Reflection for National Skilled Care Nursing Week

Prayer for National Skilled Nursing Care Week

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Advocating Greater Partnerships to Care for Elderly

Improving the Lives of Older Adults through Faith Community Partnerships: Healing Body, Mind and Spirit
This booklet makes the case for greater partnership between health care organizations and faith communities in service to the elder populations they serve. It provides examples of current partnerships, suggestions for how to get started and shares relevant websites and resources.

• Download a PDF
• Order copies

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CHA Eldercare Resources — Visit our Online Store to obtain resources designed for Catholic health care organizations that serve the elderly.

Resources include:

Facing the Final Frontier. Opportunities and Challenges of Managing Long-Term Care for an Aging Population by Howard Gleckman of the Urban Institute.

States and the federal government are moving rapidly towards Managed Long-Term Supports and Services (MLTSS) — a broad set of initiatives aimed at expanding managed health care to include personal assistance and other services for the frail elderly and younger people with disabilities. In many models, fee-for-service reimbursement would be replaced by capitated, risk-based arrangements where Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and their health and long-term care partners work together to control costs and improve outcomes through fully integrated care.

Currently, most MLTSS initiatives are focused on the Medicaid population, particularly those dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Fully integrated care has great, but largely unproved, potential.

This paper, authored by Howard Gleckman of the Urban Institute, explores the scope of current MLTSS initiatives, their potential impact on patients and providers, and the opportunities and challenges they present. It includes two case studies and is available hardcopy or for electronic download.

Download a copy
Order hardcopies (free with free shipping)

Hospital Readmissions – Challenges and Opportunities for Catholic Senior Service — This article by Howard Gleckman of The Urban Institute was published in the September-October 2012 edition of CHA's journal, Health Progress. Commissioned by the Catholic Health Association, the article, originally titled New Readmission Laws: Catholic Providers are Positioned to Lead, examines the most common causes of avoidable readmissions from long-term care facilities to hospitals and ways these facilities can reduce these types of readmissions.
Download a copy
Order online

Crossing the Continuum – Integrating Senior Care in Catholic Health Systems — This paper by Howard Gleckman of The Urban Institute, titled Integrating Catholic Health Systems and Elder Care: New Models That Cross the Continuum, examines the value and feasibility of well-coordinated, fully-integrated models of care, especially for seniors and others dealing with chronic disease. Authored in 2010, specific topics it addresses include what integration is/looks like,  the benefits of integration and how organizations can successfully deliver integrated care. It includes numerous case study examples.
Download a copy
Order online

Catholic Eldercare — A Life-Giving Experience

This resource describes and celebrates care of older persons in Catholic-sponsored health care organizations. This resource can be used in recruiting management and staff, as a reflection piece in meetings, and shared with associates to recognize their important work.

• Order information. Free for CHA members!
• Access a .pdf of this resource
• How to use this resource

 

Living Well with Serious Illness
The Catholic Health Association developed this updated and refreshed guide to learn about the range of support that is available to patients and families to help them live as well as possible during serious illness. It is part of a series of publications that was created in collaboration with physicians, nurses, theologians and ethicists within Catholic health care to help people of all ages, backgrounds, religious traditions and beliefs make important decisions about serious illness and end-of-life care.

Order in the CHA Store
» Download PDF: English |  Spanish

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Teachings of the Catholic Church on Caring for People at the End of Life
The Catholic Health Association has developed this guide in collaboration with physicians, nurses, theologians and ethicists within Catholic health care. It is based on frequently asked questions to help patients, families and clinicians think about end-of-life decisions regarding medical treatments and care. Although the guide reflects the perspective of Catholic tradition, the information is helpful to people from any religious tradition.

Order in the CHA Store
» Download the PDF: English |  Spanish

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Advocacy and Public Policy

Use the links below to access CHA's issue briefs and communications on continuum of care policy issues:

• Aging and Chronic Care Services
• Medicare
• Faith-Based and Ethical Concerns

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Other Related CHA Resources

Social Accountability/Community Benefit — CHA's A Guide for Planning and Reporting Community Benefit provides a framework for planning, implementing and reporting community benefit. One chapter is devoted to the needs of long-term care facilities. See link below.

Social Accountability and the Long-Term Care Continuum — Definitions of Community Benefit Services for Homes and Services for the Aging are at the end of this document.

Understanding and Applying the Ethical and Religious Directives — an interactive educational module that covers important aspects of the Directives.

Mission Integration Resources — resources that may be of interest to organizations that offer continuum of care services include:

• Innovations in Pain Management — successful practices from ministry organizations
• Spirituality in the Workplace — resources to help staff integrate spirituality with their work

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Other Resources

Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition
National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine Report (April 2022)
Action Plans