Latest addition to CoCare portfolio
A seminal program for preventing delirium (the medical term for abrupt, rapid-onset confusion or altered mental state, affecting millions of older adults annually) and loss of function for hospitalized older adults stands poised for a major expansion thanks to the American Geriatrics Society (AGS). As the soon-to-be newest addition to the AGS “CoCare” portfolio, a suite of programs helping embed geriatrics expertise in broader care for older adults, AGS CoCare: HELP™ represents a new step forward for a program that has already taken significant strides.
“Empowering health systems to recognize, manage, and prevent delirium is one of the hallmarks of geriatrics, one that put the specialty on the map,” notes Sharon K. Inouye, MD, MPH, who developed the original Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP), now known as AGS CoCare: HELP™.
“With this critical expansion of a key program that made delirium prevention possible, we now have bandwidth through the AGS to demonstrate to more health systems than ever before how collaborating with geriatrics leads to improved health, safety, and independence for us all,” Dr. Inouye concluded.
Through AGS CoCare: HELP™ (which will launch later this year at help.agscocare.org), more health systems than ever before will have access to tools and hands-on guidance for making delirium prevention actionable locally and for individual patients. Institutional subscriptions offer access to a comprehensive implementation toolkit, an online educational curriculum for HELP staff and volunteers, a certification program, scheduling for routine coaching calls, and access to an online community available 24-7.
Perhaps more importantly, they also help standardize best practices while supporting work to keep these practices at the cutting-edge of delirium-prevention science. The program ultimately promotes a growing trend toward “age-friendly health systems” in the U.S.—so named because they help promote unique expertise on geriatrics focal points, such as care for the mind, medications, mobility, and what “matters most” to patients as people.
And behind it all is an evidence-based program with decades of experience and proven results improving the health and care of hospitalized older adults.
SOURCE: American Geriatrics