Hartford Foundation Awards $6.7M for Monitoring the Healthcare Landscape

 

The John A. Hartford Foundation Trustees approved three new grants totaling $6.7 million that offer powerful opportunities for large-scale change that will result in better care and better lives for all older adults. 

 

One of the keys to effective grantmaking is to partner with innovative leaders at the very top of their fields. 

 

The foundation announced a $3.5 million initiative to create a collaborative, led by Dr. Tony Back, co-director of the University of Washington’s Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence, that brings together a team of innovators who will work cooperatively to greatly accelerate and expand better end-of-life and serious illness care. In addition to Vital Talk, which is housed at our grantee hub at the University of Washington, the other members are: Ariadne Labs/Serious Illness Care Program, led by Drs. Susan Block and Atul Gawande; the Center to Advance Palliative Care, led by Dr. Diane Meier; the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), led by Tom Koutsoumpas/Respecting Choices, led by Dr. Bud Hammes; The Conversation Project, led by author Ellen Goodman; and National POLST Paradigm, led by attorney Amy Vandenbroucke. In addition to the collaborative strategy, our grant supports scaling up these six innovative national models, resulting in improved care for at least 300,000 people.

 

Sandy Markwood, Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a), was awarded a separate $2.9 million grant to support an initiative to successfully build and strengthen partnerships between social service agencies and health care systems and health plans so older adults will have access to evidence-based programs that help them live with dignity and independence in their homes and communities as long as possible.

 

Dr. Barbara Brandt, director of the University of Minnestota’s National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, received a $300,000 grant to establish geriatric team care in community-based settings and inform the development of interprofessional curricula in nursing and other health professional schools.