Elder abuse prevention interventions program - the veterans health foundation (VHF), in partnership with the VA pittsburgh and VA butler healthcare systems and pennsylvania area agencies on aging in…

The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living awarded a cooperative agreement totaling $694,767 to the Veterans Health Foundation on September 30, 2025, under the Special Programs for the Aging, Title IV, and Title II, Discretionary Projects program (CFDA 93.048).

The Veterans Health Foundation will develop and pilot the THRIVE (Transforming Health and Resilience in Veterans) intervention program, an elder mistreatment intervention designed to improve outcomes for older veterans served by the Veterans Health Administration. Over the three-year period through September 29, 2028, the organization will establish a partnership model between county Adult Protective Services agencies and VA Medical Centers in Pittsburgh and Butler, Pennsylvania. Work includes creating a local VAMC-APS advisory workgroup to develop standard operating procedures for elder mistreatment case collaboration, conducting stakeholder-engaged refinement and pre-implementation assessment, developing and testing THRIVE training materials, and pilot-testing the intervention to assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness.

Expected deliverables include two playbooks—one VA-facing and one APS-facing—documenting how to develop a VAMC-APS partnership for national replication, a preliminary THRIVE playbook for dissemination within the Veterans Health Administration to enhance usual care, and materials to support a larger trial and build the evidence base for the program. Anticipated outcomes include improved quality-of-life satisfaction for older veterans receiving THRIVE and improved service delivery satisfaction among APS and VAMC staff.

Performance takes place in Pennsylvania.

Elder abuse prevention interventions program - the veterans health foundation (VHF), in partnership with the VA pittsburgh and VA butler healthcare systems and pennsylvania area agencies on aging in allegheny and butler counties will, over this three-year project, develop and pilot an elder mistreatment (EM) intervention program called thrive (transforming health and resilience in veterans) in the veterans health administration to improve outcomes for the nearly 5 million older veterans IT serves. The goals of this project are: 1) establish a new model for partnership between county adult protective services (APS) agencies and local VA medical centers (vamcs), and 2) develop, refine and conduct a feasibility pilot of the thrive intervention. The objectives are: 1) create a local VAMC-APS advisory workgroup with key stakeholders from the pittsburgh and butler vamcs and APS agencies to develop standard operating procedures for EM case collaboration; 2) conduct stakeholder-engaged thrive refinement and pre-implementation assessment to integrate thrive at the pittsburgh and butler vamcs; 3) develop and test thrive training materials and 4) pilot test thrive at VA pittsburgh and VA butler to assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness. Anticipated outcomes include: 1) improved satisfaction and perceived benefits on quality of life for older veterans receiving thrive and 2) satisfaction with thrive and improvement in service delivery for APS and VAMC staff. Expected products are: 1) one VA-facing and one APS-facing playbook for how to develop a VAMC-APS partnership to promote national replication of these partnerships; 2) preliminary thrive playbook that for dissemination within VHA to enhance usual care; 3) materials for a larger trial of thrive to build the evidence base for this program.