#  About NCECE 

 



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Established in 2017, the National Center for Equitable Care for Elders (NCECE) is a program of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, located in Boston, MA. NCECE is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the National Training and Technical Assistance Partners (NTTAP) designation. NTTAPs are funded by HRSA to provide free Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) to support existing and potential health center grantees and look-alikes. Additional information on the NTTAP program is available on [HRSA's NTTAP webpage](https://bphc.hrsa.gov/qualityimprovement/strategicpartnerships/ncapca/national-training).

Our NCECE faculty and staff, in collaboration with other NTTAP/PCA partners and external subject matter experts, seek to advance the discussion on older adult needs and emerging issues in our nation's health centers. These efforts are reflected in our training and technical assistance opportunities, publications and resources, e-newsletter, and our social media outreach.

**The goals of our Center are to**:

- Advance health care providers’ knowledge and disseminate promising practices for providing health care and supportive services to older adults;
- Increase the amount and accessibility of health care services provided to older adults at health centers; and
- Improve health centers’ responsiveness to enhance the quality of population-based and outcomes-oriented health care programs for older adults.

According to the HRSA Uniform Data System (UDS), over 3.3 million older adults receive their health care from health centers in the United States. The primary users of health centers are predominantly lower-income older adults, whose health conditions are further compounded by societal drivers of health (e.g., genetics, behavior, environmental and physical influences, medical care and social factors). According to the National Health Center Training and Technical Assistance Needs Assessment (Fall 2021), 31% of federally- funded health centers serve a high percentage of older adults. Nearly 58% of those who stated that they serve a high percentage of older adults stated that training on accessibility and affordability was an immediate priority for their organization. **As the U.S. population grows older, there will be a crucial need for age-friendly healthcare. In response, NCECE is committed to offering health centers training and technical assistance on a variety of topics related to older adult health**:

- Increasing access to comprehensive care
- Improving awareness and support for family caregiving
- Increasing capacity to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies and natural disasters
- Addressing disparities and enhancing health equity
- Managing chronic conditions that disproportionately affect older adults
- Improving the utilization of preventive services, particularly depression screening
- Addressing social risk factors through adequate screening, documentation, and community referrals

### What We Offer

**At NCECE, we aim to address these needs by offering training (i.e., learning collaboratives, webinars, asynchronous training modules) and providing technical assistance to health centers across the country**.

1. Creating collaborative, interprofessional learning environments among health care centers in underserved areas with specialty teams of practitioners.
2. Developing and delivering national training modules and resources focused on effective and comprehensive service delivery to older adults.
3. Providing technical assistance in-person and via an online platform to health centers throughout the US.