January 2014

Hartford Change AGEnts Webinar

What’s In It For Them: Developing Powerful Value Propositions
Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014
1-2:15 p.m. ET
Online via ReadyTalk

We are pleased to announce the first in a series of knowledge and skills development Webinars as part of the new Hartford Change AGEnts initiative, an effort to accelerate sustained practice change that improves the health of older Americans, their families, and communities.

Creating meaningful value propositions is a fundamental part of any successful local, regional or national effort to change care, services, organizations, systems, or policy. This interactive, 75-minute webinar will cover:

The basics of strong "value propositions" and why they’re important to practice change;
How multiple value propositions are necessary to engage various stakeholders;
How to factor both the benefits & costs of your intervention into value propositions; and
Field-based experience on the topic from: Laura N. Gitlin, PhD, Co-Leader of the Hartford Change AGEnts Initiative and Director of the Center for Innovative Care in Aging at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (MD); Kyle Allen, DO, AGSF, Vice President for Clinical Integration, Medical Director-Geriatric Medicine and Lifelong Health, Riverside Health System (VA); and Jennifer Porth, LISW-AP, Gerontologist Manager, Ambulatory Care Transition Team, Palmetto Health (SC)

The Webinar will be facilitated by John Beilenson, President of SCP (PA).

Please join us for this informative presentation and lively discussion!

Register for this no-cost webinar today!

Hartford Change AGEnts Update: Website Survey Complete; Pilot Grants Deadline Nears; Cheers from Health Policy Hub Blog

The results are in! A big thank you to the 65 Hartford Change AGEnts who completed the survey that will inform the design of the initiative's website to launch in stages over the next two months. We learned:

A membership directory feature with advanced search functions was ranked most important, followed by a searchable practice change resource library.
A majority of respondents already use Linkedin and Twitter as a professional online community.
An interest in an online forum was much more attractive to respondents than receiving only email communication.

In other news, Centers of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine Scholars have until Feb. 1 to apply for five $40,000 pilot project awards. Preference will be given to scholars who focus on practice change through interprofessional collaboration with other Hartford Change AGEnts. For more information, see the FAQ.

Also, check out this recent Health Policy Hub blog post from a new Hartford grantee, Community Catalyst, who cheers the launch of the Change AGEnts Initiative and highlights the potential for AGEnts to partner with consumer advocates working to improve care for vulnerable older adults.

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

Hartford Grantees Get Their Messages Out to Change Practice

Hartford grantees have been making news as well as making change in the practice environment.

Philanthropy magazine's Winter 2014 issue features Dr. Sarah Szanton of Johns Hopkins University in an article highlighting the growing trend of seniors who wish to age safely at home instead of in nursing homes.

Grantee Dr. Jürgen Unützer and colleague Wayne Kayne from the University of Washington wrote a Seattle Times guest editorial discussing the opportunities for improving mental health care in America through the Affordable Care Act. And in a recent Huffington Post article drawing on his own research and that of Beeson Scholars Drs. Malaz Boustani and Scott Small, grantee Dr. Richard Besdine differentiates what signs are worrisome or not as potential early detectors of Alzheimer's disease.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to get the word out about your research, listen to a recording of our recent Bandwidth webinar: Making News—A Guide to Connecting with Reporters and Bloggers and Getting Your Story Out.

Health AGEnda Highlights

Among recent posts on our Health AGEnda blog: Corinne Rieder shares a video by bestselling author John Green on why health care costs are so high (Hint: It’s because everything costs more.) And in the latest Beyond the Boardroom video, Dr. Bruce Chernof of The SCAN Foundation discusses the foundation's new five-year strategic plan, long-term health care reform, and the deepening partnership between SCAN and the Hartford Foundation.

Also, Chris Langston asks the question whether we would be better served treating to target than targeting who we treat. And in the latest installment in our Tools You Can Use series, Rachael Watman shares A Non-pharmacologic Toolkit for Addressing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia.

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.