Brooke Hollister, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Institute for Health & Aging at the University of California, San Francisco. Her teaching and research focus on aging health and social policy issues including: long term care, Social Security, Medicare, the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, Alzheimer’s disease supports and services, disability, mental health, care transitions, and the use of mHealth and broadband-technology to promote the heath and wellness of older adults. She has over 10 years of experience conducting research on aging health and social policy issues, using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods in community-based participatory research and program evaluation. Dr. Hollister is a co-editor of Health Policy: Crisis and Reform in the US Health Care Delivery System (6th Ed., 2012), and Social Insurance and Social Justice: Social Security, Medicare and the campaign against entitlements (2009). Dr Hollister's research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, Administration for Community Living, and California Department of Public Health.
Dr. Hollister was a 2012-13 Atlantic Philanthropies Health and Aging Policy Fellow and an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow with a placement in Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office in Washington, DC where she worked on a variety of health policy issues including the implementation of the ACA and the design of the financial alignment initiative for dual eligible in California.
Dr. Hollister is Vice Chair of the Gray Panthers National Board of Directors and she currently serves on the board of the American Society on Aging
Dr. Hollister is the PI on an NIA funded R01 grant awarded in May of 2013, Case Management and Problem Solving Therapy for Depressed Older Adults. The project will evaluate the effectiveness of Case Management-Problem Solving Therapy (CM-PST) and Self- Guided Problem Solving Therapy (SG-PST) for depressed older adults living in a rural community.
In 2015, Dr. Hollister (Co-Investigator) together with Carrie Graham (PI), and Steve Kaye (Co-I) were granted funds from the SCAN Foundation to conduct and evaluation of the Coordinated Care Initiative (CCI) in California, called Cal MediConnect.The Cal MediConnect initiative will coordinate care for California residents who are dually-eligible for Medicare and MediCal (California’s Medicaid program) through contract with private health plans. The evaluation seeks to document the impact of Cal MediConnect on dual eligible beneficiaries’ experiences with care, including access, quality and coordination.
Dr. Hollister was the PI of the San Francisco Dementia Support Network project funded by the Administration on Aging’s Alzheimer’s Disease Supports and Services Program. The project was a collaboration between Kaiser of San Francisco, the Alzheimer’s Association of Northern California and Northern Nevada, the San Francisco Department of Adult and Aging Services, and UCSF’s Institute for Health and Aging. The project created a dementia support expert social worker position within Kaiser of San Francisco to work closely with people with dementia and their caregiver, coordinating their care, connecting them with available home and community based services, and linking them to the Alzhiemer’s Association for further care management, education, and support groups. The project ended in 2012. Study findings showed increased levels of patient and caregiver satisfaction, increased utilization of supports and services, and increased caregiver self-efficacy.
Dr. Hollister is the PI of the Cal MediConnect Dementia Project, funded by the Administration for Community Living’s Alzheimer’s Disease Supports and Services Program. The project is a collaboration with the California Department of Aging, the Alzheimer’s Association Southland Chapter, UCSF’s Institute for Health and Aging, and health plans participating in Cal MediConnect (California’s financial alignment initiative for dual eligible. The Cal MediConnect Dementia Project is training care managers in health plans and delegated entities to be more dementia capable in serving members and their caregivers. The project is entering it’s second year and has seen positive systems level changes within health plans, such as the adoption of cognitive screening practices recommended by the Alzheimer’s Association. The project has also seen a demand for training beyond what is possible though the grant; health plans are offering to pay the Alzheimer’s Association for additional trainings. The study will use a mixed method design including pre- and post- training care manager surveys, member data from health plans (utilization, referrals, grievances, etc.), and key informant interviews to inform a process evaluation of implementation and to identify best practices.
Dr. Hollister again partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association Southland Chapter and the California Department of Aging on a grant that was recently funded by the Adminstration for Community Living’s Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative: Specialized Supportive Services Project. The project will design an enhanced system of supportive services within the Alzheimer’s Association for people with developmental disabilities, people living alone with Alzheimer’s disease, and people with dementia in need of help to manage behavioral symptoms.
In 2014, Dr. Hollister was awarded a grant from the UCSF Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care to evaluate the care management workforce in the 10 states participating in CMS’s Financial Alignment Initiative for Dual Eligibles. The project will look at how dementia capable the new systems of care are and what challenges or best practices in dementia care management can be identified.