Nursing professor spearheads NIA grant

A Grand Valley nursing professor spearheaded a $311,351 federal grant to facilitate statewide implementation of an intervention in a Medicaid program that helps vulnerable adults age-in-place rather than move into a nursing home.

Sandra Spoelstra, professor of nursing, said the three-year grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health will expand the current CAPABLE (Community Aging in Place, Advancing Better Living for Elders) program to 18 waiver sites throughout Michigan, reaching 15,000 Medicaid participants. CAPABLE had been in place in Grand Rapids, Detroit, Flint and Saginaw.

Under the grant, Spoelstra said more than 750 clinicians and 100 managers will be trained to provide CAPABLE for Medicaid participants enrolled in MI Choice, a Michigan Department of Health and Human Services program established in 1992. The program provides support for disabled adults by offering a menu of services, such as personal care, meals, emergency response systems, adult day care or medical supplies.

"What we're doing is evidence-based practice, providing a standard plan of care to clinicians that will be delivered in a person-centered way to support aging-in-place in the community, to one of the most vulnerable underserved populations in the Medicaid program," Spoelstra said.

Spoelstra has co-led aging-in-place initiatives for nearly 20 years and collaborated with Sarah Szanton, from Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, and Laura Gitlin, from Drexel University.

An online certification program will be offered beginning in January to clinicians under contract with the state who manage MI Choice. Sites will receive quality improvement bonuses dependent on the number of clinicians (nurses, social workers, occupational therapists) who complete the certification program.

Spoelstra said Medicaid participants who have utilized CAPABLE experienced improved function, less pain and fewer hospitalizations. This trend is expected to continue, as CAPABLE is used statewide, she said.

The grant will also provide funding for graduate and undergraduate research assistants to work on the project and learn more about becoming a research scientist.