Hartford Foundation Trustees Approve Three Grants Totaling $6.06 Million
The John A. Hartford Foundation has approved three grants totaling $6.06 million to improve the health of older adults in support of its new strategic plan focused on putting geriatrics expertise to work in health care delivery and practice. The Board of Trustees awarded a three-year, $5,062,819 grant to the Gerontological Society of America to create the Hartford Change AGEnts Initiative, which will capitalize on the strengths, resources, and expertise of the more than 1,000 nurses, social workers, and physicians the Foundation has supported over the past 20 years. The Trustees also awarded a two-year, $584,150 grant to Community Catalyst, a national leader in involving consumers in transforming health care, to support the engagement of geriatrics experts in its Voices for Better Health project to advocate for evidence-based, high-quality health plans for dually eligible beneficiaries of Medicare and Medicaid. And the Board approved an 18-month, $415,422 grant to the National Committee for Quality Assurance to support the first stage of a multi-phase initiative that will develop outcomes-based performance measures to improve the quality and experience of care for dually enrolled Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries.
In support of the John A. Hartford Foundation’s new strategic vision to make change in health care practice that improves the health of older adults, the Board of Trustees awarded a three-year, $5,062,819 grant to the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) in Washington, D.C., to create the Hartford Change AGEnts Initiative, capitalizing on the strengths, resources, and expertise of the more than 1,000 nurses, social workers, and physicians the Foundation has supported over the past 20 years. GSA will provide the infrastructure and partner with two national leaders in practice change—Laura N. Gitlin, PhD, and Nancy A. Whitelaw, PhD—to create a two-tiered approach. First, Hartford grantees – past, present, and future – will receive support and training to mobilize for action through the development of a Change AGEnts Community. Secondly, small-group, interdisciplinary Change AGEnt Networks will focus on specific priority areas related to improving the health of older adults. The overall initiative will engage, connect, educate and inspire at least 500 Change AGEnts through participation in conferences, Webinars, an AGEnts website, pilot grants, and the practice and policy-focused AGEnts Networks to lead changes in health care delivery that will improve the health of older adults.
The Trustees also awarded a two-year, $584,150 grant to Community Catalyst, Inc., a national leader in involving consumers in transforming health care, to support the engagement of geriatrics experts in its Voices for Better Health project to advocate for evidence-based, high-quality health plans for dually eligible beneficiaries of Medicare and Medicaid. More than 9 million older and disabled individuals nationwide are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, with two-thirds over age 65. They are poorer and sicker than the general population, and their complex needs make their health care very costly. The grant, which leverages a $3 million award from The Atlantic Philanthropies, will enable the selection of at least 10 geriatrics health care leaders in five target states to serve as advocates for high-quality integrated care plans that substantially improve the lives of vulnerable older adults. They will accomplish this goal by serving as spokespeople and recruiters of other health care professionals, making presentations to advocates and health plans on geriatric care topics, participating in meetings with state and federal policymakers, and drafting issue briefs and op-ed pieces to inform the health care provider community and the general public about the need for quality geriatric care for the dual Medicaid/Medicare population.
And the Board approved an 18-month, $415,422 grant to the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) in Washington, D.C., to support the first stage of a multi-phase initiative that will develop outcomes-based performance measures to improve the quality and experience of care for dually enrolled Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries. The NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization that has worked for more than two decades to drive quality improvement nationally through evolving measures and assessments of care structures, processes, and outcomes. In the first phase of this initiative, the NCQA will examine care plans and patient records and interview providers, patients, and families to identify best practices and articulate measures for evaluating goal-directed, person-centered assessment and care planning for Medicare/Medicaid individuals. This work will compliment and converge with the advocacy work of Community Catalyst, Inc.’s Voices for Better Health project. The SCAN Foundation has already committed a total of $425,929 in matching funds to the initiative.
