This is the first in a series of six Health AGEnda posts on the 2014 Annual Report.At the John A. Hartford Foundation, we like to say that our job is not to make grants, but rather to make change.
Making systemic, large-scale practice change is the idea behind the John A. Hartford Foundation Change AGEnts Initiative, which is featured in our 2014 annual report. We approach our annual reports a bit differently than many other organizations. Rather than just recounting our grants and financial statements for the past year, we prefer to focus on one facet of our work and explore it in-depth.
We are very pleased to present our 2014 annual report, which focuses on the Hartford Change AGEnts initiative as a useful prism through which to understand our strategies for improving care of older adults. We hope you will read it, be inspired by the Hartford Change AGEnts you meet within, and think about ways you can contribute to better care for our aging nation.
At the Foundation, we always try to think carefully and creatively about our philanthropic resources and how they can best be used. In 2012, we thought very, very carefully about our work as we engaged in an in-depth strategic planning process. This resulted in our current formula for creating change—five convergent strategies that we believe, together, will lead to more coordinated, comprehensive, continuous care that utilizes aging expertise to improve health outcomes for older adults and increase value in our health care system.
The strategies described in the report are:
- Interprofessional Leadership in Action, which strengthens leaders with expertise in care of older adults, such as Change AGEnts, who we believe should be at the forefront of health care delivery transformation.
- Linking Education and Practice,so that those who care for older adults today are trained in the best care, and educational systems prepare tomorrow’s workforce for an aging population.
- Developing and Disseminating Models of Care, which continues our long-standing work to develop and widely spread evidence-based models of care that achieve better health outcomes for older people at lower costs.
- Tools and Measures for Quality Care, which supports the right health care infrastructure needed to be effective, including the right health IT.
- Policy and Communications, which supports our other work by informing and influencing policies and practices that can improve care for older adults and their families.
Our planning process also led us to one of our most creative endeavors ever, the Hartford Change AGEnts Initiative, a program launched in late 2013 that embodies these five interrelated strategies and represents our hope for creating widespread and systemic change. As you will see in our interactive web-based version of the annual report, the Change AGEnts program harnesses the collective strengths, resources, and expertise of the Foundation’s large interprofessional community of scholars, clinicians, service providers, and health system leaders, which the initiative aims to support and connect through a wide range of activities. (We also have a PDF version available to read or download.)
In future blog posts we will highlight the stories and videos of the Hartford Change AGEnts featured in the annual report as just a few examples of the many incredibly dedicated experts in care of older adults who we work with to create change.
These Hartford Change AGEnts are working in interprofessional teams to take the best evidence and put it into practice, making sure they understand and incorporate the experience of stakeholders in their work, including older adults and their families. They also are challenging themselves to develop new skills necessary for practice change, ranging from learning to speak the language of CFOs, to using the power of stories to influence stakeholders, to taking on new roles in advocacy and policy change.
Attendees at the first Hartford Change AGEnts conference in December 2014 participate in one of the opening sessions.There is a great opportunity right now for you to learn some of these skills, connect with other Hartford Change AGEnts, and help set the agenda for the future of the initiative. But you’ll have to act fast. Brief Statements of Interest are due tomorrow for the 2015 Hartford Change AGEnts conference in Philadelphia, to be held on Dec. 1-3.
If you are interested in connecting with like-minded Hartford Change AGEnts who share your passion and expertise for improving care of older adults, the 2015 Change AGEnts conference is for you.
The theme that runs throughout our 2014 annual report is “Creating Change Every Day.” That’s what we strive to do.
We hope you will take a few minutes to read the annual report and watch the inspiring videos, and then join us in Philadelphia with a renewed commitment to create change every day.