This year's award winner is Lifespan of Greater Rochester, Inc., (Lifespan) in New York. Lifespan supports older adults and caregivers to take on the challenges and opportunities of longer life. In 2015, Lifespan created the Community Care Connections (CCC) pilot program with support from the New York State Department of Health. The goal of this demonstration project was to prove that integrating traditional community-based services through partnerships with healthcare providers positively affects cost, quality, and patient and physician satisfaction. Lifespan staff saw the need to close gaps in care for medically-frail older adults experiencing multiple emergency department visits and hospital readmissions. The program achieved numerous positive outcomes for patients and caregivers, including decreased hospitalizations, decreased caregiver stress, and increased patient access of community services.
The Archstone Foundation Award for Excellence in Program Innovation is an annual award, established in 1997 through an endowment, to recognize best practice models in the field of aging and public health. By providing national recognition to these programs, Archstone Foundation hopes that it will enable these model programs to be replicated, and to continue to be evaluated in an effort to enhance innovative services for older adults throughout the U.S.
