Concordance between Self-Reports and Medicare Claims among Participants in a National Study of Chronic Disease Self-Management Program.

Objectives: To evaluate the concordance between self-reported data and variables obtained from Medicare administrative data in terms of chronic conditions and health care utilization.

Design: Retrospective observational study.

Participants: We analyzed data from a sample of Medicare beneficiaries who were part of the National Study of Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) and were eligible for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pilot evaluation of CDSMP (n = 119).

National study of chronic disease self-management: age comparison of outcome findings.

Introduction: The adult population is increasingly experiencing one or more chronic illnesses and living with such conditions longer. The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) helps participants cope with chronic disease-related symptomatology and improve their health-related quality of life. Nevertheless, the long-term effectiveness of this evidence-based program on older adults as compared to the middle-aged populations has not been examined in a large-scale, national rollout.

Examining strategies to build and sustain healthy aging programming collaboratives.

Background: Community collaboratives provide a means to build local capacity, reduce service fragmentation and duplication, maximize efficiency, and create synergies for systems change. But what are the collaborative practices that aging services providers and other stakeholders employ for system change and impact in evidence-based programming for older adults?

Purpose: The aim of this study was to learn how aging and health collaborations created strategic partnerships to foster multisector systems change and pursue long-term goals and near-term activities to sustain and expand evidence-based health programming.

Methods: Via a multiphase process, we identified eight geographically diverse, exemplar agencies that serve as the coordinators for various community collaborations.

Leveraging Administrative Data for Program Evaluations: A Method for Linking Data Sets Without Unique Identifiers.

In community-based wellness programs, Social Security Numbers (SSNs) are rarely collected to encourage participation and protect participant privacy. One measure of program effectiveness includes changes in health care utilization. For the 65 and over population, health care utilization is captured in Medicare administrative claims data.

The impact of chronic disease self-management programs: healthcare savings through a community-based intervention.

Background: Among the most studied evidence-based programs, the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) has been shown to help participants improve their health behaviors, health outcomes, and reduce healthcare utilization. However, there is a lack of information on how CDSMP, when nationally disseminated, impacts healthcare utilization and averts healthcare costs. The purposes of this study were to: 1) document reductions in healthcare utilization among national CDSMP participants; 2) calculate potential cost savings associated with emergency room (ER) visits and hospitalizations; and 3) extrapolate the cost savings estimation to the American adults.

Successes of a national study of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program: meeting the triple aim of health care reform.

Background: Emerging health care reform initiatives are of growing importance amidst concerns about providing care to increasing numbers of adults with multiple chronic conditions. Evidence-based self-management strategies are recognized as central to managing a variety of chronic diseases by improving the medical, emotional, and social role management demands of chronic conditions.

Objectives: To examine the effectiveness of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) among a national sample of participants organized around the Triple Aim goals of better health, better health care, and better value in terms of reduced health care utilization.

National study of chronic disease self-management: six-month outcome findings.

Objective: To investigate how the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) changes health outcomes, lifestyle behaviors, and health care service utilization over a 6 month period.

Method: The participants were 1,170 adults enrolled in the National Study of CDSMP in 2010-2012 (M age=65.4 years).

Effectiveness of a generic chronic disease self-management program for people with type 2 diabetes: a translation study.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine the feasibility and efficacy of a generic chronic disease self-management program for people with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: English-speaking adults with type 2 diabetes who were part of a larger US national translation study of the Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) were invited to be part of the current study. In addition to completing self-report questionnaires, participants submitted blood samples at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months.

Best-practice physical activity programs for older adults: findings from the national impact study.

Objectives: We assessed the impact of existing best-practice physical activity programs for older adults on physical activity participation and health-related outcomes.

Methods: We used a multisite, randomized trial with 544 older adults (mean age 66 years) and measures at baseline, 5, and 10 months to test the impact of a multiple-component physical activity program compared with results for a control group that did not participate in such a program.

Results: For adults who participated in a multiple-component physical activity program, we found statistically significant benefits at 5 and 10 months with regard to self-efficacy for exercise adherence over time (P < .

An innovative approach for building health promotion program capacity: a generic volunteer training curriculum.

Purpose: We examined the feasibility of creating a generic training curriculum for volunteers in health promotion programs for older adults by identifying common core content topics across 10 national programs. We also considered additional material that could augment common core content topics.

Design And Methods: We reviewed in detail program manuals and associated materials from 10 national evidence-based or best practice health promotion programs for older adults that use volunteers.

Evidence-based health practice: knowing and using what works for older adults.

Community-based health care agencies are facing demands for improved outcomes, cost-effective programming, and higher customer satisfaction. Implementing evidence-based health interventions and programs can help to address these challenges. This article provides an overview of evidence-based health practice, including the definition and advantages of this approach, other key terms and concepts inherent to evidence-based practice, and the tasks and steps necessary to its implementation.

Geriatric interdisciplinary team training program: evaluation results.

Geriatric interdisciplinary team training has long been a goal in health education with little progress. In 1997, the John A. Hartford Foundation funded eight programs nationally to create Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) programs.

Using scripted video to assess interdisciplinary team effectiveness training outcomes.

As part of the Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) Program funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, the authors of this article worked to create an instrument, the Trainee Test of Team Dynamics, to assess health care trainees' understanding of team dynamics. The Trainee Test of Team Dynamics is a five-question written test designed to capture GITT trainees' knowledge of team process and skills in addressing conflict that is administered after watching a five-minute videotape of a simulated interdisciplinary health care team meeting.

Using case studies to evaluate students' ability to develop a geriatric interdisciplinary care plan.

The Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) program, an educational intervention funded by The John A. Hartford Foundation of New York City, has trained more than 1800 health care professions students and clinicians throughout the United States. Evaluating the effectiveness of this training intervention has proven to be quite a challenge.

A vision for older adults and health promotion.

Our rapidly aging population is expected to place heavy demands on all segments of society, particularly the health care resources needed to attend to health concerns associated with aging. Is this a looming crisis, as some predict, or a challenge to use resources more wisely and to help older adults and their caregivers share in the responsibility for health promotion and chronic disease self-management activities? Community-based organizations serving older adults are uniquely positioned to augment health care providers' health promotion counseling activities and to bridge the gap between the research and practice of health promotion in older adults. They already play a crucial role by providing appropriate health promotion education, screening and referral, service planning, and reinforcement to facilitate self-care activities and behavior changes that promote healthy aging.

Policy initiatives to promote healthy aging.

An overwhelming array of policies and programs can be used to help older people (and future older people) maintain healthy lifestyles. How can clinicians help ensure that their patients take advantage of these opportunities? How can these broad-scope policies, educational and information initiatives, and direct service programs be turned into tools to help older people maximize health and independence? First, physicians do not need to do it all themselves. They need to know where to send their patients.