According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. population age 65 and over is expected to nearly double over the next three decades, from 43.1 million in 2012 to an estimated 83.7 million in 2050. These demographic advances have left health systems behind as they struggle to provide evidence-based practices to every older adult in every care interaction.

Age-Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) is an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation (JAHF) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States, designed to meet this challenge head on.

Age-Friendly Health Systems aim to do the following:

• follow an essential set of evidence-based practices,
• cause no harm, and
• align with "What Matters" to older adults and their family caregivers.​

NPA Issue Brief: Age-Friendly Health Systems and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly: Providing Care for What Matters Most to Older Adults

NPA has produced a new Issue Brief looking at Age-Friendly Health Systems and PACE.

Webinar on AFHS and PACE

Several PACE organizations participated in a webinar on Feb. 3, 2022, to share their experiences in adopting AFHS principles in their organizations. To learn more about the AFHS initiative, visit the IHI website.

Easy-to-Use Guide on AFHS

The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement released a comprehensive, easy-to-use guide for health care professionals titled Age-Friendly Health Systems: A Guide to Using the 4Ms While Caring for Older Adults.

AFHS Action Community

IHI is recruiting for the next Age-Friendly Health Systems Action Community and invites health systems to join. The community brings teams from across different health systems together to accelerate their own description and adoption of the 4Ms (What Matters, Medication, Mentation and Mobility).

Guided by expert faculty and an “all teach, all learn model,” teams from hospitals, practices, nursing homes and other settings participate in monthly webinars, convene virtually, and test specific changes to improve care for older adults. There is no fee to participate. For more information, view the Invitation to Join.