Age-Friendly Health Systems

Age-friendly care is health care that addresses a person’s unique needs and wants across the lifespan. Age-Friendly Health Systems is an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States, helps hospitals, doctor's offices, retail pharmacy clinics, nursing homes, and home-care providers deliver age-friendly care. The Scorecard measures the presence of these facilities in each state indexed to their population of adults 65+. Age-Friendly Health Systems exist in every state. Indiana has the largest presence indexed to its older adult population, with 306 AFHS sites per million older adults.The District of Columbia (233), Nebraska (221), Hawaii (221), and Maine (125) round out the top five states in this indicator. States with the lowest presence of AFHS sites include Alaska (10), Alabama (10), Wyoming (10), South Dakota (8), West Virginia (8) and Mississippi (6). Notably, this indicator counts the number of Age-Friendly Health System sites rather than bed capacity or other considerations of volume.