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Together We Improve Care

Nursing homes are continually striving to improve care. 

Through research, the Program for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care aims to help improve care through collaboration. Since every care setting is different, our goal is to facilitate a connection between academic researchers, community physicians, nursing home facilities, and residents and caregivers.  

Our Mission

To provide a network of nursing homes that support the academic mission of improving care for frail and vulnerable adults. This mission includes:

  • Participation in clinical research activities
  • Engagement with nursing home stakeholders
  • Promotion of a culture that uses innovative care practices​ 
Interested in collaborating? Email us at togetherweimprovecare@ucdenver.edu for more information.

GritzR. Mark Gritz, PhD

R. Mark Gritz, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Vice-Division Head of the Division of Health Care Policy and Research and the Director of Operations for the Adult and Child Consortium for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS). His earlier research focused on the effectiveness of education and employment programs, welfare and nutrition assistance programs, and improving the earnings and well-being of low-income parents and youth. After years providing product development support services to biotechnology industries, Gritz directed a team conducting studies in support of the Military Health System and the Department of Veterans Affairs. At the University of Colorado, his research focuses on improving the health and well-being of economically-disadvantaged and other vulnerable populations, including Medicaid and Child Health Insurance Program beneficiaries. 

 

Christine Jones, MD, MS v2 Christine Jones, MD, MS

Dr. Jones is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Hospital Medicine Division at the University of Colorado. Her research aims to (1) improve care transitions for older adults discharged from the hospital with home health care services and (2) improve care coordination between clinicians caring for patients in different clinical settings, including post-acute care. She is interested in identifying and studying innovative ways to connect clinicians across care settings to improve patient outcomes.

 

Cari Levy, MD, PhD Cari Levy, MD, PhD

Dr. Levy is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Health Care Research and Policy at the University of Colorado, Denver and Denver Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center. Her clinical work as a geriatrician and Director of Palliative Care at the Denver VA Medical Center informs her research which focuses on quality of life at the end-of-life in nursing homes, disparities in care among persons living in institutional care settings, and quality of care in non-institutional care settings such as the VA Home Based Primary Care Program and Medical Foster Home Program. 

 

Hillary Lum, MD, PhD Hillary Lum, MD, PhD

Dr. Lum is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Eastern Colorado VA Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC). She conducts patient-centered outcomes research to improve advance care planning for older adults and individuals with serious illnesses. She is testing and implementing novel advance care planning interventions, such as ENACT, and multi-pronged interventions to integrate advance care planning into health care systems and inform associated policies. Her research uses implementation science to implement evidence-based models into real-world clinical settings. 

 

Kady NearingKathryn Nearing, PhD, MA

Dr. Nearing is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Associate Director for Education and Evaluation for the VA Eastern Colorado Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center.  She supports strategic initiatives of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Engagement (DEICE) and serves on the Chancellor’s DEICE Leadership Council and on the executive committee of the Multidisciplinary Center on Aging.  Areas of expertise include health services research, including dissemination and implementation science; research translation, including health systems change in response to clinical innovation; community-based participatory research and stakeholder engagement; and, education, training and career development.

 

Mustafa Ozkaynak, PhD v2 Mustafa Ozkaynak, PhD

Dr. Ozkaynak is an Assistant Professor in the University of Colorado Denver College of Nursing. He completed his PhD in industrial and systems engineering with emphasis on health informatics. His research focus is on social and organizational consequences of health information technologies and he develops novel workflow approaches for various clinical and non-clinical health care settings. He was part of the UTIDecide team who developed a workflow-informed decision support system for nursing homes. 

 

Marcelo Coca Perraillon, PhD Marcelo Coca Perraillon, PhD

Dr. Perraillon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health, Systems, Management & Policy in the University of Colorado School of Public Health. Broadly, his research interest lies in program and economic evaluations of health interventions and applied statistical methods. His current research relates to the nursing home sector, particularly in studying the effects of public reporting of quality on consumer and provider behavior and cancer care in nursing homes. His research also involves economic evaluations and mixture models for the prediction of health utilities in cost-effectiveness.


 

Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley, PT, PhD Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley, PT, PhD

Dr. Stevens-Lapsley is a Professor and Director of the Rehabilitation Science PhD Program in the Physical Therapy Program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center. She is focused on identifying, integrating and advancing innovative evidence-based medicine solutions for older adult rehabilitation through highly effective research methods and partnerships. She has almost 20 years of clinical research experience in patients with osteoarthritis planning joint arthroplasty, and more recently, medically complex patient populations. Her research ranges from understanding the mechanisms of skeletal muscle dysfunction to studies of implementation of best rehabilitation practices in post-acute care settings. 

Andrea Daddato

Andrea Daddato

Daddato’s research in gerontology focuses on Medicare health care policy and heart failure research in skilled nursing facilities. Her doctoral degree in gerontology focuses on health care policy research and she is currently working on her dissertation as a PhD candidate. Andrea has worked in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on a randomized controlled trial of heart failure disease management in skilled nursing facilities. She plans to use data from the trial and qualitative interviews with stakeholders from skilled nursing facilities for her dissertation.

 

Cynthia DrakeCynthia Drake

Drake is a Professional Research Assistant for the Division of Health Care Policy and Research. She is a mixed methods researcher, which means she conducts research that’s both quantitative (i.e., experiments, surveys) and qualitative (i.e., focus groups, interviews). She is experienced in stakeholder engagement. Drake is working on her PhD in health services research from the Colorado School of Public Health. She is the project manager of the Colorado Long Term Care Research Partnership and serves on the steering committee of the Stakeholder Advisory Board.

 

Jason FalveyJason Falvey

Falvey is a geriatric physical therapist interested in research relationships between impaired physical function and outcomes of home health care and long-term care. Falvey is working with a large Medicare database to evaluate how rehabilitation utilization impacts functional recovery and hospitalization outcomes in medically vulnerable adults. He also works closely with Innovage, an area provider of Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly services in Denver, Colorado to reduce incidences of falls and fall-related hospitalizations among Medicare/Medicaid dually eligible older adults.

 

Allison GustavsonAllison Gustavson

Gustavson’s research interests​ include: 1) exploring the barriers to practice change and the uptake of evidence-based practice in post-acute care (home health, community-based long-term care, skilled nursing facilities), 2) developing and refining multi-modal and interdisciplinary interventions to maximize patient outcomes following hospitalization, and 3) employing strategies for implementation and dissemination of study results to post-acute settings nationwide.

We work with a number of academic and community-based organizations that align with our mission of improving care in nursing homes. Funding and support have been provided by:

Colorado Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI)​
Colorado Medical Director's Association
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute​​
Data Science to Patient Value (D2V)

Are you interested in partnering with us? Email us at togetherweimprovecare@ucdenver.edu​

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