Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg (RDHW) is now certified as a Level 1 Certified Age-Friendly Health System Participant by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The international initiative aims to improve care for older adults and contribute to the growth and expansion of Age-Friendly care in all health settings. The RDHW medical-surgical unit now joins an international group of more than 2,700 health system entities working to tailor care to patients’ goals and preferences.
“This certification signifies care teams on the medical-surgical unit at RDHW have been specially trained in providing evidence-based age-friendly care to patients aged 65 and older,” says Tina Thomas, Executive Director of the Martha W. Goodson Center. “With a larger retiree population living in and around the greater Williamsburg area, it is important that care close to home provides holistic care that best aligns with what matters to the patient and their loved ones.”
The initiative is based on a series of practices focused on addressing four essential elements for older patient care, also recognized as the 4Ms of care:
- What Matters: Know and align care with each older adult's specific health outcome goals and care preferences including, but not limited to, end-of-life care, and across settings of care.
- Medication: If medication is necessary, use Age-Friendly medications that do not interfere with What Matters to the older adult, Mobility, or Mentation across settings of care.
- Mentation: Prevent, identify, treat, and manage dementia, depression, and delirium across settings of care.
- Mobility: Ensure that older adults move safely every day in order to maintain function and do What Matters.
“Riverside has always been on the forefront of patient care, and we look forward to ensuring our clinical teams continue to provide evidence-based, high-quality age-friendly care,” said Michelle Wooten, RN, Chief Nursing Officer at Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg. “The Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative is an important part of our overarching vision to provide personal care for our patients.”
The RDHW medical-surgical unit is the first department in Riverside’s care network to receive the certification. In the coming months, RDHW plans to progress to Level 2, which involves the collection of 3 months of data on patients 65 years of age and older who’ve received the 4Ms of care.
To learn more about Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg, please visit: riversideonline.com/rdhw.