story for a documentary series on hoarding for TLC Network. The group is now offering $500 in compensation. contact casting@pinksneakers.net for more information.

Teri spoke about Debbie MacGregor, Director of Community Awareness and Prevention Team for the Essex County District Attorney's office. We all agreed that Debbie's role is an important one and that it would be a good idea to partner with her and that the resources she could bring to the table would be very valuable. Debbie will plan to attend our next task force meeting, but some ideas discussed were: expanding/regionalizing the task force to include other North Shore communities; hosting a workshop to help raise awareness and educate first responders, direct service providers and other professionals about compulsive hoarding; copying and distribution of the resource list and/or brochure.

The group briefly discussed the idea of a fundraiser event - possibly a screening of the documentary film, "My Mother's Garden." http://www.mymothersgardenmovie.com/pages/trailer.html and hosting a support group for individuals who hoard and also family members.

Laurie will be presenting at the MassHousing/Lynn annual breakfast on how our task force works on Friday, April 3, 2009.

Committees will be a discussion at the next group meeting.

The next meeting will be held at the Beverly Council on Aging on May 14th at 9:00 a.m.

Meeting February 12th

2009-02-19T06:20:00.000-08:00

The meeting on February 12th welcomed some new members from PACE of the North Shore and the Tenant Preservation Program. We discussed the workshop and making it an even bigger event - which means spending some more time brainstorming and planning before we set an official date/time. An exciting idea that was brought up was to invite an entertainer to start out the program - we all agreed that you need to keep your sense of humor while working with families, especially your own.

Additional goals were set to work on revising the hoarding resourse list, hosting a support group for "treasure collecters" who want to declutter and the possibility of developing a web-site.

The group has been invited to present at the MassHousing Regional Meeting/Lowell on April 3, 2009. Teri will attend and encourages other members to check their schedules and join her.

The next meeting will be held on March 12th at 9 a.m. at Senior Care, Inc.

Workshop Postponed

2009-01-22T05:44:00.000-08:00

The workshop scheduled for Jan. 13th has been postponed to the Spring. We will discuss a new date at our February 12th meeting held at Senior Care, Inc.

Parenting Never Ends Workshop

2008-12-18T07:07:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
9:15 am - 11:30 am.
Beverly Senior Center 90 Colon St. Beverly, MA 01915

· Planning for successful multi-generational households

· Prevention and intervention for making it work and fixing existing mistakes

· Making sense of everyone’s “STUFF” and responsibilities

· Panel will include Cheryl Krisko, Director of Home Care and Diane Moses, Housing Specialist both of Senior Care Inc.; Sal Frontero, of Frontero Law Office; Mary Margaret Moore, Director of the Independent Living Center; Laurie Grant, Assistant Director, Beverly Council on Aging; Peter Gilmore and Cynthia McClorey, North Shore Community Mediation Program

· Time for questions/answers and resource sharing

Advance registration is required please stop by the Beverly Senior Center

or call (978) 921-6017.
(In the event of inclement weather please call the number listed above)

Please note some new resources...

2008-12-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

Check out Freecycle.org - you can list items you want to get rid of and people respond who need them.
Women of Faith with ADHD: Come find acceptance and understanding, A support group, facilitated by a clinical social worker and pastoral minister Christine Monterio, MSW, LICSW in Beverly. Contact 978-578-6820 for more information. Medicare/Mass Health, Blue Cross PPO accepted. Private fee is $25 per sessopn, or sliding scale.
Screaming Flea Production Inc. is creating a documentary television series that will provide a team of professionals to help Compulsive Hoarders. Contact Abby Lautt at (206) 763-3383 x239 or alautt@sfpseattle.com

Beverly Hoarding Task Force Updates

2008-10-31T07:47:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot of interest generated from our blog in the last two months. It is getting noticed and calls are coming in.... from all over the country.

Professor Soniat of Catholic University conducted an interview on our task force to include in her study on hoarding task forces
Chelsea Senior Services invited our task force to present at their city conference on November 12th. Teri will present.
Students from UCLA conducted an interview to find out more about what a city task force does
Family members have called for further information and resources

Our next meeting is Thursday, November 13th at 9 a.m. The agenda is as follows: Introductions, Discuss our upcoming January workshop (January 13th 10-11:15)- parenting never ends- finalize presenters and details, round table on current hoarding situations. Hope you can make it, please RSVP to Teri (978) 921-6017.

