New Grants Totaling Over $6.4 Million Approved by JAHF Board of Trustees
The John A. Hartford Foundation Board of Trustees has approved $6,412,512 for four grants that include initiatives to spread equitable, age-friendly care through organizational collaborations and advance a new conversation about aging in America.
USAging (formerly the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging) Aging and Disability Business Institute, Phase III: Advancing Equity and Excellence through Sustainable Networks and Partnerships ($2,880,522 for 3 years)
Health happens in homes and communities. U.S. health systems are increasingly recognizing this by focusing on social determinants, which account for over 80 percent of a person’s health. This grant, co-funded with The SCAN Foundation, will continue support for the Aging and Disability Business Institute at USAging, which builds the skills of community-based social service organizations to more effectively partner with health systems, plans and public health to improve the health and well-being of older adults in the communities in which they live. This phase of work will capitalize on the Foundation’s effort to organize an Age-Friendly Ecosystem and enhance capacity of aging and disability community-based organizations and networks of organizations to equitably serve older adults, people with disabilities and family caregivers by partnering with health systems and public health.
The American Hospital Association, Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET): Spreading the Age-Friendly Health Systems Social Movement ($2,293,409 for 40 months)
This grant aims to leverage the significant influence and capacities of the American Hospital Association (AHA) to improve the care of older adults by developing leaders and engaging more hospitals and health systems in the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement. The AHA will support three Age-Friendly cohorts of 12 clinical and system leaders per year in its Next Generation Leaders program. In collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, AHA will engage its members to join Action Communities, which are seven-month learning collaboratives with coaching to implement evidence-based practices based on the essential elements of Age-Friendly care—what Matters, Medication, Mentation and Mobility.
Gerontological Society of America (GSA): Establishing the National Center to Frame Aging: Advancing a New Conversation about Aging in America ($1,143,891 for 3 years)
This grant will continue support of the Reframing Aging initiative, which works to counter the pervasive negative beliefs about aging that are barriers to improving the care of older adults in the United States. In prior phases, eight national aging organizations (including GSA) partnered with the non-profit FrameWorks Institute to conduct rigorous research and develop tools to change the public’s understanding of aging. In this next phase, GSA will expand its role as the go-to resource hub for the field, implement a robust communications strategy and develop new partnerships, including with age-friendly initiatives. The center will also assist in dissemination of new recommendations to reframe nursing home care. The initiative is co-funded by the Archstone Foundation, RRF Foundation for Aging and The SCAN Foundation.
NORC at the University of Chicago: Evaluation Design Plan for The Center for Discovery (TCFD) ($94,690 for 4 months)
This grant will support NORC, an independent research institution, to evaluate an innovative model of care that incorporates a person’s medical, educational, nutritional, residential, creative and recreational needs developed by The Center for Discovery (TCFD), which is expanding its services to older adults. NORC will conduct intensive information gathering from TCFD’s stakeholders and help TCFD determine pilot eligibility criteria, outreach, enrollment, as well as baseline costs of care, including housing, medical care and care coordination. Building on TCFD’s long history of working with people with intellectual disabilities, TCFD and NORC will highlight health equity to ensure the TCFD pilot reaches a wide range of older adults.
