Improving health care for older persons.

Area of Science:

• Geriatric Medicine
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Aging Research

Background:

• High-quality healthcare is essential for successful aging.
• Current healthcare improvement efforts often focus on specific diseases, are underfunded, and lack evidence of efficacy.
• Fewer initiatives target improving care for specific patient groups in particular settings, like hospitalized older adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine efforts to improve healthcare quality, particularly for hospitalized older persons.
• To highlight successful models for enhancing comprehensive outcomes in older adults.
• To propose a research agenda for advancing successful aging through healthcare quality improvements.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing efforts to improve healthcare quality.
• Analysis of three complementary approaches: Geriatric Evaluation and Management, Acute Care for Elders, and the Elder Life Program.
• Focus on redesigning microsystems of care for hospitalized older persons.

Main Results:

• Conventional disease-specific treatments are often underfunded and lack strong evidence.
• Redesigning care microsystems can improve comprehensive outcomes for hospitalized older adults.
• Geriatric Evaluation and Management, Acute Care for Elders, and Elder Life Program show promise.

Conclusions:

• Improving healthcare quality, especially for older adults in hospitals, is crucial for successful aging.
• A shift towards systems-based care redesign is needed.
• Further research and action are required to advance successful aging through enhanced healthcare quality.