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Tillery Compassionate Care has been officially named an Age-Friendly Care at Home organization by Community Health Accreditation Partner, Inc., (CHAP).

Tillery Compassionate Care is the first hospice in North Carolina to achieve Age-Friendly Care at Home certification.

“The 4Ms framework is evidence-based care and addresses the unique needs of older adults which leads to higher quality of life,” said Teresa Harbour, chief operating officer with CHAP.

Age-Friendly Care Health Systems is an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States that follows a set of best practices, causes no harm and aligns with what matters to the older adult and their family caregivers. Age-Friendly Care is health care that addresses a patient’s needs and wants, aiming to help the patient enjoy a better quality of life. It is based on the 4Ms: what matters, medication, mentation and mobility.

Patient Care Manager & Director of Nursing of Tillery Compassionate Care Renee Morton views Age-Friendly Care as an approach to care that is “focused specifically on the needs of people as they age in their home setting.”

“Our staff was already focusing on what’s most important to our patients along with addressing medications, mentation and mobility in each visit,” she said. “Achieving this certification was another way for us to validate our care to our patients.”

During visits with patients, Tillery’s staff focuses on the following aspects of patient care, integrating the 4Ms framework into delivery of care.

• What Matters: Understand patient’s goals. It’s important to hear patient and family concerns, goals, wishes, needs and experiences.

• Medication: Educate the patient and family on their medications. Providers should ensure that patients and their families understand the medications they are taking, the side effects they can have and the risk versus reward of taking them at the end of life.

• Mentation: Understand mentation. This knowledge helps to lower the risk of changes in memory or mood.

• Mobility. Maximize mobility. Ensure the patient has as much mobility and independence as possible, which could mean the strength and balance to safely move around their house.

“What a tremendous honor to be the first hospice organization in North Carolina to be recognized as an Age-Friendly Care provider,” said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lori Thayer. “We are proud to have enriched our organization’s care and credibility.”

CHAP is an independent, nonprofit organization accrediting providers of home and community-based care. Founded in 1965, CHAP was the first to recognize the need for and value of home and community-based care standards and accreditation. As a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)–approved accrediting organization, CHAP surveys organizations providing home health, hospice and home medical equipment services to establish if Medicare Conditions of Participation and DMEPOS Quality Standard are met and recommend certification to CMS.

CHAP’s purpose is to partner with organizations nationwide to advance quality in the delivery of care and services in the home and community.