The launch of a new Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) “in a distressed community at the southeast corner of the District of Columbia” is an inspiration for Robyn Stone.

Stone, senior vice president of research at LeadingAge and co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, wrote about the new Edenbridge PACE at Skyland Town Center, co-owned by two Massachusetts-based providers, Edenbridge Health and Element Care.

She outlines the elements of the new PACE that make it unique:

• It was designed with core principles devoted to “understanding and serving the whole person, providing outstanding geriatric care, and strengthening community.”
• It has strong ties to local affordable housing communities that are home to people with multiple chronic conditions, many of whom are now clients.
• The builders of the PACE went to great lengths to build trust with neighborhood residents and partners, via community-based meetings and focus groups, before moving forward with their plans.
• It wants to be a part of community revitalization, in an area that one stakeholder says “has spent decades without affordable, comprehensive health care.”

Learn more about the benefits of such a community-based organization in Robyn Stone’s article, “The Power of PACE: Revitalizing an Urban Neighborhood.”