For long-term care settings to improve, local stakeholders must work together to enact changes that lead to better care. Moreover, these changes must align with the needs, preferences, and values of consumers and their family caregivers. That was the central message in a report from The Long Term Quality Alliance.

The report follows a recent summit called “Innovative Communities: Breaking Down Barriers for the Good of Older Consumers and Their Family Caregivers.”

The report features three case studies of communities that worked to develop strategies and programs for elderly individuals requiring long-term care, with an eye toward preventing hospitalizations. Community projects featured include Community Connections project in Chapel Hill, NC; Vermont’s Seniors Aging Safely at Home in Burlington, VT; and Michigan’s Detroit Community Action to Reduce Hospitalizations in Farmington, MI.

The Long Term Quality Alliance annual meeting runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the National Press Club, in Washington, DC. To read the LTQA report, visit www.ltqa.org.