November 1, 2017 Culture of Health Curriculum Learning Collaborative Call

This call focused on a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Catalysts for Change: Harnessing the Power of Nurses to Build Population Health in the 21st Century, and an RWJF meeting, Road Map to Prepare Practice, Education and Leadership in Population Health.

The report: Catalysts for Change: Harnessing the Power of Nurses to Build Population Health in the 21st Century Report

Maureen Sroczynski, DNP, RN, consultant to the Center to Champion Nursing in America, provided an overview of the report, released in October at American Academy of Nursing’s annual conference. The report focused on the significant role nurses play in building the best possible health and wellbeing for all in our nation. The authors set out to answer the question: How can nurses best help our nation reverse the course on the declining health of its citizens and promote the health of the US population in the 21st century? To answer the question, the authors:

• Conducted a comprehensive literature review
• Interviewed thought leaders and experts in the field
• Attended key regional and national meeting to gather research findings and promising models of care
• Participated in a national consensus/think tank conference attended by 36 nursing leaders and educators, health care providers and payers, health economists and researchers

The report begins by defining the terms population health and population health management as a continuum. It begins with the population management of a defined group of individuals for which a health entity is paid to improve health outcomes to a population, and then it takes a broader focus in which health-related and civic organizations work together to improve health outcomes for a specific population and commit to address the upstream determinants of health. The authors go on to identify the key drivers of population health strategies including social determinants of health, health inequities, the lack of access to affordable clinical care and health behaviors. They speak to the trends that impact the role nursing plays in building population health which include the aging population, nurse retirements, public health system transformation, technology and consumerism. They identify four key population focused competencies that nurses need to develop and describe the nursing roles in population health and population management. The authors end by describing the implications for nursing practice, education, research and policy and then present a series of recommendation on transforming nursing education and practice, nurse leadership, research and advocacy and policy efforts. They conclude by calling for action and urge us all to join them.

The meeting: Developing a Roadmap to Prepare Nurses for Practice, Education and Leadership Roles in Population Health

The above meeting was held Oct. 11 in Washington DC. Pat Polansky, RN, director of program development and implementation CCNA, stressed the importance of reading and circulating the Catalysts report to further connect and broaden the conversation with consumers, other community stakeholders and across nursing. She then provided an overview of RWJF’s “roadmap” meeting held in Washington, DC in early October. This meeting was convened to broaden stakeholders around nursing curriculum and population health and plan for how to move the information in the Catalysts report to the next level. The meeting involved 22 national experts from nursing and other key stakeholders and concluded with a number of next step recommendations including:

• Communication- Creating a common language across disciplines around the Catalysts report
• Evaluation- Establishing a timeline and outcome criteria for success in moving the following
  goals
  • Population health in every nursing curricula
  • Population health in every performance evaluation
  • Increasing capacity for preparing nurses in population health
  • Increasing nurses prepared for population health roles
• Models- Showcasing and testing of successful models and developing a best practices
  clearinghouse
  • Determine interdisciplinary competencies
• Transform Culture- Using the concept of innovation to think differently and approach this as a
  culture change
  • Mandating academic practice leadership partnerships
  • Identification of intersects between nurses and other disciplines

Ideas shared were the concept of moving the Catalyst report and recommendations out to other professional organizations. Campaign for Action Action Coalitions in Massachusetts, Indiana and Nebraska shared information about upcoming statewide multi-stakeholder summits as a vehicle to share the report. The Oregon Action Coalition described its population health course at the RN-to-BSN level and its involvement with care management. The Nebraska Action Coalition described its work with Iowa to develop a nurse residency program in long-term care as a method to increase retention in longterm care sites. The participants who spoke all expressed interest in learning more and assisting in the process of moving forward with both the concepts and recommendations of the Catalysts report.