Age-Friendly Certification

How to Start

To begin the process of earning Age-Friendly recognition with grant-supported assistance from Dakota Geriatrics, please contact Bethany Reed.

Or, follow these steps for the Do-It-Yourself participation:

Step 1. Select the 4Ms Care Description worksheet that best corresponds to your site of care

• Hospital
• Nursing Home​​​
• Ambulatory Care​
• Convenient Care Clinic
• Hospitals That Have Achieved Geriatric Surgery Verification ​
• ​Sites That Have Achieved Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation
• Committed to Care Excellence Counts (multiple sites​​)*​​

*If your health care system has multiple sites of care, please use the Committed to Care Excellence Counts (multiple sites) spreadsheet. If not, please look on the last page of your Care Description PDF Form.

Step 2. Email your completed 4Ms Care Description worksheet to AFHS@ihi.org 

You should receive an email with information about your recognition status within three weeks.

Please email AFHS@ihi.org for questions or additional information on becoming recognized as an Age-Friendly Health System.​​

Resources for Recognition

• Download the Guide to Using the 4Ms in the Care of Older Adults for your care setting to learn about the 4Ms Framework and how to become an Age-Friendly Health System.
  • Download the Guide for Hospital/Ambulatory Practice
  • Download the Guide for Nursing Homes
  • Download the Guide to Recognition for Geriatric Surgery Verification Hospitals
  • Download the Guide to Recognition for Geriatric Emergency Department Accredited Sites
  • Download the Guide for Convenient Care Clinics
• Download the What Matters to Older Adults? Toolkit to design better care with older adults but understanding “what matters” most to each adult
  • Download the Toolkit
• Download the Age-Friendly Health Systems Workbook for Nursing Home Teams designed by and for point-of-care teams that interact with individual residents each day.
  • Download the Nursing Home Workbook

Age-Friendly Microlearning

• Age-Friendly Health Systems applies a set of four evidence-based frameworks of high-quality care, known as the “5Ms,” to all older adults in the healthcare system. The purpose of this curriculum is to reinforce the concepts of Age-Friendly Healthcare and Geriatrics 4Ms through micro-lectures to healthcare professionals.
• Register for this microlearning curriculum

Age-Friendly Health Systems

Dakota Geriatrics works with primary care clinics to implement Age-Friendly Health Systems throughout the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. Age-Friendly Health Systems is an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to adapt evidence-based practices and align What Matters to the older adult and their family caregivers at every care interaction.

Age-Friendly Health Systems Recognition | Institute for Healthcare Improvement

 

IHI recognizes clinical care settings that are working toward reliable practice of evidence-based interventions for all older adults in their care known as the 4Ms (4Ms: What Matters, Medications, Mentation, Mobility). As of August 2024, nearly 5,000 health care organizations have earned either level 1 (Participant) or level 2 (Committed to Care Excellence) recognition in the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement.

• Level 1 (Participant) teams have successfully developed plans to implement the 4Ms.​
• Level 2 (Committed to Care Excellence) teams have three months of data of older adults who received 4Ms care.

Helpful Tools

The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Worksheet is a simple tool to perform rapid cycle testing to assess whether a change leads to an improvement. PDSA cycles can be logged and tracked on your project planning form.

Cognitive Resources

Training Curriculum

• Train Healthcare Workers About Dementia
  Training for the primary care workforce about dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, and caring for those affected.

Screening

• Mini-Cog©
  A 3-minute instrument that can increase detection of cognitive impairment in older adults.
• Saint Louis University Mental Status Exam (SLUMS)
  An assessment tool for detecting mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

Opioids Resource

• Pocket Guide: Tapering Opioids for Chronic Pain
  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has prepared a free pocket guide to help physicians considering reducing or eliminating opioid dosage to chronic pain patients.

Telehealth Resource

• The Annual Wellness Visit Telemedicine Toolkit
  In response to the challenges posed by the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Community Medical Group has compiled a number of resources designed to help you and your practice continue providing Medicare’s initial and subsequent Annual Wellness Visit using telemedicine.