The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) is committed to ensuring high-quality services for Kansas nursing home residents. For nearly 20 years, KDADS has been recognizing nursing homes for successfully implementing person-centered care, commonly known as Promoting Excellent Alternatives in Kansas, or PEAK. From the beginning of PEAK, KDADS pursued two primary goals:

1. To award and recognize homes accomplishing significant culture change; and
2. To educate others about the culture change movement and the accomplishments being made in Kansas.

Beginning in 2012, PEAK expanded from a recognition program to a pay-for-performance Medicaid program in an effort to speed up the rate of adoption of person-centered care practices in Kansas nursing homes. The program had an overwhelming response, with 125 homes enrolling in PEAK 2.0 the first year. It was then that KDADS arranged a partnership with the Kansas State University (KSU) Center on Aging to administer the program.

KDADS continues to manage payment of incentives earned, but the KSU Center on Aging handles program administration including application, education and evaluation. Please visit the KSU Center on Aging website to learn more about the program.

For further information on the program contact: Trescia Power or the KSU PEAK Team at coapeak@ksu.edu.

Highlights from the 2024 PEAK Person-Centered Care Conference

The third annual Person-Centered Care Conference was held on October 9, 2024, and it was the biggest attendee turnout yet!

This year’s conference title was “Elevate and Celebrate,” and emphasized “The Power of Voice” in recognition of Resident’s Rights Month.  All staff members from Kansas Long Term Care organizations were invited to attend the event and participate in activities such as individualizing culinary experiences, creating an accessible garden, nursing and risk, and a Pilates for Older Adults workout.

In addition, 18 nursing facilities were recognized and celebrated for their excellence in providing and maintaining exceptional person-centered care practices; plaques were presented to the homes that had achieved Level 6, Level 7, or Level 8 in the program. These homes have demonstrated that they have moved away from institutional models of care, sustained person-centered care, and mentored other adult care homes in implementing person-centered care.

Some of the session PowerPoints and videos can be found here: https://www.hhs.k-state.edu/aging/research/peak20/pccconference.html

Here are some photos from the event:

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Kansas PEAK Advisory Team

The Advisory Team shall council KDADS leadership in championing person-centered care and provide guidance regarding specific PEAK-related issues while providing suggestions to promote a continually improving program.

Update on SFY24 PEAK Advisory Members

The PEAK Advisory Board for SFY24-25 has been seated and we have many fresh, wise voices joining us this year. The summer months will be spent on planning the 2024 Person Centered Care Conference to be held on October 9, 2024. The rest of the year will focus on goal setting and subcommittees will be formed to make recommendations and work on implementation.

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PEAK Award Winners 2024

KDADS' PEAK 2.0 Program recognizes 18 Kansas Adult Care Homes for excellence in providing person-centered care: