Funds will be used to spur reforms recommended in the National Academies' new report.
A $1 million grant to LeadingAge, one of the nursing home industry's largest trade groups, aims to advance the recommendations in the recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) report, The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality: Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families, and Staff.
The John A. Hartford Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan philanthropy focused on improving care for older adults, awarded the grant to LeadingAge “because of the breadth of its membership across the full continuum of nonprofit providers of aging services, as well as its efforts in building coalitions of stakeholders with diverse perspectives and forging policy approaches with broad appeal,” according to a press release.
"Nursing homes face a web of complex challenges, but the NASEM report provides clear, solution-driven recommendations for making progress," said Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, the foundation’s president. "The time is now to unite and take action that will deliver measurable and meaningful improvements in the care of older adults."
LeadingAge, which represents more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers, plans to convene a coalition of organizations representing nursing home residents and family caregivers; providers, including leaders and frontline staff; as well as advocacy groups, researchers, foundations, policymakers, and others to achieve the NASEM report recommendations.
Those recommendations include:
- Ensure a well-prepared, empowered, and appropriately compensated workforce
- Deliver comprehensive, person-centered, equitable care that ensures residents’ health, quality of life, and safety
- Design a more effective and responsive system of quality assurance
"The NASEM report is a wake-up call for our country—and long overdue," said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO, LeadingAge. "As the only organization representing providers across the care continuum, LeadingAge brings a unique perspective and depth of experience from our work in advocacy, education, and research to this project."
"It is time for action, and we’re excited to take the lead on this ambitious effort to implement the NASEM recommendations," Sloan said, "to ensure older adults and their families can access safe, high-quality care."
“The time is now to unite and take action that will deliver measurable and meaningful improvements in the care of older adults.”
— Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, president, John A. Hartford Foundation
Carol Davis is the Nursing Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.