Objective: The objective is to analyze the impact of the Aware in Care (AIC) Ambassador program in accomplishing its three goals regarding hospitalization of people with Parkinson’s disease: Educate the Community, Educate Clinicians who treat Parkinson’s, and Educate Hospital Staff.

Background: 3/4 with Parkinson’s do not receive medications on time when staying in the hospital, and that when this occurs 2/3 will experience unnecessary complications. To improve hospital outcomes, the Parkinson’s Foundation (PF) launched the AIC campaign in 2011 to help people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) get the best care possible during a hospital stay.
Since the launch of the initiative, PF has distributed nearly 100,000 free AIC kits, which contain tools designed to help people with PD and care partners educate hospital staff about the needs of people with Parkinson’s with particular focus on medication timing and contraindicated medications. Data collected from a survey found that only 50% of kit users received their medications on time (up from 25% without the kit), which is a significant improvement but suggested the need for additional education of people with PD and those who treat them. This led to the development of the AIC Ambassador Program, which invited people with PD, care partners, and clinicians to volunteer with PF to share the Aware in Care kit with their local communities and create connections in local hospitals to help change the culture and policies around Parkinson’s care.

Method: The pilot phase launched with trainings held March – September, resulting in 81 trained Ambassadors representing 30 states. Throughout this period, Ambassadors submitted monthly self-reports indicating who they educated, how many presentations they gave, and resource distribution.

Results: Through the pilot phase, Ambassadors reported educating 6,046 members of the PD community, 3,388 members of the general population, 933 clinicians, 904 professionals in senior/aging services, 50 hospital staff and 47 students – a total of 11,368 people. They also reported 310 presentations (averaging 38.75 presentations per month).

Conclusion: This poster will present the impact of the Aware in Care Ambassador pilot group through the initial pilot phase, through the first six months after pilot completion (October 2019-March 2020). It will also highlight the process of Ambassadors who implemented changes in their local hospitals during this time.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/improving-hospital-outcomes-through-the-aware-in-care-ambassador-program/