Identifying Risk Early & Strengthening Your AL/IL Wellness Strategy 

Most wellness conversations in AL/IL communities start once risk is already visible. A resident skips activities or seems unsteady, or a family member raises a concern. By that point, decline may already be underway. 

A new pilot¹ from APTA and the Hartford HealthCare Rehabilitation Network is testing what happens when communities catch risk earlier. Announced at APTA’s Payment Advocacy Summit in July 2026, the yearlong initiative evaluates APTA’s Growing Older and Living Stronger (GOALS) model, a standardized approach to frailty screening paired with physical therapist–led intervention. 

Participants will be assessed at multiple points to track changes in frailty and functional status, engagement with recommended services, falls, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and whether they’re able to remain in their current living setting. Early results are expected in late 2026, with full analysis in 2027. So, we don’t yet know how the model performs. What’s worth paying attention to now is the premise: screening isn’t a formality before programming starts. It’s the mechanism that determines whether a wellness strategy actually reaches the residents who need it most. 

Why Screening Comes First 

A wellness program can only support the residents it identifies. Without a consistent way to flag early signs of frailty, like declining strength, slower gait, reduced activity, even a well-built program ends up being reactive, engaging residents after a fall or a hospitalization. Standardized screening offers a repeatable way to assess where each resident stands, so intervention starts before risk turns into an incident. 

Starting with Assessment, Not Assumptions 

This is where ACP’s approach differs from a standard activities calendar. Before your Wellness Expert builds programming, they start by understanding where each resident really stands — mobility, strength, engagement, risk factors — rather than applying the same schedule to everyone regardless of need. 

That assessment isn’t a one-time intake step. As residents’ needs shift, so does the blueprint from which your Wellness Expert is working, which means programming adjusts with the resident rather than staying fixed from move-in day. 

The industry is moving toward proving that this kind of early identification changes outcomes. Communities that treat assessment as the starting point, and not an afterthought, won’t need to wait for a pilot to tell them it works.

MRK-BLOG-051