Age-Friendly Grand Rounds for 4Ms Implementation in Ambulatory Care Clinics

As the global population continues to age, health care systems are faced with the necessity to adapt in order to appropriately meet the needs of older adults. Age-Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) serves as an evidence-based framework of care designed specifically around assessing and acting on the 4Ms: What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility. In 2018, a national network of ambulatory care clinics began focused efforts to integrate AFHS care into routine clinical practice. Achieving successful implementation in these ambulatory settings necessitates innovative strategies, which includes providing comprehensive education to advanced practice providers in order to enhance both their knowledge of the 4Ms and their capacity to apply these principles in everyday care.

To address this educational need, a quality improvement approach was utilized to design and execute a series of 12 Age-Friendly Grand Rounds sessions dedicated to integrating the 4Ms into clinical practice. These Grand Rounds sessions addressed common conditions encountered among older adults within this ambulatory care clinic setting. Following each individual session, participants received a postsession survey that assessed changes in their self-reported knowledge and their perceived ability to implement the 4Ms.

Across the series of 12 sessions, the Age-Friendly Grand Rounds recorded a total of 1,972 views. Evaluation of the survey responses revealed that 88.9% of respondents described self-reported increases in knowledge and ability to apply the 4Ms framework. Additionally, 78.6% of respondents who provided open-ended feedback were categorized as describing at least one potential clinical practice change informed by the educational content of the sessions. The authors concluded that the Age-Friendly Grand Rounds intervention seemed to strengthen participants' self-reported knowledge of the 4Ms, demonstrating that this educational implementation approach shows promise as an strategy for supporting AFHS integration. Furthermore, all 12 sessions have been archived to ensure continued access to these educational materials for future learners.