The proportion of the US population that is 65 years or older is expected to almost double by 2050, (that equals 87 million!) when surviving baby boomers will be older than 85 years and likely quite frail. WOW!
As the needs for assistance in activities of daily living increase for our older adults’ (soon to be us!), we MUST come up with solutions that not only address the challenge in care delivery systems but also of costs. With the average annual cost of a private room LTC coming in at just over $100 000, we must look at community-based model that allow these individuals to remain in their own homes and dramatically reduce federal Medicaid spending.
It has been determined that most senior adults would prefer to remain in their home as they age. However, their inability to take care of their basic needs like preparing their own meals or going to the bathroom or dressing themselves often means admission to a long-term care facility, which compromises the individual’s dignity and costs them, or taxpayers, thousands of dollars a month. So, how do we help our seniors achieve their aging goals? What ARE these goals?
Some Identified Goals of LTC Models
Affordable LTC
Viable and sustainable
Decrease or prevention of nursing home admission
Provide care that maintains the individual’s quality of life
Maintain an individual’s dignity
Ensure a livable wage for professional caregivers
Need to develop more transit and safer pedestrian infrastructure to connect retail, health and other community services
This can feel like an overwhelming task, and it’s hard to know where to begin. So… let’s start by looking at several different models out there ~ What even is a “Model”?! A Model is a blueprint, providing a structured and consistent approach to a problem ~ in this case, to the problem of long term care. Ideally, a model will provide a detailed infrastructure needed to address long term care needs and a structured method to match the need with the method of meeting those needs. In other words, we’re just looking at different ways people have attempted to address this long-term care need with the goal of being able to extend it past a specific population.
Take a look at some models that are already out there:
The Community First Choice Option (CFCO) program, offered in Washington State through the Affordable Care Act, provides community and home-based services for long-term care.
End of life planning and palliative care
Creating the Small Business Retirement Marketplace Links to an external site.to improve seniors’ financial security by giving employers and employees more affordable and high-quality retirement options.
House-hold model (presented by Action Pact)
Ovation’s Evercare (a health care improvement program developed for the US government)
Kaiser Permanente (American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield)
Greenhouse model (small houses are home to 6–12 residents in which care is given as much attention as treatment and is provided by a consistent, self-directed team of staff who are responsible for all care, including preparing meals in a centrally located open kitchen.
Adards community Model (based in Tasmania, Australia)
MediCaring, proposed by the Altarum Institute Center for elder Care and Advanced illness
The CAPABLE Program (Community Aging in Place, Advancing Better Living for Elders)
PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly)~ a model of community-based long-term care that provides coordinated and comprehensive services with an interdisciplinary patient-centered team model that is paid for through Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurers.
Research Paper Format: 3-5 pages of content (not incl. title page, reference list), APA 7th Ed. Format
Briefly describe the current US approach to the issue of Long-term care (include a definition of what long-term care is) and identify which model you feel is most appropriate for the next generation. (Be prepared to provide scholarly support)
Critically appraise the literature related to the model of your choice:
· Review of the existing literature
· Interpretation of research that supports its evidence-based application
· Compare our existing approach with ONE new, emerging model. Identify the clinical, educational, and/or research outcomes utilizing the new model?
· Identification of gaps in the literature related to the model you chose
Describe the stakeholders: their investment, what they have to gain and where they may be a source of bias
Analyze the cost of this model (cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, etc.), the viability & suitability of which will depend upon the availability of cost & income. Feel free to use statistical data and other resources
Explore methods to facilitate adoption of this model
or
Analyze a current approach used to promote adoption of the model including successes and failures and suggest approaches that may have facilitated the implementation of the model
Describe potential barriers to implementation of the model and present solutions to overcome the barriers
Describe policy/legal, ethical, societal, cultural, and safety implications of the model
Discuss future directions in application of the model (anything goes)
Paper reads logically without typographical/spelling errors, improper grammar, or poor sentence structure
Style and Presentation
• APA format, 7th ed., to reference all citations, formulate bibliography, headings, etc. (in-text citations match the reference list)
