Hebrew SeniorLife Earns Grand Prize in Pioneer Institute’s Better Government Competition

BOSTON — Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL), a Massachusetts senior services provider, has been awarded the grand prize in Pioneer Institute’s annual Better Government Competition in recognition of the “Right Care, Right Place, Right Time” (R3) housing model for seniors.

The R3 initiative is currently being implemented at two HSL communities—Center Communities of Brookline and Simon C. Fireman Community—as well as WinnCompanies’ The Village at Brookline and two Milton Residences for the Elderly sites. R3 provides coordinated, person-centered services to vulnerable seniors with the aim of enabling them to live independently in the community for as long as possible - receiving the right care in the right place at the right time. The project’s long-term vision is to create a replicable, scalable and sustainable model of housing with supportive services for seniors.

R3 works by embedding enhanced wellness teams into elderly housing complexes to serve as links between housing and health care, establishing relationships with residents and collaborating on wellness and prevention efforts. The primary aim of R3 is to reduce the incidence of unnecessary transfers of seniors from their homes to hospitals, emergency rooms and nursing homes, as well as to reduce costs while focusing on improving seniors’ quality of life and ability to live independently.

“We appreciate Pioneer Institute’s recognition of the intent and opportunity inherent in our R3 housing model,” said Lou Woolf, President and CEO of HSL. “This model, and our ongoing analysis as we measure its performance, will not only benefit seniors in our communities today, but provide insight that should change the way the entire country approaches affordable housing for seniors.”

R3 is funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission through the Health Care Innovation Investment (HCII) Program. Additional funding is provided by MassHousing, Department of Housing and Community Development, Enterprise, and Beacon Communities.

Pioneer Institutes’ Better Government Competition is an annual citizen’s idea contest that seeks out and rewards innovative public policy proposals. The 2017 contest sought to identify and promote those ideas that ensure a better future for aging citizens in Massachusetts through programs for housing, health care and public health - as well as unique partnerships between government agencies and care providers.

Kim Brooks, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Living at HSL will accept the Better Government grand prize of $10,000 at an award ceremony on Monday, June 19 at the Boston Harbor Hotel. Brooks will speak at the event, alongside Jim Stergios, Executive Director, Pioneer Institute, Charles D. Baker, Governor of Massachusetts, and several others.

About Hebrew SeniorLife

Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to rethinking, researching, and redefining the possibilities of aging. Founded in Boston in 1903, the nonprofit, non-sectarian organization today provides communities and health care for seniors, research into aging, and education for geriatric care providers. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, visit http://www.hebrewseniorlife.org, follow us on Twitter @H_SeniorLife, like us on Facebook or read our blog.