September 11th Meeting Notes

2008-09-26T05:54:00.000-07:00

We brainstormed the Parenting Never Ends Workshop. Notes were sent to all task force members, if you have something to add please e-mail Laurie at lgrant@beverlyma.gov. The workshop will be held in January - giving us November's meeting to brainstorm case scenerios and fine tune.

Cheryl Krisko is adding bio's from task force members to the blog- please e-mail your info to cheryl.krisko@seniorcareinc.org

Meeting on July 10, 2008

2008-07-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

A special thank you to Lynne Johnson who joined the group at our July 10th meeting. Lynne shared information on the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. Check out the web-site http://www.nsgcd.org/

It was discovered through our round table discussion that many agencies are experiencing an increase in the number of elders who are in one way or another supporting their adult children. The group decided to collaborate and plan a workshop in late Fall to support seniors who find themselves parenting once again. The workshop is our effort at early intervention to prevent senior's from finding themselves in difficult situations.

Brainstorming Ideas so far: a panel: legal, home making, housing options; provide a list of available resources, how to say no, if not working out; have a cake to celebrate parents; dealing with everyones stuff- clutter and hoarding issues; how can multiple families live under the same roof and make it successful; skills/tools to deal with children returning; seniors meet each other, a chance to talk and offer/receive support.

To do: List of possible presenters, possible funding sources, how to market event- who do we want to attend. Please post your ideas - we will discuss/finalize at the next meeting.

July 10th Meeting

2008-05-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 10th at 9 a.m. The group will welcome
Lynne Johnson, President of the MA National Organization of Chronic Disorganization and a Professional Organizer. Lynne will start at 9 a.m., so make sure you make it on time !!

Coffee and Refreshments will be served.

We're Back !!!

2008-04-15T08:20:00.001-07:00

We're back ! The Hoarding Task Force next meeting will be held on Thursday, May 8th at 9 a.m. I hope to see you all there, there is plenty to discuss and catch up on. RSVP to Laurie at (978) 921-6017 or RSVP on the blog under comments.

Agenda: May 8, 2008

Introductions and welcomes to new members
Discuss role of committees and projects for 2008
The First Responder Protcal business card is here ! Help distribute the cards to your organizations and package for Beverly Police/Fire/Ambulence.
May 14th showing of Pack Rat at the Beverly COA, community and professionals invited 1:30-3 p.m., discussion to follow. Volunteers needed to help with this event.

Committees

2007-12-06T09:44:00.001-08:00

The Task Force decided to form committees to help gather information and further support our mission. If you were not present at the November meeting, please think about which committee interest you. Committees will meet seperately and report back to the group at our task force meetings.

Education and Training: Ellen Ellis, Cheryl K., Suzanne

Support Group Development: Susan Kaplan, Deborah S.

Advocacy: Anne Springer

Fundraising: Diane Moses

First Responder Protocol

2007-11-26T08:34:00.000-08:00

First: Ask yourself Fire, Medical or Police Emergency? Call 911

Second: If emergency, secure the scene- do not allow anyone inside the living unit who is not listed above.

Third: Would you leave this person alone?

Address imminent danger:
Elder Protective Service 1-800-922-2275

Disabled Person Protection Commission 1-800-426-9009
Child Protective Services 1-800-543-7508

Animal Cruelty: MSPCA Hotline 1-800-628-5808

Fourth: Concerns about housing unit and animals?

Contact:
Health Department: 978-921-8591
Building Department: 978-921-6025
Fire Prevention: 978-927-2200
Animal Control: 978-921-6040
Fifth: After emergency concerns have been addressed

Reference:
http://www.beverlyhoardingtaskforce.blogspot.com/

Conference Evaluations "Knee Deep in Clutter" Conference held on June 19th at Beverly COA

2007-08-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to return the conference evaluations. We obtained some very good information.

The demographics of our attendees were as follows: There were social workers, protective services workers, case managers, public health personnel, nurses, elder services, housing, fire and ambulance personnel. Most worked for local municipalities or non-profits, with several people from state agencies, hospitals, and private businesses. People had worked an average of 12 years in their field. The vast majority attended because they had a personal interest in the topic and/or wanted to address the issue in their town.

Most respondents felt that they had learned something useful about hoarding, and that the presentations were relevant to their work. People were particularly interested in the research into the clinical and treatment aspects of the condition.

The most useful parts of the evaluations were the suggestions on the need for more information and work on the problem. These suggestions included: a list of specific resources/referrals for Essex County, more networking workshops, more information on treatment approaches/cognitive behavioral therapy, information on motivational interviewing, discussion on how to overcome resistance to treatment, and many other thought-provoking ideas. It is the hope of the City of Beverly Hoarding Task Force that we can use this blog as one forum to address some of these issues.

