The Framework Initiative, spearheaded by the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) Center for Home Care Policy & Research (Center) with funding from The John A. Hartford Foundation, forged a ground-breaking consensus on key values, critical practice areas, and core strategies for achieving maximally effective, efficient home health care that responds to the preferences, needs and values of older people and their families.

“Research on geriatrics—the care of older persons—is critical for providing the most responsive and effective home health services to older people,” said Penny H. Feldman, Ph.D., director of the Center and vice president for research and evaluation at VNSNY.

“The Framework Initiative is the first comprehensive effort to synthesize a large body of geriatric and chronic care research and distill its application to the home health setting. Building on this evidence base, we drew on the knowledge and experience of experts in home care and geriatrics to chart the first national course toward home care quality improvement for older adults.”

The Framework Initiative calls for the recognition by home care providers that truly outstanding home care must focus on older people and their well being not simply on their problem or disease. Home care providers must embrace foundational values that:

· Maximize older persons’ quality of life
· Honor their preferences and provide genuine choices
· Optimize their health and ability to function
· Help them cope both physically and emotionally with decline and end of life

The study identified six