Helping nursing homes prepare for disasters

Responding to the deaths and suffering of older adults in long-term care facilities following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, the John A. Hartford Foundation funded an initiative called Hurricane and Disaster Preparedness for Long-Term Care Facilities. Long-term care providers are now acknowledged as health care providers by most federal and state emergency response centers. This paper describes the planning, research, and dissemination efforts of the Hartford grantees. It also provides insights into successful disaster grant making, noting foundations' unique flexibility, strategic and long-term view, and ability to be a neutral convener of stakeholders that can help grantees work toward achieving major policy change.