Anne Arundel Medical Center Values An Age-Friendly Health System
Caring for the aging population can be challenging for healthcare professionals to understand, especially in a world full of technology. Although nurses are constantly charting data, such as vital signs and assessment pieces, we are still failing to capture the bigger picture.
So what can nurses do to help this population manage their daily activities? It’s simple!
Anne Arundel Medical Center has partnered with the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) to introduce the Age-Friendly Health System. In a newly pioneered study funded by The John A. Hartford Foundation, healthcare facilities are looking into concentrating on what is most important to the older population and ways to enhance the quality of healthcare services.
This style of healthcare delivery focuses on the 4M’s: mobility, medications, mentation, and what matters. Mobility: making sure there is a way for these patients to get to their doctor’s appointments. Medications: reviewing medications in a way that is best understood by the patient. Mentation: talking about conditions that may be common, such as dementia or depression. What matters: applying their personal values to their care plans and education. Applying these 4 M’s to patient education can not only improve quality of life but also can help bring down costs and reduce harm to our patients.
Stay tuned to see how Anne Arundel Medical Center implements the age-friendly initiatives to its practice.
You can read the article from Forbes Magazine in its entirety here
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