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Background: Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of having conversations with patients to ensure preferences are known and support patient healthcare goals. ACP and the Age-Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) Initiative's, "What Matters," are synergistic approaches to patient-centered conversations. Implementation and measurement of ACP in primary care (PC) are variables in quality and consistency. We examined whether participation in an ACP learning collaborative (LC) would improve knowledge and ability to conduct ACP discussions and increase the frequency of documented ACP in participating practices., Methods: The WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) region Practice and Research Network (WPRN) and the Northwest Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Center collaboratively organized a 9-month virtual LC. It consisted of 4 synchronous, 1.5-h sessions, technical support, and a panel of ACP experts. A Wilcoxon rank sum test assessed differences in knowledge from a pre-post survey. Documentation of ACP in the EHR was collected after at least one plan-do-study-act cycle., Results: We enrolled 17 participants from 6 PC practices (3 hospital-affiliated; 3 Federally Qualified Health Centers) from the WPRN. Two practices did not complete all LC activities. There was a trend toward increased ACP knowledge and skills overall especially in having discussions patients and families (pre-mean 2.9 [SD = 0.7]/post-mean 4.0[SD = 1.1], p < 0.05). 4/6 practices observed an increase in EHR documentation post-collaborative (median 16.3%, IQR 1.3%-36.9%)., Conclusions: The LC increased PC providers knowledge and skills of ACP and AFHS's What Matters, reported ACP EHR documentation, and contributed to practice change., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of the American Geriatrics Society published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The American Geriatrics Society.)

Introduction: Programs and services available through the aging services network can help community-dwelling older adults to age in place but are often not discussed in routine primary care. The primary care liaison was developed as a novel integration intervention to address this disconnect., Methods: Employed by an Area Agency on Aging, primary care liaisons performed outreach to primary care with the goal of raising awareness of community-based programs, resources, and services available to older adults and their caregivers and facilitating referrals. The evaluation of the primary care liaison model, conducted from December 2015 to February 2019, used the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance framework and assessed reach (number of clinics contacted), adoption (number of referrals to the Area Agency on Aging), implementation (number of follow-up contacts with a practice), and effectiveness (proportion of referrals reached and provided relevant resources)., Results: The primary care liaisons contacted a median of 18.5 clinics per month (IQR=15-31). Primary care referrals averaged >100 per month, and referrals increased over time. Successful follow-up outreach visits had a median of 3 (IQR=2-10), and follow-up contacts had a median of 3 (IQR=1-7) per practice. Three quarters of caregivers for people with dementia reached by Area Agency on Aging staff were provided with information about relevant resources., Conclusions: The primary care liaison model is feasible, fosters ongoing interactions between primary care and Area Agencies on Aging, and connects older adults and their caregivers to relevant programs and services. Adoption of the primary care liaison model by other Area Agencies on Aging across the U.S. may help further the vision of optimized health and well-being of older adults., (Copyright © 2021 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Use of the Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) model in geriatrics has increased dramatically largely because of the Health Resources and Services Administration‐funded Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Programs (GWEP) utilizing it as a key tool for age‐friendly, interprofessional workforce development. This manuscript describes the scope and impact of geriatrics ECHOs under the GWEP. Methods: A survey of GWEPs was conducted to measure the reach, foci, evaluation methods, and other characteristics of ECHO networks. Results: All 48 (100%) GWEPs responded to the survey, and 30 (63%) reported using ECHO. GWEP ECHOs have both rural and urban‐underserved reach across the United States, and their hub teams include many health professions. Age‐friendly care is incorporated through multiple methods and is taught across foci including primary care, dementia, long term care, and novel topics. GWEP ECHOs have many academic and community partners including Area Agencies on Aging, and reach varied health professions, trainees, and caregivers. Geriatrics ECHOs collect outcomes across the evidence continuum including the community‐level outcome of Age‐Friendly Health System designation. Conclusions: The ECHO model has been widely adopted by GWEPs as a key approach for workforce training in age‐friendly care. Project ECHO is a valuable tool to expand interprofessional training for the geriatrics workforce, particularly for interprofessional teams in rural and underserved areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]