Education & Training
With a focus on interprofessional education (IP), the Arizona Geriatric Education Center reaches health sciences students, professionals and faculty.
Our educational and training goals are to develop and sustain competency-based IP geriatric education for health care learners across the continuum of care, providing older adults with evidence-based high-quality, safe, and culturally competent care towards optimal health outcomes and well-being.
AzGEC Educational Programs
Advances in Aging Lecture Series: Offered monthly, at a new central location UAMC-South (Fall 2012), in collaboration with South Campus Behavioral Health, PCOA and ASU Hartford Center, this one-hour Geriatric Grand Rounds hosts a variety of speakers and topics on aging issues. It is presented live with teleconferencing and video stream across the state. Behavioral Health Aging-related topics will be highlighted beginning March 2013 through year end.
Interprofessional Senior Mentor Program (IPSMP)
A program of the University of Arizona the IPSMP increases student exposure to healthy older adults, allowing them to get to know an older adult in a more positive way and reducing stereotypes about aging. This out-of-classroom experience increases geriatric knowledge and adds breadth and depth to the geriatric content in current health sciences curriculum, improving the way future health professionals will care for older adults.
Interprofessional Chief Resident Immersion Training (CRIT) Program Held on one weekend each summer at a resort in Tucson, this training program joins incoming chief residents with nurses, pharmacists, social workers and others to learn the principals of clinical teaching and the importance of a working knowledge of geriatric care. Learning is paired with the importance of collaboration between and among disciplines/specialties as attendees are encouraged to bring their families and given free-time to get to know each other.
Elder Care: Interprofessional Provider Sheets This compendium of engaging single page, practical, evidence-based Provider Fact Sheets synthesize key concepts in common geriatric syndromes and common diseases in older adults. Replete with screening and assessment tools and treatment gems, these sheets reinforce sound geriatric practice in an approachable format. Provider Fact Sheets are reviewed annually by an interprofessional team of editors including: an Informationist who is Board Certified in Family Practice and Geriatrics, and an Internist who is Board Certified in Geriatrics.
Interprofessional Certificate in Aging Services Whether beginning your career, re-entering the workforce in the field of aging, or continuing in your profession with the realization that your patients, clients, customers have aged, and their needs have changed, this online, self-paced, non-credit Certificate Program provides the basic knowledge needed to work effectively with aging adults, no matter what your chosen field.
Faculty Scholar’s in Aging IP Training Program To improve geriatric knowledge in health professions faculty and the comfort level needed to teach geriatrics, this 1 year/160 hour program provides IP AzGEC faculty who work one-on-one with IP faculty on a flexible schedule that will accommodate their needs. One IP cadre of 6-10 scholars participates each year. Interested? Click here
NICHE/Leadership Training, Needs Assessment and Certification at UAMC-South the goal of NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthcare Elders) is to support hospitals in achieving excellence in patient-centered geriatric care. Hospital nursing Behavioral Health and PCT staff have now been trained in the care of elders, and physician and social worker staff will soon be trained Spin off projects include:
- Acute Care of Elders (ACE) Unit at UAMC-South to prevent functional decline among frail, hospitalized elders. Planning for this specialized unit is in process, and fund-raising by UAHN Foundation has begun.
- Senior Emergency Rooms have been assigned and protocols are being developed.
- Healthy Together Home-Based Primary Care Program with Tele-monitoring funded for January 2013 initiation.
Web-Based Online Interactive Modules Targeted to all health professional students these 30-60 minute state-of-the-art modules incorporate multiple modalities including hyperlinked text and resources, videos, mini-quizzes, and useful assessment tools--all held together by an engaging speaker. Health Literacy in the Older Adult received a great review in JAGS in June 2010. A new Transitions of Care: From Hospital to Home module (available for viewing at http://www.transitionalCareModule.com), and another, Patient-centered Communication is in progress (both co-produced in collaboration with UTSW). (30-60 minutes)
Resources This page of linked resources contains Arizona, Federal, National, Geriatric Education Centers and accessible online Published Materials for easy access to the latest geriatric information.
For more information about any of these educational programs please contact Lisa O'Neill at (520) 626-5804 or loneill@aging.arizona.edu.