Survey: Age-friendly health systems’ 4Ms resonate with older adults

The concept of age-friendly health systems resonates with most older patients and their caregivers, especially patients with multiple chronic conditions, according to a survey by WebMD released today by the John A. Hartford Foundation. In general, the caregivers perceived the older adults they cared for as having more chronic conditions. Age-friendly health systems focus on prioritizing the “4Ms” of care: what matters to patients; promoting mobility; ensuring medications do not interfere with quality of life; and treating dementias, depression and other mentation-associated conditions.
 
“Many older adults in the United States have a lower quality of life because they, and their care team, simply don’t know that there’s a more age-friendly pathway to health care,” said Terry Fulmer, president of the foundation.
 
AHA is a partner with the John A. Hartford Foundation and others in the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, which seeks to rapidly spread the 4Ms framework to U.S. hospitals and clinical practices. Rod Hochman, M.D., AHA chair-elect designate and president and CEO of Providence St. Joseph Health in Renton, Wash., will participate in a panel discussion tonight in New York on the survey results, Providence’s activities as one of the five pioneer systems and AHA’s role in the initiative.