This is the last in a three-part Health AGEnda series on the Hartford Foundation’s 2013 Annual Report: Spreading Innovation Through Collaboration.
Collaboration is everything—creating meaningful and measurable change rarely, if ever, happens in a vacuum.
Here at the John A. Hartford Foundation, we recognize the importance of forging longstanding relationships. Identifying, nurturing, and sustaining productive partnerships have been a critical element of Hartford’s success.
While we are thrilled to celebrate these defining partnerships in our 2013 Annual Report, it is important that we do not rest on our laurels, but instead focus on the future. Given that 10,000 people are turning 65 every day, there is an increasingly urgent need to improve care for the elderly through the restructuring of programs that are dated but viable, and the innovation of new care delivery channels.
In 2012, the Hartford Foundation refined its strategic vision from its signature academic capacity building to a dedication to influencing change in the health care practices that underpin the health of aging Americans. With this transition to what we refer to as a “downstream” model of grantmaking, the Foundation continues to be guided by the bedrock principles—outlined in our previous 2013 Annual Report blog posts “Spreading Innovation Through Collaboration” and “The Power of Partnerships” —that have proved successful in harnessing the knowledge and expertise of individuals.
The Hartford Change AGEnts Initiative, the Partners in Care Foundation, and the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI) represent innovative partnerships that are putting geriatric expertise to work in health care delivery and the practice change environment.
Hartford Change AGEnts Initiative
The Hartford Change AGEnts Initiative builds on past successes and represents the future of partnerships aimed at improving the health of aging Americans, their families, and communities. “I think collaboration is at the crux of this initiative, in that Change AGEnts is bringing together people with different expertise, professional knowledge, and skills to help advance change in a whole variety of healthcare settings,” says Laura N. Gitlin, PhD, director of the Center for Innovative Care in Aging at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and member of the new Change AGEnts Initiative leadership team.
In partnership with the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the Change AGEnts Initiative leverages the Foundation’s powerful network of more than 3,000 interprofessional scholars and grantees through two main programmatic elements—the Change AGEnts Community and the Change AGEnts Networks . Both components encourage information exchange from a myriad of interprofessional experts who are inspired by moving geriatric knowledge into practice.
The initiative brings people together to form innovative and powerful partnerships dedicated to advancing the care of older adults. The Change AGEnts rely on a shifting amalgam of contributions that reflect the rapidly changing health care environment. “It’s also quite frankly aligned with the change we need. We simply can’t wait for another change to happen. We have to start making it happen now,” notes James C. Appleby, executive director and CEO of GSA.
Partners in Care Foundation
In an effort to address our often fragmented health care system, the Partners in Care Foundation is developing a large-scale, prototype network that links community-based, social service agencies to the health care sector. This ambitious project provides an opportunity to break down barriers and establish an integrated health care and social services delivery system. June Simmons, MSW, president and CEO of the Partners in Care Foundation, calls this initiative a “transformational redesign of health care reimbursement.”
Due to the nature of developing such an innovative and comprehensive network, securing the widespread support of partnerships is imperative. As part of the grant, the longtime Hartford grantee is also collaborating with Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley and Hebrew SeniorLife to develop a second network in Massachusetts. The U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL) also serves as a non-funding partner offering technical assistance and training. Together, the partners are striving to align the vision of delivery systems in an effort to find a common, integrated solution. The Partners in Care Foundation is proving that collaboration can truly extend the reach and impact of their work for change.
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute
The Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI) is the leading authority on direct care workers—a a low-wage workforce that provides more than 70 percent of the long-term care for older adults in the United States. The institute seeks to improve the lives of certified nurse aides, home health aides, and personal care workers and improve the quality of care delivered to their clients. The Hartford Foundation and the F.B. Heron Foundation, an anti-poverty philanthropy dedicated to providing better employment opportunities for the economically disadvantaged, have a shared commitment to the work of PHI. Hartford has committed to a total of $1.6 million while the Heron Foundation has invested $1.5 million in 2013 to help launch a five-year, $9 million “philanthropic equity” campaign.
The partners hope to strengthen PHI and reinforce its mission to provide better working conditions, wages, and training for the direct care workforce. “Billions and billions of dollars are publicly spent on this frontline workforce, and yet, for lots of different reasons, the system doesn’t really pay attention to the workforce and doesn’t take advantage of the investment it’s making,” says Jodi M. Sturgeon, PHI’s president. Improving the quality of direct care jobs will in turn improve the quality of care for older adults.
For more than two decades, the Hartford Foundation has been developing faculty expertise and academic programs that are dedicated to the advancement of better geriatric care. Now, through partnerships embodied in programs like those of the Change AGEnts Initiative, the Partners in Care Foundation, and PHI, the Foundation is taking geriatrics expertise and putting it to work in changing health care practice.
We hope you enjoyed our three-part blog series on our 2013 Annual Report: Spreading Innovation Through Collaboration, and we encourage you to read the full report to gain a better understanding of the many ways partnerships can help bring about meaningful and lasting change to improve the health of older Americans.
Read Part I—The 2013 Hartford Foundation Annual Report: Spreading Innovation Through Collaboration
Read Part II—The 2013 Hartford Foundation Annual Report: The Power of Partnerships