December 2013 

New Grants Support Strategies to Shape Policy and Develop Models of Care

Change AGEnts Initiative Launches; Pilot Grants Linked to CoE in Geriatric Medicine Available

We are pleased to announce a funding opportunity for Hartford Centers of Excellence (CoE) Scholars in Geriatric Medicine in coordination with our new Change AGEnts Initiative. CoE Scholars in geriatric medicine can now apply for small grants of $40,000 for pilot projects and preference will be given to scholars who focus on practice change through interprofessional collaboration with other Hartford Change AGEnts.

More information can be found at ChangeAGEnts365.org and questions can be directed to the CoE National Program Office at the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR). Stay tuned for other linked funding opportunities.

Also, we’re working to design the most functional and effective website possible for Change AGEnts, and we need your help. Please take a moment to participate in this brief survey, which will assist us in building a networking platform that best meets your needs (and you’ll be entered into a prize drawing!). Thanks in advance.

Meanwhile, a big thank you to all who joined us for the Change AGEnts launch at the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) annual meeting on November 22nd in New Orleans. It was a fantastic, high-energy evening with Change AGEnts making connections to change practice and improve care for older adults. You can read all about it in our blog post, Houston, We Have Lift Off: The Change AGEnts Have Launched!  

If you haven’t already, please check out the photo gallery on Facebook from the event and tag yourself if you're in one.  And if you are a Change AGEnt (i.e., anyone ever connected to a Hartford project who wants to change health care delivery) and missed the launch, never fear. More events and activities will happen throughout 2014.

For all the latest information, visit ChangeAGEnts.org. You can also follow the action on Twitter using the hashtag #changeagents365.

Among recent posts on our Health AGEnda blog: Chris Langston congratulates the Hartford grantees honored at the recent GSA meeting and Marcus Escobedo shares brief videos of our grantees who help us tell the Hartford story for the interactive version of our most recent annual report.  Rachael Watman, meanwhile, shares a special issue of Clinical Nursing Research that highlights the work of Hartford Gerontological Nursing Leaders (HGNL) alumni.  

Also, Nora OBrien-Suric remembers the late Robert N. Butler MD, the visionary pioneer of geriatrics. And Chris Langston explains a new CMS proposal on Medicare payments that offers a way forward to meet the challenge of complex chronic care.

These are just a few of the compelling posts featured twice a week on Health AGEnda. Don't want to miss a post? Subscribe through RSS or e-mail. You can also follow the Hartford Foundation and the blog via Facebook.

For more on what's happening in aging and health, visit our News and Events sections on jhartfound.org.

Communications Webinar Archive: Making News

A Build Your Bandwidth Webinar from the John A. Hartford Foundation

In case you missed it, you can listen to a recording of our recent webinar: Making News—A Guide to Connecting with Reporters and Bloggers and Getting Your Story Out.  This informative session, with special guest journalist Liz Seegert, will help you get the word out about your research. Learn what makes a good story, how to connect with reporters and bloggers, how to stay on message, and more.

Visit our free communications resources website, BandwidthOnline.org, for more information about this webinar and other communications tools.