The Institute for Health Policy and Practice's efforts in the area of Long Term Care and Aging fosters the creation of an effective long term care system while providing education and technical assistance to providers.
For more information, contact Laura Davie at Laura.Davie@unh.edu.
Projects and Initiatives
The Center on Aging and Community Living (CACL) is a collaboration between the Institute on Disability (IOD) and the Institute for Health Policy and Practice (IHPP) at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). CACL provides support to various partners in the aging network by designing, implementing, and evaluating systems change initiatives. CACL staff accomplish this by maximizing resources and focusing on quality and best practices relevant to aging and community living. Read on to discover examples of CACL’s extensive portfolio:
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NH Business Acumen Initiative
The NH Business Acumen Initiative provides educational opportunities and shares resources from national learning collaboratives to support community-based organizations in collectively advancing their business savvy.
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Senior Leadership Series and Senior Leadership Alumni Network
The Senior Leadership Series is a collaboration between UNH’s Center on Aging and Community Living, AARP NH, and the Dartmouth Centers for Health and Aging. The Senior Leadership Series focuses on further developing a network of grassroots advocates on both a regional and state level to build a stronger advocacy base for older people in New Hampshire.
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Age of Champions
Age of Champions is an annual health fair held by the CACL and the UNH Department of Recreational Management and Policy. The event promotes holistic and intergenerational approaches to healthy aging and connects students with the community. Students from every department at the UNH College of Health and Human Services participate, and the intergenerational event grows every year.
NH DHHS Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services contracts with IHPP for project management, program evaluation, and training for NH’s Aging and Disability Resource Centers. Key projects include:
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No Wrong Door Systems Change
This aspect of the project seeks to streamline access to long term community services and supports in NH through the adoption of a No Wrong Door Model for long-term services and supports. Our team assists NH DHHS in this effort by providing technical assistance, training, and state-wide facilitation.
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Person-Centered Options Counseling Certification
Staff have been proud to support the development of the first NH DHHS-supported certification for person-centered care delivery in New Hampshire. From convening stakeholders during the initial planning phases of PCOC certification, to designing and delivering the in-person component of certification, IHPP is supporting this innovative process as it is rolled out across the state.
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Person-Centered Care Transitions
Our team supported work to pilot evidence-based care transitions models between ServiceLink Aging and Disability Resource Centers and local hospitals during the 2010-2012 project period. Staff continue to provide facilitation for state-wide stakeholder meetings and work to support local sites in developing expanded payment models.
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Evaluation
Staff work to support the evaluation of the No Wrong Door program in New Hampshire through technical assistance with consumer satisfaction surveys, program and training evaluation, and person-centered options counseling quality indicators.
The Institute for Health Policy and Practice (IHPP) has partnered with the NH DHHS and community-based organizations on a variety of care transitions grants and projects.
Aging and Disability Resource Center Person-Centered Care Transitions
Previous grants included a focus on care transitions objectives to improve linkages between local hospitals and the ServiceLink Resource Centers (SLRC). IHPP formed a state level workgroup in 2009 with the goal of creating and implementing care transitions models in three New Hampshire communities. With this objective in mind, the work group was formed with representation from three chosen pilot area SLRCs, the pilot area community hospitals, person-centered planning experts, consumers, the NH-Hospital Association, the NH Home Care Association, and the EasterSeals Community Liaison project. In 2010, the group worked to adapt principles from the variety of care coordination/care transition/person-centered/patient-centered (and other) models to design a model for New Hampshire. An evaluation report was complete on the three pilot communities and assess the models. IHPP continues to provide technical assistance as needed to these:
- Belknap County Person-Centered Care Transitions Final Report
- Carroll County Person-Centered Care Transitions Final Report
- Monadnock County Person-Centered Care Transitions Final Report
Partnership for Care Transitions Workgroup
In 2009, a state-wide workgroup was formed under NH’s Aging and Disability Resource Center grants for evidence based care transitions models. The multi-stakeholder group informed the role of ServiceLink Aging and Disability Resource Centers transitions pilot projects in three NH communities with partner acute care hospitals. After the pilot ended, the workgroup evolved and continues to meet on a quarterly basis to discuss and collaborate on care transitions models being implemented throughout New Hampshire. Anyone is welcome to participate. If you are interested in attending the Partnership for Care Transitions workgroup, contact Laura Davie.
Seacoast Collaborative Care Coordination Subcommittee
Under the umbrella of care transitions, IHPP worked with the Seacoast Collaborative, made up of a group of stakeholders in the Seacoast Region engaged in improving care coordination: Rockingham Community Action, Integrative Health Liasion, Appledor Medical Group, Child and Family Services, Seacoast Mental Health, SeaCare Health Services, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton Professional Association, Institute for Health Policy and Practice Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Parkland Medical Center, United Way of the Greater Seacoast, Foundation for Seacoast Health, United Way of the Greater Seacoast, ServiceLink Resource Center, Lamprey Healthcare, Two International Group, Crossroads House, Mark Wentworth Home, Families First. IHPP was involved in launching a pilot program to evaluate the utilization of a Common Referral Form between providers. The goal was to assess whether or not this will improve communications between providers.
