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To meet the care needs of an expanding elderly population, the UC Irvine School of Medicine collaborated with the UCI School of Nursing and other community partners to develop the GWEP, which is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration.
It is our hope that this program can serve as a model for cultivating a culture of caring for older adults that geriatric workforces around the U.S. can borrow.
The first focus area is the transformation of clinical training environments to integrate geriatrics and primary care delivery systems and train workforces that are competent in geriatric medical care.
A resident-run geriatric clinic was developed at the UC Irvine Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Santa Ana. In this clinic, a team-based approach is used to conduct assessments of older adults regarding memory and functional assessment. Geriatricians, psychiatrists, social workers and pharmacists work together with residents to assess complex geriatric cases. Family Medicine Residents engage in geriatric medicine education through rotations in the Geriatric Clinic at the FQHC and through the longitudinal geriatric medicine series integrated into the mandatory lecture series for all Family Medicine residents, nurse practitioner and nursing students.
The second focus area involves training providers who work with older adults and their families and caregivers at the individual, community, and population levels.
A third focus area includes creating and delivering community-based programs provide patients, families and caregivers with the knowledge and skills to improve health outcomes and the quality of care for the older adult(s).
Focus area four includes ADRD education and training to families, caregivers, direct care workers, and health professions providers.