Our Mission
Our mission is to create an integrated system of supports that empower seniors to age well – how and where they choose.
We Listen to How Seniors Describe Healthy Aging – and That Becomes Their Individual Plan and Our Collective Plans
The National Well Home Network is committed to support and promote proven housing-based health and service models to build long term services that facilitate high quality, efficient and effective healthy aging at home with partnerships between health care providers, payers, housing and home and community-based services to make the best use of all resources, regardless of individual income or setting.
Critical Success Factors
- Replicate and demonstrate proven successful housing-based service models and bring models to scale.
- Cultivate long term partners, public or private, to collaborate on mission and operations to insure stability and sustainability.
We begin building the system at publicly assisted housing because:
- This is where the highest rates of chronic conditions and highest rates of Medicare and Medicaid
spending occurs compared to their counterparts in the community. - The limited economic resources of the residents leave few options on how and where to age.
- Consumer preferences and public policy favor aging in community settings rather than in an
institutional setting thus resulting in the reduction of nursing homes in many states. - The behaviors that are the largest factor in premature death, are shaped at home.
- Every state has thousands of publicly subsidized senior housing units – this is the place to begin
to build a true system of supports for all.
Photo Courtesy of Cathedral.org
The Importance of What We Do
“All we ask is to remain the writers of our own story. That story is ever changing. Over the course of our lives, we may encounter unimaginable difficulties. Our concerns and desires may shift. But whatever happens, we want to retain freedom to shape our lives in ways consistent with our character and loyalties.”
– Quote from Atul Gawande, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM OF CARE
Most of us have experienced first-hand a loved one trying to manage care after a fall, heart attack or stroke. The US needs a true system of care that eliminates fragmentation between agencies, communication gaps and complex payment policies. Our vision is to create an integrated system of supports that keep seniors in the drivers seat determining how and where they want to age with dignity.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT
Volume is key to insuring that our integrated system for aging is financially efficient and effective at reaching the highest need individuals. Research has shown that integrated systems for aging, even in lightly dense counties (160,000 residents or more) can reduce the rate of Medicare spending at a statistically significant rate (read more here). Your state can develop an integrated system that will reduce hospitalizations and reduce federal spending.
Photo Courtesy of Saint Elizabeth Community
GETTING TO SCALE
The NWHN’s goals over the next three years (2018 – 2020) is to begin the replication of housing-based service models and develop a plan to bring that model to scale, in six to ten states. NWHN is working in seven states as part of the HUD IWISH (Integrated Wellness In Supportive Housing) demonstration’s implementation team. In partnership with national housing organizations, the NWHN hopes to be actively scaling models in twenty-five states in the next ten years. Please join us.
Get Involved
If you are committed to putting seniors in the driver’s seat and integrating where people live and their health care, please join the movement!