scholarly journals Building Momentum for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Geriatrics and Gerontology Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 89-89
Author(s):  
Jennifer Severance ◽  
Barbara Gordon ◽  
Brian Lindberg
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Systems Of Care ◽  
System Level ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Health Determinants ◽  
Racial Health Disparities ◽  
Racial Equity ◽  
Equity And Inclusion

Abstract With an increasingly multicultural and diverse older adult population, health care professionals must be prepared to serve older adults from varied backgrounds and marginalized communities; address health determinants and disparities; and promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and empathy within systems of care. The National Association for Geriatrics Education (NAGE) is a non-profit organization representing geriatric and gerontology education and training programs, including Health Services and Resource Administration (HRSA) funded Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Programs (GWEPs), and Geriatric Academic Career Awardees (GACAs). The 44 GWEPs focus on improving health outcomes for older adults by enhancing geriatrics and primary care training of the healthcare workforce. The 26 GACA awards support leaders in Age-Friendly health care transformation and interprofessional clinical geriatrics training. This symposium examines the role both programs have in reducing racial health disparities in older adults by promoting increased diversity of the geriatrics/gerontology workforce and advancing public policies for racial equity and inclusion. First, presenters will introduce the NAGE Diversity and Racial Equity Workgroup that supports a broader and unified effort across GWEPs and GACAs for equity and inclusion in geriatrics and gerontology education. Presenters will then share strategies to mobilize system-level changes within their institutions. Finally, examples of progress showcase individual GWEP and GACA projects and partnerships aimed at reducing racial health disparities within a multidimensional and local context. Presenters discuss strategies and opportunities to disrupt and transform health professions education at multiple levels and implications for policies supporting optimal aging for all older adults.

Older Adults’ Narratives of Seeking Mental Health Treatment: Making Sense of Mental Health Challenges and “Muddling Through” to Care

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1517-1528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Reynolds ◽  
Maria Medved ◽  
Corey S. Mackenzie ◽  
Laura Megan Funk ◽  
Lesley Koven
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Systems Of Care ◽  
Psychological Treatment ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
System Level ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Mental Health Issues

Older adults who experience challenges related to mental health are unlikely to seek professional help. The voices of older adults who have navigated through mental health issues and systems of care to arrive at psychological treatment are less well understood. We conducted individual interviews with 15 adults aged 61 to 86 who sought psychological treatment. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using narrative methods. We identified several main storylines that describe the meaning-making and treatment-seeking journeys of older adults: resistance to being labeled with mental health problems (telling stories of resistance, defining mental health issues in mysterious and uncontrollable terms, and experiencing internal role conflict); muddling through the help-seeking process (manifestations of chaos and system-level barriers); and emotional reactions to psychological treatment (hope, fear, and mistrust). Findings add to the literature base in the area of narrative gerontology, and highlight the complex experiences that older adults face when seeking psychological treatment.

scholarly journals A FRAMEWORK FOR CARE TRANSITIONS FOR OLDER ADULTS WITH COMPLEX HEALTH CONDITIONS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S687-S687
Author(s):  
Paul Stolee ◽  
Jacobi B Elliott ◽  
Kerry Byrne ◽  
Joanie Sims-Gould ◽  
Catherine Tong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Service Use ◽  
Care Transitions ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
System Level ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Framework Analysis

Abstract For older adults with complex health conditions, transitions between care settings are common and a major risk to quality of care and patient safety. Care transition interventions have shown positive impacts on continuity of care and health service use, however, most require additional human resources (e.g., transition coach), focus on one transition or “handoff”, and provide support for individual patients without addressing underlying challenges of health system integration. We sought to develop a framework for system-level enhancements to care transitions for older adults. We report a secondary framework analysis of an ethnographic investigation (the “InfoRehab” project) of care transitions for older persons who had experienced a hip fracture. The ethnographic study involved interviews, observations, and document reviews for 23 patients, 19 family caregivers, and 92 health care providers. Data were collected at each transition point (1-4/patient) along the care continuum, at three Canadian sites (large urban, mid-size urban, rural). Our framework analysis followed the approach described by Gale et al. (2013), using as cases 12 peer-reviewed papers which had reported InfoRehab results. Two researchers coded findings from each paper, then developed an analytical framework of eight themes by consensus; these include: patient involvement and choice, family caregiver involvement, patient complexity, health care provider coordination, information sharing, documentation, system constraints, and relationships. NVivo 11 was used to index findings into these themes and to generate a matrix. We are working with system stakeholders, including patients and caregivers, to apply this framework in the development of improved systems for care transitions.

