Embracing the Shift: The Impact of Health Care Contracting on Community-Based Organizations

This report, developed in partnership with Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University, details the results of a new qualitative study on the impact of health care contracting on Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) organizational operations and culture. Based on interviews with 13 individuals representing 10 AAAs, the report shares insights on how AAAs decide to contract with health care entities, how contracting impacts their organizational structure, data infrastructure, staffing and culture. The report also shares lessons learned about contracting and how to manage organizational change.

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Lifting The Veil: How Networks Form, Operate, Struggle, and Succeed

This report from USAging’s Aging and Disability Business Institute and the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University shines a light on the diverse ways that networks of community-based organizations (CBOs) are operated and managed. It shares the findings from interviews with 23 representatives of eight CBO networks—both Community Care Hubs/Network Lead Entities and CBO network members. In addition to capturing the experiences of Community Care Hubs and CBO network members on data management, payment and member relations, the report identifies best practices for networks to consider. 

Read the Better Care Playbook Blog Post: The Critical Role of Data Infrastructure in Community-Based Organization Networks

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AAA Partnership Research

The Aging and Disability Business institute, in partnership with the Yale School of Public Health, the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health and Scripps Gerontology Center of Excellence at Miami University, conducted a study to learn more about the strategies that AAAs employ when developing partnerships with health care and what factors are associated with contracting. This work was funded the RRF Foundation for Aging and the Donaghue Foundation.

How Do Area Agencies on Aging Build Partnerships With Health Care Organizations?
Curry, L., Cherlin, E., Ayedun, A., Rubeo, C., Straker, J., Wilson, T. L., & Brewster, A. (2022). How Do Area Agencies on Aging Build Partnerships with Health Care Organizations?. The Gerontologist, gnac019. Advance online publication. 

Better Care Playbook Blog Post: Supporting Older Adults’ Social Needs Through Partnerships Between Area Agencies on Aging and Health Care Organizations (May 5, 2022)

Factors Associated With Contracting Between Area Agencies on Aging and Health Care Entities
Brewster, A. L., Wilson, T. L., Kunkel, S. R., Curry, L. A., & Rubeo, C. (2022). Factors Associated With Contracting Between Area Agencies on Aging and Health Care Entities. Journal of applied gerontology: the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society, 41(8), 1878–1886. 

Better Care Playbook Blog Post: Key Elements Behind Successful AAA and Health Care Relationships to Improve Services for Older Adults (August 15, 2022)