Ever since I began working as a program officer at the John A. Hartford Foundation, I’ve tried to do my best to put myself in the shoes of the health professionals with whom we’ve worked and whose education and training historically has been one of our main concerns. I’ve often…
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While many of our legacy grant programs continue to support the development of leaders in the field of aging and health research and education (see this week’s earlier Health AGEnda post about our latest Hartford/VA social work research scholars), new and growing investments under the John A. Hartford Foundation’s current…
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Under the mentorship of top-tier geriatric social work researchers, a new cohort of Hartford/VA Scholars will tackle such vital topics as physical activity among veterans, transitions from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) nursing facilities back into the community, and post-traumatic stress disorder in older veterans. The Hartford/VA Scholars Program…
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I bet every reader of Health AGEnda knows someone who is a family caregiver (many see one every day in the mirror). And I bet every family member or friend providing care to an older adult who needs assistance because of chronic disease or frailty has their stories of good…
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Yesterday, the New York Times had an interesting piece looking at the star rating system that Medicare has been using to evaluate long-term care facilities. Coincidentally, I was moved to learn that a family friend, my “Aunt Betsy,” has been in an institution for going on 10 years, exceeding almost…
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published Aug. 15 on the Health Affairs Blog. Jessie Gruman: "an elegant, gracious, yet fierce warrior advocate." Jessie Gruman, founding president of the Center for Advancing Health, died on July 14 after a fifth bout with cancer. Jessie was a hero to patients, families…
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Daniella Schocken, a student at the Icahn School, presents on her research on a Mount Sinai emergency department program that deploys EMTs to help older adults transition home after hospitalization. What did you do for summer vacation? While many of us head to the beach or elsewhere to relax…
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Recently, while spending some time with my sister and her kids, I had the pleasure of overhearing a conversation between my eight-year-old son, Westley, and his six-year-old cousin, Beckett. It went like this: Westley: [Exasperated] Beckett, you knoooow I can’t read minds. Beckett: Times up! [Dramatic pause] I was thinking…
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Before starting my internship with the John A. Hartford Foundation, the notion of improving health outcomes while decreasing costs appeared implausible. Securing strong patient-centered care for a loved one had to come at an extra expense—a large price tag for both the individual, his family, and the institution administering the…
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The most potent risk factor for heart disease is aging, according to the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Given how rapidly our population is aging, that’s sobering news indeed, especially when you consider that clinical practice guidelines rarely apply to older adults with multiple chronic conditions. That means regardless of…
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