Care Transitions Conference
IHPP, under the umbrella of CACL, partnered with the Northern New England Geriatric Education center to host a two-day conference focused specifically on care transitions models. The goals of the conference were to educate and foster collaboration among New Hampshire communities. This two-day event, held May 25 and June 15, 2011, was sponsored by the Endowment for Health, Administration on Community Living, and Dartmouth Hitchcock. Some of the conference participants went on to form care transitions collaboratives. Through CACL the Partnership for Care Transitions Workgroup still continues to meet (see above).
Resources and Publications
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Innovations in Healthy Aging: An Applied Research Summit April 2019 UNH College of Health and Human Services held a half-day summit of learning, networking, and exploration regarding long term care research. Sessions focused on current trends in research and the practical application of solutions from both a direct care and systems-based perspective. Read the report |
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Developing a Foundation for Integrated Care Coordination: Part 1 November 2018 While everyone’s natural process of aging is different, most individuals will need some form of assistance as they age. This might include medical attention, help with meals, or receiving assistance with daily activities – and often includes several different services, simultaneously. Trying to keep up with medical and social needs requires coordination and communication among systems of care. In the absence of integrated coordination, people can have inefficient, frustrating, and even unsafe experiences. Given this landscape, systematic support as people age is critically important. Read the report |
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NH Medicaid Long Term Care Quick Facts June 2018 NH health insurance coverage data showcase as of June 2018. Read the report |
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Person-Centered Care Video July 2016 The physician-patient relationship has always been centered around the physician, with the Center on Aging and Community Living's "Person-Centered Care" video the relationship is reversed. Learn more about the benefits of the physician-patient relationship getting reversed. Watch the video |
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Medical Neighborhood Video July 2017 The following video was created as part of a training for the Practice Transformation Network. The training focuses on person-centered care transitions in a medical neighborhood. Watch the video |
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A Case Study in Organizing for Livable and Sustainable Communities December 2015 Citizens in the U.S. are making organized efforts to demand a new approach to planning urban communities, one that results in more sustainable and livable communities. The profession of social work in the U.S. once had a primary role in organizing urban residents to advocate for healthier environments in their neighborhoods. Yet, recent research documents the diminishing emphasis on community organization as an intervention method in social work. This paper offers a descriptive case study of a successful community organizing effort to promote a more livable city in Portland, Maine (USA). Read the report |
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CACL Policy Brief: Building an Aging Advocacy Network: Findings from the New Hampshire Senior Leadership Series Winter 2015 This paper examines the lack of advocacy for senior issues in the Granite State and explores strategies that can be employed to grow grass-roots leadership among older adults. The New Hampshire Senior Leadership Series, a program that provides support and training in advocacy and leadership skills, is highlighted as a promising practice to address this need. Read the report |
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Environmental Scan to Help Create Elder-Friendly Communities in NH September 2015 In a collective impact approach, the work begins with a shared understanding of the key challenges and opportunities before us and a commitment to solving it together through agreed upon actions and strategies. The process starts with mapping the landscape. This significant work by the Center on Aging and Community Living (CACL) at the University of New Hampshire is a knowledge base from which we will create shared goals, identify existing and emerging strategies and set a course for creating the elder-friendly communities we all want to live in as we age. Read the report |
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Convening Leaders in Aging and Long Term Care Winter 2014 In the fall of 2012, the Center on Aging and Community Living (CACL) at UNH, with funding from the New Hampshire Endowment for Health, convened a series of meetings with key stakeholders to consider the future of New Hampshire’s system of Long Term Services and Supports. This paper summarizes that work. In response to mounting concerns about the impact of an aging population on our state, the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies (NHCPPS) produced two reports - New Hampshire’s Silver Tsunami: Aging and the Health Care System; and Aging and the Public Long Term Care System. These reports frame the issues that New Hampshire is facing as it confronts the challenge of meeting the needs of an increasingly older population. Read the report |
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CACL Policy Brief: New Hampshire's Long Term Services & Supports System; Recommendations for Meetings the Needs of an Aging Population Winter 2014 In the fall of 2012, the Center on Aging and Community Living (CACL) at UNH, with funding from the New Hampshire Endowment for Health, convened a series of meetings with key stakeholders to consider the future of New Hampshire’s system of Long Term Services and Supports. This paper summarizes that work. In response to mounting concerns about the impact of an aging population on our state, the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies (NHCPPS) produced two reports - New Hampshire’s Silver Tsunami: Aging and the Health Care System; and Aging and the Public Long Term Care System. These reports frame the issues that New Hampshire is facing as it confronts the challenge of meeting the needs of an increasingly older population. Read the report |