Age-Friendly Healthcare
Owensboro Health takes special steps to be an age-friendly health system. The 4M framework is at the heart of caring for older adults. The 4Ms—What Matters, Medication, Mobility and Mentation—are critical to individualized care for aging patients.
The framework helps us simplify and focus on what matters most to each patient since every older adult has unique goals. We ensure that their care plan reflects those priorities—whether it’s improving mobility, managing medications or preserving mental health. By prioritizing what matters to patients, Owensboro Health aims to ensure that every older adult receives care that is tailored to their specific needs, fostering both independence and well-being.
4Ms Framework
What Matters
Know and align care with each older adult's specific health outcome goals and care preferences including, but not limited to, end-of-life care, and across the settings of care.
Medication
If medication is necessary, use Age-Friendly medication that does not interfere with What Matters to the older adult, Mobility, or Mentation across settings of care.
UpToDate: Medications and Older Adults
Beers List of potentially inappropriate medications for older adults, 2019
Mentation
Prevent, identify, treat, and manage dementia, depression, and delirium across settings of care.
Mobility
Ensure that older adults move safely every day in order to maintain function and do What Matters.
NICHE Member Status and Information
Owensboro Health is a NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) Member.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the NICHE and Age-Friendly Health Systems Coordinator at 270-417-4307 or Caroline.Henderson@OwensboroHealth.org