OPTIMISTIC Resource Center Planning Grant

Grant Summary

This planning grant will assist in the preparation for dissemination of OPTIMISTIC, a model of care providing medical, transitional, and palliative care for older adults residing in nursing homes. Long-stay nursing home residents suffer from high rates of multiple chronic illnesses and dementia. Despite their needs and frailty, their care is often fragmented by hospitalizations, rehospitalizations, and inadequate primary and palliative care in the facilities, which increases suffering and costs of care. As part of a major federal initiative to improve care in nursing homes and reduce rehospitalizations, Indiana University’s OPTIMISTIC program has developed and implemented an intervention program led by long-time Hartford Foundation grantees Kathleen Unroe, MD, and Greg Sachs, MD. The grant will support an enhanced evaluation and development of training materials, as well as planning for marketing and business sustainability.