Steven Dawson of PHI addresses the briefing on direct care workers held recently by Philanthropy New York. The health of any given community is fragile and complex. It is greater than the sum of individual health outcomes or access to care. The health of a community rests upon an…
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From left, Dziadzia, Rachael Watman, and Rachael's grandmother in 1971. My grandfather, Albert Chura, was born on Valentine’s Day in 1907, on a boat en route to the United States from Poland. His family wanted to make a better life in America. And after a lifetime of doing so…
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From left, Nora OBrien-Suric, Carol J. Sheets, and Darla Spence Coffey, at Carol's Retirement Tea. We at the John A. Hartford Foundation value partnerships and especially the people who help establish them. Early in 2010, I met Carol J. Sheets, LICSW, ACSW, national director of social work within the…
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Over the weekend, Gina Kolata, a New York Times health reporter, wrote a piece on the work of the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) that was created as part of health reform to test potential improvements in health care organization and delivery. Interestingly, the slant on the…
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Dr. Timothy W. Farrell, right, from the video series depicting a patient undergoing transitions of care across different locations of care. It happens all too often: Older adults “fall through the cracks” of the health care system. They fall victim to bad transitions of care due to a host…
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Having lived in New York City for many years now, I’ve grown used to the blare of ambulance sirens. Still, when I hear one go by, I sometimes find myself saying a little prayer of hope that the patient onboard makes it OK through the insane city traffic. These past…
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Because I spent nearly 30 years as a flight attendant for a major airline, and I now work for a not-for-profit foundation devoted to improving health care for older people, I often find myself comparing airlines and hospitals. After someone close to me experienced major problems in a hospital over…
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Diane E. Meier, MD Today is our 500th blog post on Health AGEnda. In another few months, we will have been working on this project for five years. We wanted today’s post to be special—and special for us means to be about better care for older adults and how…
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For 20 years, the Hartford Centers of Excellence (CoE) in Geriatric Medicine have been supporting the development of geriatrician faculty at schools of medicine across the country. These scholars have become researchers, educators, and clinicians, helping transform academic medicine to better prepare the next generation of physicians to care for…
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There is something about a Grand Challenge—from climbing Mount Everest to sending a manned mission to the moon to conquering polio—that stirs the imagination and inspires our best efforts. So I’m thrilled that the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) is engaging the public in helping to…
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