By Joanne Lynn, M.D. Readers of this blog are familiar with—and mostly supportive of—these two claims: (1) that social and environmental factors are stronger than health care services in shaping the population’s health, but (2) those factors are weaker than health care services in securing funding and public attention. Most of us are convinced that […]
On April 13, 2012, Altarum Institute and the Center for Elder Care and Advanced Illness, cosponsored a special event: The Last Word: Influential Women Discuss What Matters When Loved Ones Face Aging.” Moderated by Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist Ellen Goodman, the program featured panelists Cheryl Woodson, Muriel Gillick, Susan Jacoby, Francine Russo, and Joanne Lynn. The […]
From Dr. Joanne Lynn, Director, Center for Elder Care and Advanced Illness, Altarum Institute “Nothing about me without me!” That’s the cry of the disability community and the AIDS community and so many others affected by health care dysfunctions. But for the elderly, thus far, it has been acceptable for everyone else to shape the […]
By Janice Lynch Schuster During two days of sessions at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 13th International Summit, I was struck by repeated messages from plenary speakers and learning lab leaders. No matter the particulars of their presentation, each riffed in one way or another on the fact that we can all act now to […]
This article, by Janice Lynch Schuster, originally appeared on the Altarum Institute Health Policy Forum on Thursday, March 1, 2012 A few days into my 68-year old father’s hospitalization for sepsis, his doctors determined the strain of bacteria that plagued him: streptococcus. My sister was there when they came in with this part of the […]
CJE SeniorLife, a community-based organization that serves some 18,000 older adults annually, is among the first cohort of recipients for Section 3026 or Community-Based Care Transition Program (CCTP) funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. One of seven early awardees, CJE will anchor a project that includes three large hospitals in Northern Chicago, as […]
By Suzanne Mintz President and CEO, National Family Caregivers Association www.nfcacares.org Across the chronic care continuum there are only two people who are consistently present, a patient and that person’s family caregiver. Family caregivers are acknowledged as the nation’s primary providers of long-term care, but they are not equally acknowledged as primary providers of their […]
Earlier this year (2012), the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) released an innovation profile about Vermont’s Support and Services at Home (SASH – https://sashvt.org/) program, which provides onsite assistance to older adults and other Medicare beneficiaries so that they can age in place. As AHRQ describes it, SASH offers key evidence-based services, […]
The following blog originally appeared on the Altarum Institute Health Policy Forum blog at www.healthpolicyforum.org on Tuesday, January 31, 2012. It is co-authored by Janice Lynch Schuster and Joanne Lynn. “Care transitions” is the new buzzword in efforts to improve health, improve care and reduce costs. It seems that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, […]
By Gloria Eldridge, PhD and Joanne Lynn, MD, MA, MS The announcement by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that the Community Living Services and Supports (CLASS) Act will not be implemented drew a call for Congressional hearings to account for dollars spent on CLASS preparation since the March 2010 Affordable Care Act […]