Age-Friendly Health Communities

Creating Age-Friendly Health Communities

Age-Friendly Health Systems are health care systems that use the 4Ms framework created by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement:

• Asking What Matters to older adults, making sure that the care plan fits what matters
• Reviewing Medications, decreasing high-risk medications when possible
• Addressing Mentation, or Mind by screening for dementia and depression, then treating or referring to specialists
• Assess Mobility and take action on a plan to move more and better

Since most health practice happens outside of the health system, CATCH-ON is looking to create Age-Friendly Health Communities (AFHCs) that also include older adults, their families, community-based organizations and universities. Older adults and their families play a big role in designing what AFHCs look like.

With funding from the RRF Foundation on Aging, RUSH developed the Caring for Caregivers (C4C) program to attend to the needs of caregivers for older adults. Thanks to a grant from The John A. Hartford Foundation, RUSH is working in collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to integrate the Caring for Caregivers Model into Age-Friendly Health Systems.

In partnership with Community Catalyst, older adults, and caregivers, CATCH-ON developed materials about the 4Ms in English and Spanish. Please share these materials with family and friends!

For more about the 4Ms, please click the buttons below.