Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, announced on Jan. 17 that it is part of a movement to improve health care for older adults and was recognized for being on the journey to becoming an Age-Friendly Health System.
RWJUH Hamilton joins an international group of more than 2,700 health systems working to tailor care to patients’ goals and preferences.
“The Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative at RWJUH Hamilton is an important component of our overarching vision to provide every older adult with the best care possible,” says Lisa Breza, chief administrative officer for RWJUH Hamilton. “Our participation in this vital movement complements our NICHE Designation, which recognizes our commitment to delivering patient-centered care to create a positive experience and better outcomes for older adults.
“With the number of aging adults quickly rising in the United States, and here in our New Jersey region, it is imperative that we remain focused on addressing the unique health care needs and challenges faced by older adults today and in the future, and provide them individual high-quality care and at every access point across our health system.”
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.
“We are happy to see the NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders), the geriatric care model that optimizes the nurse practice environment in all care delivery settings to address the unique needs of older adults, expanded to our emergency department/emergency room earlier this year. Now with the easy-to-use IHI 4Ms initiative, our nursing team and our providers have two evidenced based frameworks that enable us to focus on personal needs of our elders,” says Dawn Hutchinson, chief nursing officer at RWJUH Hamilton. “These two initiatives align very well to support our vision to build elder care expertise, consistency, and best practice.”
Age-Friendly Health Systems Participants, Level 1, recognizes hospitals and health care practices that have formally committed to putting the 4Ms into practice and had IHI review their plans to implement the “4Ms.” The 4Ms are the essential elements that are really manageable for individual providers and health systems: What Matters (aligning care with each older adult’s specific health and care preferences); Medication; Mentation (which include the 3Ds of the 4Ms—depression, dementia, and delirium); and Mobility.
Sara Ali, a doctor of geriatrics, specializing in care for individuals 65+ years old at RWJUH Hamilton, and a member of RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group, adds: “I am thrilled to be part of an Age-Friendly Health System and to ensure all of my patients receive safe, high-quality health care that is based on what matters most to them as individuals. RWJUH Hamilton’s purposeful focus is to practice and understand every older adult has personalized different health needs and interests, as well as cultural and social things important to them, and it is important these be included in their care plan and decision making.”
Ali sees patients at 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton, NJ 08619.
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 U.S. For more information: ihi.org/agefriendly.
Nurse leaders at RWJUH Hamilton and part of its Geriatric Steering Committee Ceara Phillips, nurse manager, telemetry units; Dawn Hutchinson, chief nursing officer; Lisa Nevius, nurse manager for the medical-surgical units; and Cynthia Russo, clinical nurse specialist, Center for Professional Development, Innovation and Research at RWJUH Hamilton.,
