All aboutour organization

We are a strategic alliance that brings together community leaders and organizations representing health care, older adults, persons with disabilities, academia, and public agencies to explore and identify opportunities to align, leverage resources, and expand the reach and impact of effective community interventions, science informed and evidence based practices to address health equity and advance population health.

We create spaces for face-to-face conversations and give our members and community partners opportunities to network, gain new knowledge, explore, and generate new ideas, develop solutions, and take action.

A community where all residents are taking action to improve their health and well being and can access effective community based health programs.

Through multi sector collaborations, increase access, reach and impact of effective, culturally, and linguistically competent, community interventions, and community informed and evidence based health promotion educational programs for older adults, those with disabilities, and family caregivers in Los Angeles County.

In 2018, after careful deliberation, LAACHA shifted its orientation from Evidence Based Practice (EBP) focus to a broader public health perspective. As part of its new direction, with an overarching goal of advancing population health, improving health equity and reducing health disparities, LAACHA will address older adult biopsychosocial health concerns and determinants of health.

We recognize, value, and celebrate the diversity among individuals and communities. We seek to increase the capacity of communities to support regional public health strategies/plans for reducing disparities in health and well being across the municipalities and communities in the county. We involve impacted individuals and communities at all levels of the practice with an effective, multi sector approach (e.g., services design, development, dissemination, implementation, evaluation). We promote the integration of care for chronic conditions with physical and behavioral health, and the utilization of effective community and evidence informed health promotion practices and programs. We believe in and will pursue the need for ongoing and sustainable funding support.

The LAACHA Steering Committee provides support, guidance, and overall organizational insight as LAACHA launches its New Direction Plan. The Steering Committee may be composed of up to nine agency positions, whose personnel belong to either governmental agencies or community based organizations. The current LAACHA Steering Committee members are Los Angeles County Departments of Mental Health, Health Services, Aging and Disability and Public Health; the City of Los Angeles Department of Aging; Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California; Partners in Care Foundation; Watts Labor Community Action Committee; Wise & Healthy Aging, the Front Porch and community and family caregiver representatives.

Within the context of collaborative leadership, we have brought together cross-sector partners to address complex issues such as:

• Chronic Disease Prevention & Self management
• Social Isolation and Loneliness
• Geriatrics Workforce Capacity Building
• Substance Use and Misuse
• Health Disparities
• Innovative Tech Supported Solutions & Digital Inclusion
• Racial Justice
• Later Life Intimate Partner Violence
• Aging Immigrant Policy and Advocacy
• Older Adult Housing & Economic Stability
• Cancer Survivor Shared Decision Making

To provide the structure to support the implementation of LAACHA New Direction, with guidance and support from Steering Committee, staff, and subject matter experts, our committees: Help clarify and communicate LAACHA’s new vision. Provide members with opportunities to engage and give input on big vision, goals, and objectives.

Purpose:

To create and enhance competences, the Capacity Building Committee with develop a structure to enable the development of membership capacities.

Responsibility:

The Capacity Building Committee works:

• To assess capacity building needs
• To identify capacity building overall priorities
• To identify and or develop tools to support capacity building efforts
• To identify educational, training, and technical assistance opportunities
• To develop an action plan with short, mid and long term recommendations.

Purpose:

To identify, support and promote emerging community informed processes and practices that positively impact older adult health and wellbeing by improving access, quality of care, individual and population health, and reducing costs.

Responsibility:

The Innovations Committee works:

• To assess community needs
• To identify innovative community informed solutions
• To identify and or develop strategies to support and promote innovative solutions.
• To develop an action plan with short, mid, and long term recommendations.

Purpose:

The purpose of the Outcomes & Evaluation Committee is to help reduce disparities and improve older adult health outcomes across racial/ethnic groups through outcome identification, tracking, and reporting.

Responsibility:

The Outcomes & Evaluation Committee works to:

• To Identify potential areas for improvement.
• Develop valid, reliable outcome measures.
• Identify strategies to help reduce disparities through performance measurement.
• To develop an action plan with short, mid and long term recommendations.

Purpose:

The purpose of the LAACHA Racial Justice Ad-hoc Committee is to lead and support the development and implementation of LAACHA’s Racial Justice and Health Equity efforts. The following are the objectives established by the Committee.

Responsibility:

The Racial Justice Ad-hoc Committee works to:

• Review data (LAACHA Survey data and any other relevant data available) pertaining to coalition members’ and clients’ needs and assets to ensure racial justice and health equity.
• Assess how racial justice and health equity can be incorporated into other pertinent topic areas (e.g., Social Isolation, Capacity building/Funding, Partnerships-Collaboration) and/or in the LAACHA Committees.
• Propose next steps for how LAACHA can take specific actions to support its members’ efforts— and keep identification/awareness and addressing/confronting issues of racial justice and health equity—at the forefront.