Buffalo, NY – July 12, 2022 – The Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc. announced today that it is part of a movement to improve health care for older adults, contributing to a goal of continuing to expand and grow Age-Friendly care.
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.
The interventions can be tested and adapted by participating in Age-Friendly Health Systems Action Communities. These collaborative initiatives bring together health care teams committed to sharing data and learning together. All teams strive toward reliably implementing Age-Friendly best practices across emergency departments, intensive care units, medical-surgical units, general wards, and primary and specialty care settings.
The Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc. now joins an international group of more than 2,700 health systems working to tailor care to patients’ goals and preferences and to deliver care that is consistently of the highest quality.
“The Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc. has always been at the forefront of patient care, and that’s why we are participating in this vital movement. We look forward to both sharing our best practices and learning what’s working for others proving Age-Friendly care,” said Dr. Kenyani Davis, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc. “The Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative is an important part of our overarching vision to provide every older adult with the best care possible.”
The 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, and 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 and manage dementia, depression, and delirium across settings of care.
- Mobility: Ensure that older adults move safely every day in order to maintain function and do What Matters.
The Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc. took a bold step to add an additional “M” termed Multicomplexity for patients with complex or chronic illnesses to ensure optimal functioning and the best health outcomes.
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.
