Newsletter, periodic publication

On July 31, at the AIRS Discovery Conference and 50th Anniversary Celebration, the organization announced a new name and brand that will carry the association into the next fifty years. The Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (AIRS) is now Inform USA. Inform USA is the professional membership association for Information and Referral services, providing standards, program accreditation, and practitioner certification for the field.

On July 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) converted Leqembi (lecanemab), indicated to treat adult patients with Alzheimer's Disease, to traditional approval following a determination that a confirmatory trial verified clinical benefit. Leqembi, developed by Biogen and Eisai, was approved in January 2023 under the Accelerated Approval pathway...

The FDA recently approved the first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus or RSV for adults ages 60 and older. The vaccine, Arexvy, prevents lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV. RSV is a highly contagious virus that causes infections of the lungs and breathing passages in individuals of all age groups. RSV circulation is seasonal, typically starting during the fall and peaking in the winter. In older adults, RSV is a common cause of lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD), which affects the lungs and can cause life-threatening pneumonia and bronchiolitis (swelling of the small airway passages in the lungs).

Through support from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, CHCS has published a Patient-Centered Complex Care Research Agenda to help involve people with lived experiences with complex care in the research process. The Better Care Playbook spoke to two individuals who helped develop the Research Agenda to learn how involving people with lived experience in research can help strengthen the complex care evidence base.

This blog post from Mathematica discusses the importance of partnerships between states and the federal government through highlighting topics covered at NAMD's 2022 conference. Sessions touched on innovations developed as part of recently approved 1115 demonstrations in Arizona, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Arkansas which focused on the ways states are providing whole-person care by addressing the health-related social needs of members. The post also explores Mathematica's work with CMS and states to build stronger measurement and evaluation infrastructure for a broad range of demonstrations, including those addressing substance use disorder, mental illness, and health-related social needs.

Health Affairs has published a new blog highlighting the value of improving health and well-being through establishing community care hubs. Hubs are characterized as community-focused entities that support a network of community-based organizations providing services for health-related social needs. The blog complements ACL’s investments to develop and scale community care hubs across the country including the National Learning Community, and plans to administer grants to support community care hub infrastructure.

This article presents case studies from different global regions to illustrate how disabilities are often overlooked in responding to climate-related health impacts and disaster planning. Health Affairs draws particular attention to mutual aid networks led by people with disabilities in adapting to climate-related health impacts and makes suggestions policy makers and practitioners can use to integrate disability justice into their work.

The Maximizing Independence (MIND) at Home program at Johns Hopkins University provides home and community-based care coordination for individuals and families living with dementia. Through focus groups with Black caregivers, researchers at Johns Hopkins aimed to better understand the unique needs of Black patients and families living with dementia, identify opportunities to improve care delivery, and understand caregivers’ perception of the MIND at Home program. This blog post from The Playbook explains the MIND at Home program and how dementia care coordination programs can better support Black patients and their families.

Each September ACL celebrates the nation’s senior centers. The 2022 National Senior Center Month theme, is Strengthening Community Connections, and highlights the valuable role senior centers play in the community through connecting older adults with critical programs and services. In this blog post, ACL recognizes senior centers as partners in supporting the health and independence of older adults.

With support from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, CHCS brought together patients, providers, researchers, and clinicians to develop a Patient-Centered Complex Care Research Agenda. The agenda aims to embed a consistent focus on what matters most to patients into complex care research design and will be released in Fall 2022. This blog post shares lessons for including patient perspectives to guide research priorities, based on CHCS’ experience creating a patient and family advisory board and a research community to help inform the Research Agenda.