Health Care Services and Policies
Marcus Institute research is impacting policies and developing standards that improve health care for older adults.
Research-Proven Policies to Improve Health Care for Older Adults
Older adults are more than twice as likely to require hospitalization as adults in middle age. Moreover, when an older person lands in the hospital, care may not consider the special needs of an older patient such as cognitive challenges or frailty. Unfortunately, the same may be true in outpatient settings.
The Marcus Institute seeks to effect broad change in policies that impact the care of older adults. We do this by identifying age-related conditions that have an outsized impact on health care utilization and costs and developing interventions that will mitigate the issues.
Improving Health Care for Seniors While Reducing Costs
From responding to the COVID-19 pandemic to ongoing pressing issues impacting health care for older people, Marcus Institute researchers are engaged in pioneering research that improves care while reducing the burden on our health care system.
- The recent COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the vital role researchers in the field of aging must play in managing public health challenges. Marcus Institute researchers were called upon to help guide efforts to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a disproportionate and devastating impact on older populations.
- Palliative care researchers at the Marcus Institute are conducting NIH-funded studies to better understand and identify ways to reduce disparities in the care of people living with dementia in nursing homes.
- We are investigating the association between conditions like frailty and health care utilization and costs; and developing quality indicators for use in long-term care, post-acute care, and home care.
- We are making frailty information accessible to clinicians and health care systems to identify people with frailty and deliver tailored care.
It's vital that we all understand why the way in which we care for older adults affects the cost and quality of health care delivery for everyone.
Explore this section to learn more about the Marcus Institute’s work to improve geriatric care.
Find current research projects
Showing 16 Results
Mid-Career Mentoring Award For Patient-Oriented Research in Frailty and Health Outcomes
This project aims to develop a mentoring program in frailty research for early-stage and new investigators; conduct high-quality research to determine heterogeneity of treatment effect by frailty for a broad range of medical and surgical interventions; and enhance PI's new research skills, mentoring capacity, and leadership.
Principal Investigators
NIA AD/ADRD Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory (IMPACT)
The NIA AD/ADRD Collaboratory will provide the national infrastructure necessary to catalyze and support embedded pragmatic clinical trials of non-pharmacological interventions for persons with dementia. By convening national experts to provide consultation and guidance to Collaboratory-funded pilot projects and NIA-funded trials, the Collaboratory has the potential to transform care delivery, quality, and outcomes for millions of Americans suffering with AD/ADRD.
Principal Investigator
NIDUS II: Advanced-Stage Development and Utilization of the NIDUS Research Infrastructure to Advance Interdisciplinary Aging Research in Delirium
Major Goals: To advance foundational research to develop more effective treatments for delirium by utilizing and expanding a research network, the Network for Investigation of Delirium: Unifying Scientists (NIDUS II), to bring together investigators across disciplines and institutions to conduct essential research to develop safe and effective treatments for delirium, and ultimately to improve outcomes for delirium in all older adults, particularly those with ADRD.
Principal Investigator
READI SET GO: Researching Efficient Approaches to Delirium Identification—Sustaining Effective Translation to create Solicitation
To develop, translate, and sustain efficient approaches to delirium identification
Co-Investigator
Risk-Guided Atrial Fibrillation Surveillance in Ischemic Stroke
This research aims to evaluate contemporary practices related to the use of an Implantable Loop Recorder (ILS) following ischemic stroke. Our goal is to develop a post-stroke atrial fibrillation (AF) risk prediction model using the national Veterans Health Administration electronic health records (EHR) and externally validate the model in the Boston Medical Center Stroke Database and develop an EHR-based post-stroke AF risk estimation tool and conduct a single-arm pilot test of the EHR tool to evaluate acceptability, adoption, and validity prior to RCT testing.
K23HL151903-01A1
Principal Investigator
Trial to Reduce Antimicrobial Use in Nursing Home Residents with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias (TRAIN-AD2)
The research aims to develop and implement a pragmatic trial of a practice-level intervention to reduce antimicrobial use in nursing home residents who are exhibiting AD or related dementias.
Principal Investigator
Utilization and Clinical Outcomes of Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion in Older Adults with Atrial Fibrillation and Frailty
The research aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of left atrial appendage occlusion device compared with direct oral anticoagulants in older adults with atrial fibrillation.