Promising Programs

More than half of the population over the age of 65 will require assistance with daily activities at some point in their lives, such as assistance with meals, help getting in and out of bed, transportation assistance, etc.  Relying on family or paid caregivers is one option for getting that help, but there is also a network of community-based organizations that can provide support.  Through the Foundation’s funding for Promising Programs, we support a growing network of  organizations in California that disseminate and evaluate program models to help older adults access quality care in their communities.

Featured Projects:

GRACE Team Care

Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders program, or GRACE, was developed by Dr. Steve Counsell and colleagues at Indiana University. The intervention, called GRACE Team Care, includes home-based care management by a nurse practitioner and social worker who collaborate with a primary care physician and a geriatrics interdisciplinary team. The team is guided by 12 care protocols for common geriatric conditions. GRACE has been shown to improve both quality of care and person-level outcomes while reducing costly emergency room and hospital use in high-risk elders. In 2009, The SCAN Foundation supported a project for implementing GRACE at a southern California medical group. Given the great success in terms of quality of care improvements and cost reduction, the Foundation is currently supporting the replication of GRACE at three additional sites in California. It is our expectation that further evidence of GRACE as a patient-centered, self-sustaining, and cost-saving program model that can be successfully implemented in a variety of settings, will lead to broader replication in California and throughout the country. Please click here to learn about how to submit a proposal for a California-based project.

Transportation Referral and Information Project – TRIP

TRIP was originally developed by the Independent Living Partnership in Riverside County in 1993, and the program currently serves nearly 500 seniors per month. TRIP is unique in that the volunteer drivers are directly recruited by and receive mileage reimbursement from the riders. The Orange County-based organization, Community SeniorServ, received a grant from The SCAN Foundation to replicate TRIP in Orange County.  Please click here to learn about how to submit a proposal for a California-based project.