VA Boston participates in national Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative
PRESS RELEASE
December 26, 2023
BOSTON , MA — VA Boston Healthcare System’s Home-Based Primary Care team was recognized as an Age-Friendly Health System participant Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023.
As part of the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, the John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States, are helping hospitals and other care settings implement a set of evidence-based interventions specifically designed to improve care for older adults.
VA Boston’s HBPC team joins an international group of more than 2,700 health systems working to tailor care to patients’ goals and preferences, implementing age-friendly best practices across emergency departments, intensive care units, medical-surgical units, general wards, and primary and specialty care settings.
“Sharing our best practices and learning what works for others who provide age-friendly care in a home setting is an essential part of what we do, and being part of this program will help us take it to the next level,” said Dr. Brian Green, medical director for HBPC at VA Boston.
The Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative is based on a series of practices focused on addressing four essential elements of care for older patients:
- What Matters: Know and align care with each older adult's specific health outcome goals and care preferences including, but not limited to, end-of-life care, and across settings of care.
- Medication: If medication is necessary, use Age-Friendly medications that do not interfere with What Matters to the older adult, Mobility or Mentation across settings of care.
- Mentation: Prevent, identify, treat, and manage dementia, depression and delirium across settings of care.
- Mobility: Ensure that older adults move safely every day to maintain function and do What Matters.
About the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative
The Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative was launched in 2017 by The John A. Hartford Foundation and IHI, in partnership with the American Hospital Association and Catholic Health Association of the US. For more information, visit www.ihi.org/agefriendly
About VA Boston Healthcare System
VA Boston HCS consists of main campuses in Brockton, Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury, Mass., with VA outpatient clinics in Lowell, Quincy, Framingham, Plymouth and Boston. The system offers comprehensive healthcare and services, including primary care, mental health, vision care, surgery, rehabilitation services, oncology and diagnostic imaging, as well as emergency services, pharmacy, long-term care and a spinal cord injury unit. VA Boston HCS also hosts the Behavioral Science and Women’s Health Sciences divisions of the National Center for PTSD, and a research center of excellence in PTSD and traumatic brain injury. The West Roxbury campus serves as the principal tertiary inpatient medical center for VA New England. Together, VA Boston HCS facilities care for more than 60,000 Veterans from the greater Boston area and across New England. For more information, visit www.boston.va.gov