HOSPITAL ELDER LIFE PROGRAM (HELP)

Additional fee session

HELP has been working to make health systems safer and health care more effective for over two decades, preventing delirium, functional decline, falls, and other adverse outcomes among hospitalized older adults. The program ultimately promotes a growing trend toward “age-friendly health systems,” so named because they promote unique expertise on geriatrics focal points: care for the mind, medications, mobility, and what “matters most” to patients. Join us at the AGS CoCare®: HELP Preconference and learn how to implement strategies for sustainability & longevity to ensure success of HELP in the hospital and potential strategies for family and caregiver involvement to improve patient care. 

Learning Objectives: (1) describe how delirium impacts older adults in the hospital; (2) identify nonpharmacologic approaches to prevent delirium; (3) apply strategies for how to include family and caregivers in your AGS CoCare®: HELP program in their hospital; (4) review the role of the Elder Life Nurse Specialist and how to retain and provide professional development; (5) describe strategies for success in developing a business case for your AGS CoCare®: HELP programs; (6) discuss perioperative multidisciplinary delirium prevention and how that aligns with AGS CoCare®: HELP; (7) identify business principles for aligning AGS CoCare®: HELP program goals with organizational priorities; and (8) describe strategies for success and sustainability for AGS CoCare®: HELP programs.