RESEDA, Calif. — The Los Angeles Jewish Home (LAJH), one of the largest providers of senior healthcare services in Los Angeles, has opened Brandman Research Institute (BRI), a center for research into best practices for geriatric health issues.
An interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals will lead the institution, with a to develop new standards and best models of care for older adults.
“With the formation of BRI, LAJH will identify and promote new and more effective models of care to enhance the quality of life for a growing aging population,” says Molly Forrest, CEO and president of LAJH. “We look forward to sharing what we learn to lead the way to better care for our elders throughout the world.”
With rising healthcare costs, understanding how to most effectively provide care for those of advanced age is critical and will have widespread impact, according to Noah Marco, BRI’s executive director and LAJH’s chief medical officer.
“With the launching of BRI, we aim to create real change in the care of seniors based on working directly with an often overlooked population,” says Marco. “BRI is committed to developing a better quality of life for the Greatest Generation through our work.”
BRI will provide medical and professional staff an opportunity to learn directly from seniors what works best for them. Specialized research will identify and promote life-enhancing and healthy-aging practices. Activities will include research projects and identified treatments that improve and enhance medical, social, psychiatric and psychological services for seniors.
Based in Reseda, LA Jewish Home provides a full continuum of care for almost 4,000 seniors through its in-home, community health, and residential programs and services. As such, BRI is positioned to provide insight on developing new protocols and standards in caring for older adults.
“Clinical studies often exclude older people. We are directly studying this segment of the population with an eye on improving the individual senior as well as the overall models of care,” adds Marco.
One of BRI’s first initiatives will be a focused study of effective models for post-acute care. A key emphasis will be a study identifying how providers can best work together and with the seniors they serve. The goal is to be a resource for those in the field of post-acute healthcare, from private institutions to government agencies.
Joyce Brandman and her late husband, Saul, supported the creation of the Brandman Research Institute, located in the Eisenberg-Keefer Medical Center on the LAJH’s Grancell Village campus.