This issue of Medical Care presents a study by Litzelman et al,1“Impact of community health workers on elderly patients’ advance care planning and health care utilization:moving the dial,” that reports the results of an innovative model at the Indiana University Center for Aging Research’s Aging Brain Care (ABC) Program in which community health workers (CHWs) are trained to initiate and conduct advance care planning (ACP) conversations with elderly patients and their caregivers during home health visits.Investigators found that they were able to increase ACP documentation from <5% to almost 50% and that ACP documentation was associated with a significantly lower risk for hospitalization and emergency department visits. These impressive results should provide hope to health care systems nationwide who are actively working to engage their patient populations in the important act of discussing and documenting ACPs.

This is a presentation developed as a decision aid to help consumers understand the recommendation of the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) that women in their 40s should learn about the benefits and harms of mammography and make their own decision, not just routinely get screened. This decision aid was produced in 2013-2014 under research contract 1IP2PI000633 from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to the University of Massachusetts Medical School by personnel from: The University of Massachusetts Medical School, the University of Massachusetts Boston, and the Central Massachusetts Area Health Education Center.

This is a presentation developed as a decision aid to help consumers understand the May 2012 recommendations of the US Preventive Services Task Force against routine prostate cancer (PSA) screening and why that might be the right choice for them. This decision aid was produced in 2013-2014 under research contract 1IP2PI000633 from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to the University of Massachusetts Medical School by personnel from: The University of Massachusetts Medical School, the University of Massachusetts Boston, and the Central Massachusetts Area Health Education Center.