ABSTRACT
Global ageing reflects the success experienced in public health and healthcare in general over the past century. Given the increasing number of older adults, health systems need to rethink care strategies to be more responsive and effective in the care they provide them. As people age, care becomes more complex and health systems are not prepared for this complexity. Older adults suffer a disproportionate amount of harm while in the care of the health system. To address these challenges, The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States, set a bold vision to build a social movement so that all care with older adults is age-friendly care and follows an essential set of four evidence-based elements of high-quality care, termed the ‘4Ms’. When implemented together, the 4Ms represent a broad shift by health systems to focus on older adults’ needs. This chapter will elaborate on the age-friendly health systems (AFHSs) model, provide cases related to successful implementation, discuss challenges faced in the scale of this work and make the business case.
