[Self-Management_OR] Opportunity for organizations offering DSMP to older adults

[MEAD Jennifer]

Sorry to the Master Trainers who will already have seen the message below, but I wanted to make sure this notice sent out on Stanford's listserv was shared with organizations offering DSMP in Oregon.
Jennifer

-----Original Message-----
From: self-manage [mailto:self-manage-bounces at lists.stanford.edu] On Behalf Of Sue Lachenmayr
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2015 11:53 AM
To: self-manage at lists.stanford.edu
Subject: [SELF-MGMT] Opportunity for organizations offering DSMP to older adults

Are you currently offering DSMP to older adults?  
Will you/your organization reach 50 or more older adults (66+) with DSMP by December of 2015? 
If so, we invite you and your organization to be involved in a national evaluation of Stanford's Diabetes Self-Management Program.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is conducting a prospective evaluation of evidence-based wellness and prevention programs, including DSMP.  Specifically, this CMS project is interested in recruiting newly enrolled Medicare DSMP participants from now through December 2, 2015.
The study involves surveys distributed by your staff or lay leaders to new program participants when they enroll in DSMP for the first time.

This effort is a critical component of a larger, ongoing evaluation of wellness programs mandated by the Affordable Care Act to conduct an evidence review and independent evaluation of wellness programs.  This prospective study follows a retrospective study conducted last year. On behalf of CMS, the Acumen/Westat team is interested in discussing with DSMP host sites, the opportunity to participate in this evaluation. 

 The study will also be interested in collecting information about participant program attendance and will be followed by a 6-month and 12 month survey (which the Acumen/Westat team will mail to participants). The data collected at the participant level will be analyzed to examine changes in participant health status and service utilization, based on Medicare claims data. The study has some funding for sites to cover data collection costs associated with the evaluation. 

 This is a very exciting opportunity to demonstrate the value to CMS of wellness programs-the results of these analyses may help inform the future policy direction about wellness and prevention activities. Staff from Westat, included on this email, will contact you directly about this opportunity.

 This current project is going to set the stage for the future in recognizing that evidence-based programs have an impact on cost and quality of life for older adults. Your participation in the study would greatly help in the success of the evaluation as well as providing additional data for potential funding organizations. 

If you are interested in participating or have further questions about the study please contact me at bslach at earthlink.net <mailto:bslach at earthlink.net>  and I will link you with the Acumen/Westat team. Thank you.

Sue Lachenmayr, MPH, CHS
Program Coordinator, Living Well Center of Excellence
MAC, Inc.
E-mail: bslach at earthlink.net 
Phone: 908-797-5650