The LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston is committed to engaging older adults in its work, and to guiding other organizations in the field of long-term services and supports (LTSS) to do the same.
We understand that no initiative or intervention can be successful without the ongoing input of the people who will be directly affected by those initiatives and interventions.
The work of the LTSS Center is guided by our close affiliation with Community Catalyst, a national nonprofit advocacy organization that works to build the consumer and community leadership that is required to transform the American health system. Community Catalyst believes that this transformation will happen when consumers are fully engaged and have an organized voice. The LTSS Center’s research in the area of consumer engagement supports that mission.
Read more about our work on consumer engagement:
Program administrators, policy experts, researchers, and providers are increasingly required to engage consumers in the design and improvement of programs and research.
The LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston is conducting a preliminary literature review to examine consumer engagement research across multiple disciplines, and identify gaps related to engagement methods and their outcomes.
Status: Ongoing
Contact: Erin McGaffigan
This project was designed as a first step in developing a replicable model to help researchers and clinicians listen to the voices of older adults and incorporate those voices into their work.
Using funds from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the Leonard Schanfield Research Institute at CJE SeniorLife in Chicago established the Bureau of Sages.
The bureau consisted of 7 nursing home residents, 5 older adults living at home, and 6 clinicians and researchers who met for 2 years to explore strategies for identifying the health-related outcomes that older adults want clinicians to strive for and researchers to measure. The LTSS Center’s co-director was a member of the Bureau of Sages.
Status: Completed
Contact: Marc Cohen
Read More:
Sages in Every Setting: Enhancing an Innovative Model to Incorporate Older Adult Voice into Research
In this second phase of the Bureau of Sages research, the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston will assume a leadership role in helping CJE SeniorLife prepare researchers to understand the benefits of engaging older adults in their work and helping them develop skills to be effective in elder engagement partnerships.
The overarching focus of the new project is to make the engagement of the older adult “business as usual” in the research world.
The project team will identify specific elements that make the bureau successful; explore how the model could achieve its goals in all communities; target a national community of community-dwelling older adults who use technology, and groups of persons who are beginning their journey with Alzheimer’s disease; and expand the Bureau of Sages model to support at least 4 new bureaus, 2 local academic communities, and 1 national academic community.
Status: Ongoing
Contact: Marc Cohen
Read More:
The LeadingAge Research Center@UMass Boston worked with The Global Ageing Network to spearhead the development of several implementation toolkits for projects sponsored in Nepal and the Philippines by Ibasho. Ibasho is a nonprofit organization that uses respect for local culture and social values to frame housing design and care for elders around the world.
Grant activities, which were funded The World Bank, included developing community preparedness plans, implementing training for community members, and conducting an impact evaluation.
Status: Completed
Contact: Taryn Patterson
Read More:
Empowering Elders Through Community Coalitions for Resilience: The Ibasho Approach
Looking Beyond the Earthquake to Empower Elders in Nepal
How Elders Promote Community Resilience After Natural Disasters
Other Areas of Work
WORKFORCE
Exploring strategies for strengthening the LTSS workforce
HOUSING PLUS SERVICES
Assessing the role of housing plus services models in affordable senior housing communities
NURSING HOMES
Identifying evidence-based practices to enhance nursing home quality
FINANCING
Finding new approaches to financing long-term services and supports
AGING & HEALTH
Building a robust evidence base for healthy aging
CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT
Engaging older adults in our work, and encouraging other LTSS organizations to do the same