Broad Coalition Works to Improve Quality Regardless of Long-Term Setting

A group of the nation’s leading health, consumer, and aging advocates has formed a new alliance to make sure the 10 million people needing long-term services and supports in the United States receive the highest quality of care regardless of the setting in which it is delivered. The Long-Term Quality Alliance (LTQA) aims to broaden efforts to improve quality of care to include community-based settings as well as nursing homes. It will do so by fostering “person-centered” quality measures for people who need long-term services and supports to enhance their quality of life, reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and utilizations, and decrease costs.

Why is it needed?

The number of Americans needing long-term services and supports is set to double by 2050 to 27 million. Two thirds of these people are under the age of 65. A growing proportion of people are receiving long-term services and supports in a wide variety of settings from nursing homes to assisted living facilities to their own homes. We need to effectively measure whether the care that is delivered in these settings adequately captures what is most important to each individual’s quality of life and to position the providers of long-term services and support with the knowledge, tools and other resources needed to improve the quality of these services.

What is Long-Term Care?

It is the broad array of services and supports that people of all ages need when they can no longer completely care for themselves. Long-term care services and supports include: help with bathing, dressing, or with household tasks like cooking and cleaning. These services and supports may be provided in an institutional setting or in a person’s home.