Age-Friendly Health Systems

Age-Friendly Health Systems is an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States. As of February 2023, there are over 3,000​ healthcare sites recognized as Age-Friendly Health System participants.

Age-Friendly Health Systems aim to:

  • Follow an essential set of evidence-based practices;
  • Cause no harm; and
  • Align with what matters to the older adult and their family caregivers.​
     
What Does It Mean to Be Age-Friendly?

Becoming an Age-Friendly Health System entails reliably providing a set of four evidence-based elements of high-quality care, known as the “4Ms,” to all older adults in your health system: What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility.
 

Age-Friendly Care in Wisconsin

Wisconsin is currently lagging behind other states in implementing age-friendly care. To address this problem, the WGEC is leading statewide efforts to increase the spread of age-friendly care in Wisconsin by:

  • Partnering with healthcare systems operating in Wisconsin and professional associations like the Wisconsin Hospital Association to raise awareness about age-friendly health systems
  • Hosting a free webinar series to educate and empower Wisconsin’s health workforce
  • Regularly convening a peer support network for clinicians and health administrators who are working to implement age-friendly care in Wisconsin
  • Hosting age-friendly retreats to support peer mentoring, troubleshooting, and consultations
  • Building the 4Ms into the Geriatric Fast Facts and Palliative Care Fast Facts websites to support clinicians work with older patients
  • Serving as an exhibitor at professional conferences and other venues to raise awareness of the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative
  • Disseminating books, reports, case studies, and other resources

4Ms Framework

What Matters

Know and align care with each older adult’s specific health outcome goals and care preferences including, but not limited to, end-of-life care, and across settings of care.

Medication

If medication is necessary, use Age-Friendly medication that does not interfere with What Matters to the older adult, Mobility, or Mentation across settings of care.

Mentation

Prevent, identify, treat, and manage dementia, depression, and delirium across settings of care.

Mobility

Ensure that older adults move safely every day in order to maintain function and do What Matters.