Giving Compass' Take:

• Grantmakers in Aging presents a playbook for helping older adults with complex health needs, including chronic conditions and food insecurity.

• What can we do beyond this blueprint to create programs that address the needs of seniors, especially in low-income communities or isolated areas?

• Here's how older caregivers of family members face challenges in future family planning.

People with complex health and social needs such as chronic conditions, behavioral health issues, food insecurity, homelessness, and trauma often encounter a health care system that is poorly coordinated, inefficient, and expensive. Current systems must be improved to do a better job meeting their needs and lowering the overall costs of care.

Grantmakers In Aging (GIA), in association with Grantmakers In Health (GIH), is working with the Six Foundations Collaborative on Engaging Philanthropy in Complex Care: an initiative to help funders identify opportunities to accomplish these goals by supporting health system transformation and furthering the spread and scaling of evidence-based models for delivering complex care.

The centerpiece of this work is the Playbook for Better Care, which includes the new Blueprint for Complex Care. Compiled and curated by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the Playbook provides a variety of resources and approaches. The initiative also includes educational webinars, an opportunity to submit resources and case studies to the Playbook, and a national program map.

Read the full article about engaging philanthropy in complex care for older adults at Grantmakers in Aging.