July 2016—As PCORI-funded studies produce results of interest to patients and those who care for them, we are updating the stories of those projects. Here is one such update.

A website that helps older adults plan to stay in their homes has graduated from research status to widely available. At a national meeting where the leader of the PCORI-funded team that developed and tested the site presented its findings, physician attendees repeatedly told her, “I am going to have my mom and dad go on this website.”

The team had created the site, PlanYourLifespan.org, to help older adults create concrete strategies for dealing with health crises that occur frequently with age, such as hospitalization, a serious fall, and memory loss or dementia. Older adults learn about what services they may need over time, what choices they can make now, and how to access these services when needed. The website also encourages users to talk about these plans with family members or other people they trust.

The team’s initial evaluation—comparing older adults sent to either PlanYourLifespan.org or a control website—showed that the new website is effective in increasing planning, knowledge about support services, and communication about preferences.