Residents at Kendal Crosslands Communities in Pennsylvania, Kendal at Granville and Kendal at Oberlin in Ohio, and Kendal at Hanover in New Hampshire, are being "COLLAGEd" (one resident's affectionate name for the process) annually. The resident-specific outcome data generated by COLLAGE assessments are used by Kendal's affiliate communities to develop individualized service plans for residents and to identify areas for organizational performance improvement. As the Kendal communities prepare for CARF/CCAC Accreditation, using COLLAGE data in these ways helps them to meet the accreditation performance improvement standards.

Kendal at Granville opened in April of 2005 and began offering COLLAGE assessments the following year. After evaluating data from just 15 assessments the staff realized the value of being able to look at aggregated data. By April of 2007, 85% of their residents had participated in the assessment and the data obtained from COLLAGE is guiding the community in the implementation of several wellness initiatives. Some of these initiatives involve physical fitness, balance awareness, and managing and adapting to change.

Kendal's subsidiary, Kendal Outreach, has been collaborating on this joint venture with the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife, interRAI (a collaborative network of researchers in over 30 countries committed to improving health care for persons who are elderly, frail, or disabled), and the COLLAGE member consortium to utilize this first-of-its-kind assessment.

The collected and analyzed data provide a framework to incorporate ongoing, systematic, and integrated assessment practices combined with evidence-based interventions in order to improve:

• the ability of older adults to remain independent,
• the overall quality, consistency, and continuity of health services across all levels of care,
• the effectiveness of programs and services, and

• organizations’ ability to plan for the changing needs of older adults.

In addition, aggregated community data will have the potential to improve care and services to seniors in CCRCs and other housing settings around the country. Learn more about COLLAGE by visiting their website at www.collageaging.org.