LeadingAge will use a two-year, $1.2 million grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation to work to improve nursing home quality based on the recommendations of a recent national report, the foundation announced Tuesday.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report in April with recommendations related to workforce preparation, recruitment, retention and compensation; staffing requirements; physical plants; infection control and emergency preparedness; accountability and oversight; and quality measurement and improvement.
“It is time for action — and we’re excited to take the lead on this ambitious effort to implement the NASEM recommendations to ensure older adults and their families can access safe, high-quality care,” LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan said in a statement. She called the NASEM report “a wake-up call for our country — and long overdue.”
LeadingAge was selected for the grant, foundation leaders said, 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.
Under the terms of the grant, the association will form a coalition of organizations including nursing home residents and family caregivers, providers, advocacy groups, researchers, foundations, policymakers and others. The group will identify actionable recommendations for nursing home quality and devise strategies to influence policy and practice change. LeadingAge also is expected to offer direct training and support to nursing homes through virtual education opportunities and activities with local organizations.
Sloan and Alice Bonner, Ph.D., RN, a geriatric nurse practitioner and senior adviser for aging at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, will lead the work to improve nursing home quality.
