As you grow older, your healthcare needs change. Like many older adults, you may enjoy an active and vigorous lifestyle. Yet you may be encountering specific challenges that can be made easier with assistance from a dedicated healthcare team, from managing a chronic health condition to determining the best living situation for your age and ability.
In the Sutter Health network, we offer a range of programs and resources designed to support aging with as much vitality, independence and dignity as possible and enhance the quality of your life.
CPMC has been awarded a Center of Excellence designation, a prestigious international recognition, for our Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) by the American Geriatric Society.
HELP is an effective and innovative model of hospital care designed to prevent both delirium and functional decline. The program integrates the principles of geriatric care into standard nursing and medical care at our hospitals. It also brings geriatric expertise for patient care decisions for those enrolled in our ACE Unit at Mission Bernal Campus as well as select patients 70 years or older with geriatric syndromes at any of our CPMC hospitals in San Francisco. Geriatric syndromes include conditions such as dementia, depression, delirium, incontinence, vertigo, falls, spontaneous bone fractures, failure to thrive, and neglect and abuse.
HELP has been shown to speed up recovery, reduce hospital readmissions and improve patients’ satisfaction with their care.
The ACE unit at the Mission Bernal Campus has been recognized as an Age-Friendly Health System Participant by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. We have implemented the 4Ms – what Matters, Mobility, Mentation, and Medications - to provide evidence-based quality care. This allows healthcare workers on the ACE unit deliver common sense, patient-centered care to our older hospitalized patients.
