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• Data Development
• Health Care Reform
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• Public and Population Health
• Quality and Health System Functioning
• State Health Policy

Devising Creative Ways to Improve Long-Term Care Services for Older Adults

Long-term care systems are often fragmented and difficult for the elderly to find and use easily. The Community Partnerships for Older Adults Program provides grants to communities to develop creative methods for improving local long-term care systems and access to information. Mathematica evaluated the program to identify changes in system infrastructure, service delivery and financing, community awareness of the long-term care challenge, and information available to the public. 

The evaluation involved a baseline survey of up to 400 elders in 13 communities. The study included an implementation analysis, as well as service inventories, interviews with state policy personnel, reviews of information in the media on the local long-term care system, and case manager assessments of hypothetical patients to identify strengths and weaknesses in the system. The goal was to identify lessons that will help communities improve their local long-term care systems.

Publications

"The Community Partnerships for Older Adults Program. Cross Site Report: Improving the Connectedness of Long-Term Care Providers" (July 2006)
"The Community Partnerships for Older Adults Program: Are the Partnerships Affecting Policy in Their States and Communities?" (May 2006)
"Shoring Up the Infrastructure for Long-Term Care: What do Vulnerable Adults Know About Their Options?" Trends in Long-Term Care, Issue Brief #1 (July 2004)