Our morning presenter: Dr. Randy O. Frost "Knee Deep in Clutter" Conference held on June 19th at Beverly COA

2007-08-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

Dr. Randy O. Frost is the Howard Edward and Elsa Siipola Israel Professor of Psychology at Smith College. He is an internationally known expert on obsessive-compulsive disorder and compulsive hoarding, as well as the pathology of perfectionism. He has published over 100 scientific articles and book chapters on these topics. His work has been funded by NIMH and the Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation. He has co-authored several books on hoarding including Compulsive Hoarding and Acquiring: Therapist Guide and an accompanying workbook as well as Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving and Hoarding (both published by Oxford University Press in 2007). His research has been featured on a variety of television and radio news shows including 20/20 Downtown, Good Morning America, Dateline, National Public Radio (general news as well as the award winning program The Infinite Mind), BBC News, and Canadian Broadcasting Company's The Nature of Things.

Dr. Frost's presentation was entitled "Buried in Treasures: Compulsive Hoarding and its Treatment". He gave an excellent overview of his many years of research on this topic.

To summarize, his definition of compulsive hoarding is: a) the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions b) living spaces that are sufficiently cluttered as to preclude their intended use c) significant distress or impairment caused by the clutter.

Dr. Frost then went on to describe the manifestations of hoarding: compulsive acquiring, compulsive saving and disorganization. Further information was given on the epidemiology of the disorder, its relation to other types of mental illness, demographics of sufferers, and the course of the illness.

He then presented his conceptual model of compulsive hoarding. The people he has studied have many similar core beliefs and vulnerabilities, information processing defecits, problems with emotional attachments, beliefs about possessions, and emotional reactions.

Dr. Frost's treatment approach entails a cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is detailed in his therapy manual and self-help book.

For more information on Dr. Frost's work, please refer to the links on the left side of this page.

Panel discussion "Knee Deep in Clutter" Conference held on June 19th at Beverly COA

2007-08-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

The morning portion of our conference included a panel discussion including: Christiana Bratiotis, MSW, Boston University; Jonathan Fielding, Protective Services Regional Manager, EOEA; and Paul Halfmann, Assistant Director Community Sanitation Program, MA Department of Public Health.

Ms. Bratiotis focused on the role that collaboration plays when more than one agency is involved in a hoarding case. Hoarding cases are time consuming and expensive. Collaboration is a good way to share information and resources, make a coordinated plan to work with a hoarder, and provide support to the members of each agency involved. Aspects of a plan might include deciding which agency will respond in which situation, and who is in charge of each case. Community task forces are a good way to coordinate care and provide training and community education. Some task forces designate one agency to do case triage.

Mr. Fielding described the role that the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) plays in neglect, abuse and self-neglect cases. For the most part, local agencies are in charge of individual cases, and EOEA oversees those agencies. He helped to define abuse and neglect cases as those where people are not having their daily basic needs met. However, if someone is deemed competent, they are not required to accept services, and often the service agency must walk away.

Mr. Halfmann described the state Department of Public Health's role in hoarding cases. Their role is primarily to advise the local health department, not to interact directly on individual cases. The local health department enforces Chapter II of the State Sanitary code in these situations. One important point that Mr. Halfmann made is that health department personnel may not enter a person's home without the occupant's permission.

Our afternoon presenter: Dr. Cristina Sorrentino "Knee Deep in Clutter" Conference held on June 19th at Beverly COA

2007-07-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

Dr. Cristina Sorrentino is Project Director and Psychotherapist at the Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW). she received her PhD in cognitive science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998. She was a post-doctoral fellow and then a research associate in psychology at New York University and later at Stanford University, studying child cognitive and language development. She earned her MSW at the Boston University School of social Work in 2005 and joined Dr. gail Steketee's treatment and research group in June 2005. In addition to carrying out treatment of and research about compulsive hoarding, she provides community lectures and agency trainings on compulsive hoarding. Her most recent lecture was a talk for elders entitled, "Creating Space: Some Ideas about Organizing One's Home and Letting go" for the MGH Senior HealthWISE talk series. Dr. Sorrentino has also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the BUSSW and taught the research foundation seminar over the past two years. She is currently co-authoring a book on human services and hoarding with Christiana Bratiotis, MSW, and Dr. Steketee.