Age Friendly Health Systems

Quality & Patient Safety

• • Quality & Patient Safety Home Page
  • Age Friendly Health Systems
  • Clinical Peer Support Learning Community
  • EQIC
  • Patient and Family Engagement
  • Rural Health Quality Improvement Network
  • NH Health Care Quality & Patient Safety Commission

Age-Friendly Health Systems

Age-friendly health care is an urgent need. There are more than 46 million Americans age 65 and over, and that number is projected to double to more than 98 million by 2060.

Committed to addressing the unique healthcare needs of older adults, the Foundation for Healthy Communities and the New Hampshire Hospital Association joined the American Hospital Association in support of its Age-Friendly Health Systems Initiative which addresses the needs of the elderly population by identifying and sharing lessons learned across the care continuum to improve key outcome measures for this vulnerable population, such as readmissions, falls and patient experience.

The Age-Friendly Health System framework is structured around the 4Ms which help hospitals and health systems create age-friendly environments:  what MATTERS to the patient and family; using age-friendly MEDICATIONS that don’t interfere with mobility, mentation or what matters; focusing on MENTATION by preventing, identifying and treating conditions like dementia, depression and delirium appropriately; and ensuring safe MOBILITY among older adults so that they can maintain and improve function.

Age-Friendly Health Systems is an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA). Additional information and resources about the Age Friendly Health Systems Initiative and 4Ms Framework can be found at Institute for Healthcare Improvement.