White Paper by The Aging Experience Outlines Blueprint for Health Providers to Attack Dementia Crisis: Major Shifts in Culture, Strategy, Execution Needed
Huntersville, NC (PRWEB) March 02, 2016 -- Dementia, including Alzheimer’s is not a medical issue but a societal challenge.
Health providers alone cannot improve a person’s care and quality of life for a disease impacting more than 5 million people and their 40 million family caregivers, including 10 million Millennial caregivers. According to a new white paper released by Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, president of The Aging Experience, while researchers continue to look for a cure, this critical understanding is central if silos of care are to be broken so people can work collaboratively to address both cure and care.
“Future success of providers hinges on an understanding that societal health is more than just addressing population health and that partners to accountable care organizations (ACOs) are not just other hospitals, physicians and long-term care entities. Employers, banks, supermarkets, the community all play a role when it comes to addressing aging. Caring for family caregivers in the workplace and creating age/dementia friendly communities are key issues that society must address,” says Mr. Cirillo. He notes that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services validated this approach introducing a new ACO Model that includes the provision of social health-related needs.
The Aging Experience has identified three areas that can position health care organizations strategically as the provider of choice for boomers, older adults and their family caregivers.
1. Improve the experience of employees by identifying, embracing and creating programs for family caregivers in the workplace.
2. Improve the patient/resident/person experience by becoming dementia friendly.
3. Strategically position the organization from a marketing perspective by leading dementia friendly initiatives in the communities served.
The Aging Experience, formerly Fast Forward Consulting, is a consulting firm that helps integrate health care systems, empower and enrich the lives of family caregivers and those under their care, while making businesses and communities prosper by becoming age friendly.
It is led by Anthony Cirillo whose seminal article, The Chief Experience Officer, helped launch the patient experience movement. He believes that “aging is not just about the patient experience in a hospital or the resident experience in long-term care. Aging is an experience unique to each person and the care and services for those aging and their caregivers is not a medical issue but a communal one.” It must consider a person’s culture, environment, socio-economic factors, family, relationships, preferences and so much more. The white paper, Dementia Friendly as a Strategic Business Imperative for Hospitals and Health Care Providers is available here.
A member of the Dementia Action Alliance, Mr. Cirillo speaks at a diverse range of venues to help inspire and educate audiences. He is noted media expert in health and aging, the about.com expert in Senior Care and a monthly contributor on the Charlotte Today program. A 30-year health care veteran, he has worked in hospital administration, Fortune 500 corporations and helped launch a Wall-Street startup working with seniors in New York. Anthony started his senior journey when he started singing in nursing homes. His Caregiver Smile Tour travels the country inspiring thousands of people to live life more fully. Contact Anthony at [email protected].
Anthony Cirillo, The Aging Experience, http://www.theagingexperience.com, +1 704-992-6005, [email protected]
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