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Aim
To improve outcomes and experiences for older people in Victoria’s health system by reliably assessing and acting upon the 4Ms.
Summary
Older people are more likely to be admitted to hospital or an aged care facility than younger people and are more likely to suffer harm such as falls, physical deterioration, medication errors, infections, or confusion. Older people and their carers also report inconsistencies with the way they are treated, consistent with what matters to them.
Age-Friendly Health Systems reliably provide a set of four evidence-based elements of high-quality care, known as the ‘4Ms’ (What matters, medication, mentation and mobility), to all older adults in their system. The 4Ms represent a shift by health systems to focus on the needs of older adults.
In partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), we will co-design, test and refine the 4Ms framework with seven health services providing care to older people across Victoria. This work will build on the Better Care Victoria funded Building an age-friendly Indigo health system project.
The initiative will include the creation of a dissemination strategy and guidance, to support future scale-up of an age-friendly approach to healthcare across Victoria.
Evaluation report
Age-Friendly Health Systems Breakthrough Series Collaborative evaluation report
Read our report on the 2022-2023 Age-Friendly Collaborative, where we brought together 30 teams from 18 health and residential aged care services across Victoria to work towards Age-Friendly care.
Resources to become an Age-Friendly Health System
The Age-Friendly Guide to using the 4Ms is a fully-interactive PDF document that provides the 'recipe' for health and residential aged care services to implement the Age-Friendly Health Systems 4Ms framework in their care settings. For resources to apply for global Age-Friendly recognition, scroll to the bottom of this page.
These case studies are designed as an addendum to the ‘Age-Friendly Guide to using the 4Ms,’ and include stories from teams across Victoria and the care continuum who were part of the Age-Friendly Collaborative.
Becoming an Age-Friendly Health System is about reliably assessing and acting on each M for every older person in your care. The following interactive eLearning modules describe the key actions that should be taken for each of the 4Ms, and how you can partner with consumers in an Age-Friendly Health System.
Understand when we should ask and act on What Matters, how to ask and act on What Matters, and understand the role of What Matters in end-of-life care.
The Mind 'M' is about identifying cognitive impairment (both dementia and delirium) on admission, and regular screening for delirium. The actions to protect patients with CI or to prevent or manage delirium are the same and must be enacted.
Understand the role of medication and polypharmacy on quality of life and health outcomes in older people.
Identify past and future attitudes towards safety and mobility, what counts as mobility, and practical strategies to encourage it.
Effective partnering in quality improvement is critical for effective, ethical and inclusive quality improvement projects and Age-Friendly care. This short course is a snapshot of key principles and concepts to help you establish partnering in your improvement work.
This consumer co-designed leaflet can be shared in your settings to show your patients and residents that you practice 4Ms care. For resources in Arabic, Greek, Italian, Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese, please click the ‘Email project team’ button below.
This consumer co-designed leaflet can be shared in your settings to show your patients and residents that you practice 4Ms care. For resources in Arabic, Greek, Italian, Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese, please click the ‘Email project team’ button below.
This consumer co-designed leaflet can be shared in your settings to show your patients and residents that you practice 4Ms care. For resources in Arabic, Greek, Italian, Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese, please click the ‘Email project team’ button below.
This consumer co-designed poster can be shared in your settings to show your patients and residents that you practice 4Ms care. For resources in Arabic, Greek, Italian, Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese, please click the ‘Email project team’ button below.
A 100,000 Lives initiative
Together with health services, consumers and experts we're improving healthcare for 100,000 Victorians.