Creating Age-Friendly Health Systems

Overview

The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) are partnering on the Creating Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative. The goal of the initiative is to develop an Age-Friendly Health Systems model and rapidly spread the model to 20 percent of U.S. hospitals and health systems by 2020.

Five U.S. health systems participating in the Creating Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative will test and scale up the prototype model in their organizations. They include three Catholic ministries: Ascension, Trinity Health and Providence St. Joseph Health. Find more information about the initiative on the John A. Hartford Foundation and American Hospital Association websites. 

As this initiative takes shape, CHA will provide timely updates and articles on this page. For additional information, please contact Indu Spugnardi, CHA's senior director, community health & eldercare

View a map of hospitals, practices, and nursing homes recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as Age-Friendly Health Systems Participants

The Four Ms

The initial focus of the health systems participating in the initiative will be four high-level interventions (referred to as the "4 Ms"):

  • What Matters: Understand and actively support what matters to older adults
  • Mobility: Review mobility plans for each patient
  • Medications: Discuss whether medications are unnecessary or potentially harmful
  • Mentation: Improve mentation by addressing problems like dementia, delirium, and depression
4ms

Age-Friendly Health System
Introducing The 4Ms Framework for an Age-Friendly Health System
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age-friendly
Book: Age-Friendly Health Systems - A Guide to Using the 4Ms While Caring for Older Adults
The John A. Hartford Foundation (JAHF) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) have released a comprehensive guide for healthcare professionals, "Age-Friendly Health Systems: A Guide to Using the 4Ms While Caring for Older Adults." The book tells the story of the initiative in over 2,500 health systems and contains guides, tools and charts that can be adopted by health care systems.
Order the book
Learn more about the initiative