UTHealth Consortium Leads Movement to Improve Healthcare for Older Adults

The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) Consortium on Aging is spearheading efforts to improve healthcare for older adults across the United States, reports News-Medical . The organization has helped clinical practices and hospitals including the UT Physicians Center for Healthy Aging, UTHealth Harris County Psychiatric Center, Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, and Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital attain age-friendly recognition. The program is part of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, which has recognized 122 hospitals and healthcare practices nationwide. The initiative is committed to making 20 percent of U.S. hospitals and health systems age-friendly by 2020. "We are the first in Texas to earn the committed-to-care excellence designation," said Consortium on Aging Executive Director Carmel Dyer. The program, which is designed to tailor care for older adults to their goals and preferences, is urging healthcare providers to assess older beneficiaries about their drugs, mental state, and mobility. UTHealth is testing and deploying evidence-based interventions proven as the essential initial elements needed to provide older adults with better care.