Volume 6, Issue 4
April 20, 2010

SPECIAL EDITION

Dear Friends:

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new effort to use policy advocacy and public engagement to drive changes in how our health care system treats older adults. Funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies and headed by the National Partnership for Women & Families, Community Catalyst, and the National Health Law Program, the Campaign for Better Care aims to help older adults with multiple health conditions gain access to comprehensive and coordinated health care.

Now that health care reform has passed—including many reforms that have the potential to make significant improvements in health care delivery—the Campaign for Better Care will be working to ensure the smooth and effective implementation of reforms that will directly benefit older adults. Additionally, the campaign is building a grassroots movement to combine the voices of older adults, families, and advocates into a powerful call for change.

At the Hartford Foundation we have focused for the last 20 years on increasing the competence of health professionals in geriatric care as well as creating and improving models of care for older adults. However, we know that our progress has been slowed by a lack of public understanding of the flaws in geriatric care and a lack of public pressure for change. The Campaign will try to raise public awareness and channel the resulting force into pressure for change.

The centerpiece of this effort is the campaign’s story collection tool, designed to gather the experiences of people all over the country who know firsthand how our fragmented health system fails older adults. Stories have power. Joined together, these individual stories will create a complete narrative of the depth of inadequacy of our current health care system, illustrating the urgency of changing how older adults with multiple chronic conditions receive care.

You Can Help

1) Join the campaign. Sign up here to help the campaign build a national movement.

2) Share your stories.

3) Encourage your colleagues, friends, and family members to join and contribute their stories.

4) Link your organization’s Web site to the campaign Web site.

Please join us as members of the Campaign for Better Care. Together, we can help raise public awareness of the importance and urgency of making coordinated, patient-centered health care a reality for all older adults suffering from multiple health conditions.

Sincerely,

Chris Langston
Program Director