Institute for Change / Research Center
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Partners in Care’s Institute for Change / Research Center provides comprehensive advisory services and technical research capabilities that create, test and implement evidence-based new models of health care and social services. The Institute also solicits funding and disseminates key findings for replication. Please click on What We Do for additional information.
Who We Are
The Institute for Change / Research Center is staffed by academically credentialed research talent, what Partners in Care Foundation considers the "best and the brightest." The Research Center is headed by Dr. Susan Enguidanos, MPH, PhD., who has a multidisciplinary background in psychology, public health, and social work. Dr. Enguidanos has more than 12 years of experience conducting research on an array of topics ranging from developing community-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs to identifying statewide ethnic disparities in access to end-of-life care, and has been the lead investigator on numerous studies.
Publications and Presentations
Partners’ research team consults with and advises many national and regional organizations in creating systemic change. Collaboratively the research team has published major academic articles and books and has presented critical findings at dozens of professional meetings.
Our Partners
The Institute for Change (IFC) brings together provider and funding partners in innovative initiatives that create needed change in the healthcare delivery system. In some cases, the Institute for Change team initiates the project; in others, the team helps innovators define and refine concepts into fundable reality.
Our services include:
Systematic inquiry or investigation of a new practice model or intervention to discover or revise facts, theories, & applications using either qualitative or quantitative methods
Examination of the impact of a program, policy, or process
• Consultations
Assistance in the design, development, or assessment of concept, plan, organizational design or system change• Needs Assessments
Systematic assessment of the needs of a community, subgroup or population
Our Current Projects
In-Home Palliative Care Program Study, in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente
After eight years of combined efforts, Partners in Care and Kaiser Permanente have received international recognition in 2007 for the In Home Palliative Care program (IHPC) study results published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, June 2007. The results showed that providing medical care in the home for seriously ill patients improves patient satisfaction and significantly reduces costs in the last year of life by almost 33% when compared with those receiving standard care.
This project will develop and test an enhanced social work care management intervention with frail older adults in primary care that is designed to reduce hospitalization and improve patient outcomes. At the core of the intervention will be the use of intensive Problem-Solving Therapy, a validated behavioral change approach shown to be effective in treating depression and other psychosocial problems. This approach emphasizes mutually agreed upon goals for improving the patient’s health status and promoting his/her independence. Behavioral change approaches like PST provide patients with the resources and tools to manage and maintain their health status, and have been shown to reduce use of hospital, Emergency Department, and other more costly forms of treatment. The study will compare outcomes for patients randomly assigned to the social work care management program with outcomes for patients receiving usual primary care.In response to the IHPC study findings, Kaiser Permanente has added “In Home Palliative Care” to its basic benefit package offered nationwide (with the exception of Georgia) “The study supported our goal of enhancing care by an interdisciplinary team of health care providers,” said Richard D. Brumley, MD, and Physician-in Charge for Kaiser Permanente Hospice and Palliative Care. “By involving patients and families with discussions about their illness and various treatment options, desires and concerns, we were able to successfully redirect the focus of care to the home setting, which patients much prefer, while reducing crisis oriented emergency department visits and the subsequent inpatient care.”
The Social Work in Primary Care Study, funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, is a collaborative project with Boston University and Kaiser Permanente’s Long Beach Clinic
The Social Work in Primary Care Study, funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, is a collaborative project with Boston University and Kaiser Permanente’s Long Beach Clinic. This project will develop and test an enhanced social work care management intervention with frail older adults in primary care that is designed to reduce hospitalization and improve patient outcomes. At the core of the intervention will be the use of intensive Problem-Solving Therapy, a validated behavioral change approach shown to be effective in treating depression and other psychosocial problems. This approach emphasizes mutually agreed upon goals for improving the patient’s health status and promoting his/her independence. Behavioral change approaches like PST provide patients with the resources and tools to manage and maintain their health status, and have been shown to reduce use of hospital, Emergency Department, and other more costly forms of treatment. The study will compare outcomes for patients randomly assigned to the social work care management program with outcomes for patients receiving usual primary care.Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Evaluation, funded by the Jewish Federation and Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles
Partners in Care Foundation is conducting an evaluation of the Jewish Family Services (JFS), Los Angeles, development of supportive services for seniors in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) in West Hollywood and Park La Brea. JFS was awarded a grant from the Administration on Aging to conduct a needs assessment of NORCs in the community in order to develop a network of community service providers that would support seniors to live independently in the home. The major objectives of the program are to identify gaps in the current service delivery, create new responsive services that meet their needs, increase access to supportive services in the community, promote health aging and provide a forum for increased support. The evaluation aims to measure the effectiveness of the activities completed in order to meet the programs goals. The evaluation is expected to be completed in June of 2005.
Parkinson’s Disease Comprehensive Care Project, funded by the National Parkinson’s Foundation, in collaboration with USC Keck School of Medicine’s Center for Movement Disorders
In January of 2005, The Parkinson’s Disease and Other Movement Disorders Center at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, was awarded a center of excellence, comprehensive care grant from the National Parkinson’s Foundation. This grant aimed to improve integration and quality of care of service delivery for people with PD. USC collaborated with Partners in Care Foundation to conduct a needs assessment and subsequent program development in order to improve continuity of care among people with PD and their families.
Physical Education Program Evaluation
Partners in Care Foundation’s Research Center is serving as evaluators on a federally funded Physical Education Program grant occurring in the Antelope Valley. The project is a partnership between the Antelope Valley Partners for Health (AVPH), a community collaborative in the Antelope Valley, County of Los Angeles of Public Health and the Keppel Union Elementary School District. The program goal is to improve physical education programs, fitness and health, among rural elementary schools located in the Antelope Valley. The Research Center is evaluating the projects ability to increase and improve knowledge, attitudes and behavior related to physical education and improve physical fitness for students, teachers, and parents of Keppel Union Elementary School District.
Healthy Aging Screening Clinic
Partners in Care Foundation’s Research Center is serving as evaluators on an internal Kaiser Permanente project testing the effectiveness of two different models of a Healthy Aging Screening Clinic. The purpose of special the “Successful Aging” Clinic is to provide specific physical exam tailored for geriatrics in order to minimize health risks and try to keep older members healthy. This clinic includes a review of medications, osteoporosis screening, fall prevention, and other important health exams.
Read more in our newsletter: From Research to Real World Practice
Partners in Care Institute for Change
Join Us!
Partners welcomes leaders and innovators to join with us in exploring the possibilities of "changing the shape of healthcare" and social services so they work for all. To discuss a collaborative project or idea with Partners, contact:
W. June Simmons, President/CEO, 818.837.3775 ext. 102 or email: emailor
Dr. Susan M. Enguidanos, IFC/Research Center Director, 562.622.4099.