Rapid-Cycle Experimentation With State and Federal Policymakers for Optimizing the Reach of Racial Equity Research

2021 ◽  
pp. e1-e4
Author(s):  
Elizabeth C. Long ◽  
Jessica Pugel ◽  
J. Taylor Scott ◽  
Nicolyn Charlot ◽  
Cagla Giray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Racial Health Disparities ◽  
Racial Equity ◽  
Evidence Based Policy ◽  
Equity Research ◽  
Reducing Disparities

Racial disparities and racism are pervasive public health threats that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, it is critical and timely for researchers to communicate with policymakers about strategies for reducing disparities. From April through July 2020, across four rapid-cycle trials disseminating scientific products with evidence-based policy recommendations for addressing disparities, we tested strategies for optimizing the reach of scientific messages to policymakers. By getting such research into the hands of policymakers who can act on it, this work can help combat racial health disparities. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print September 9, 2021:e1–e4. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306404 )

scholarly journals INTEREST GROUP SESSION—FAMILY CAREGIVING: SUPPORTING FAMILY CAREGIVERS WITHIN SYSTEMS OF CARE DELIVERY

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S206-S206
Author(s):  
Jennifer L Wolff ◽  
Lynn F Feinberg
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Family Caregiver ◽  
Systems Of Care ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Home Health

Abstract Family and other unpaid caregivers have a foundational role in supporting the health and well-being of older adults with complex health needs and disabilities and the demands imposed on them can be significant. The availability and adequacy of support provided by family and other unpaid caregivers has profound consequences for quality and outcomes of care delivery, but they are not well-supported in treatment decisions and care planning. Given population aging, the shift of long-term services and supports from nursing homes toward community settings, and technological advances that allow patients to be served in the community with higher acuity of care, there is a pressing need to develop systems-level processes to identify, engage, and support family caregivers in systems of care. This symposium will feature 5 presentations that provide novel insight regarding family caregivers’ experience within systems of care. We focus on family caregivers to older adults living in the community and receiving home and community-based services, primary care, or Medicare skilled home health services. Individual presentations will describe 1) differences in access to services and experiences of family caregivers by under-represented minority status; 2) a framework for health systems to include family caregivers as part of health care teams; 3) family caregivers’ capacity to help during the course of Medicare-funded skilled home health care; 4) perceived communication with health professionals, using a validated measure of family caregiver capacity; and 5) the feasibility of implementing a family caregiver screening instrument in primary care.

scholarly journals Racial Health Disparities Among Special Health Care Needs Children With Mental Disorders

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chanhyun Park ◽  
Xi Tan ◽  
Isha B. Patel ◽  
Amanda Reiff ◽  
Rajesh Balkrishnan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Special Health Care Needs ◽  
Health Care Needs ◽  
Racial Health Disparities ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Special Health Care ◽  
Special Health

Social Context and Value-Based Care

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney A. Thurman ◽  
Tracie Harrison
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Veterans Health Administration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
System Level ◽  
Veterans Health ◽  
Health Administration

Racial disparities in health are persistent and pervasive in the United States. Researchers and policymakers have known for decades that access to health care is not sufficient for addressing health disparities because of the socially situated roots of the disparities. We argue that the lack of progress in alleviating health disparities is the result of a lack of overarching framework to guide both policymakers and researchers in their efforts. We propose Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach as a theoretical framework that is expansive enough to address both the social context in which health occurs as well as the quality of health care provided. In this article, we use a subset of veterans receiving care from the Veterans Health Administration to review the theoretical concepts that link social inequalities with health disparities. Next, we provide empirical evidence of disparities in health based on race within the Veterans Health Administration, and we then provide a theoretical explanation for those disparities that exist at a system level. We close with a detailed examination of the applicability of the capabilities approach in addressing health disparities in the United States.

scholarly journals Position Statement for Mental Health Care in Long-Term Care During COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-372
Author(s):  
Claire Checkland ◽  
Sophiya Benjamin ◽  
Marie-Andrée Bruneau ◽  
Antonia Cappella ◽  
Beverley Cassidy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Systems Of Care ◽  
Position Statement ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Term Care

COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted older adults in long-term care (LTC) facilities in Canada. There are opportunities to learn from this crisis and to improve systems of care in order to ensure that older adults in LTC enjoy their right to the highest attainable standard of health. Measures are needed to ensure the mental health of older adults in LTC during COVID-19. The Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry (CAGP) and Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health (CCSMH) have developed the following position statements to address the mental health needs of older adults in LTC facilities, their family members, and LTC staff. We outlined eight key considerations related to mental health care in LTC during COVID-19 to optimize the mental health of this vulnerable population during the pandemic. 

scholarly journals Psychology of Aging Podcast: Public Education Tool for Sharing Evidence-Based Mental Health and Aging Information

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 506-506
Author(s):  
Regina Koepp
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Public Education ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Expert Interviews ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Education Tool

Abstract Psychology of Aging Podcast, created and hosted by Dr. Regina Koepp, Clinical Geropsychologist, is the first podcast of its kind devoted solely to mental health and aging. The goal of the Psychology of Aging podcast is to facilitate access to information and education about mental health and brain health among older adults with the hope of de-stigmatizing mental health care for older adults, reducing ageism, highlighting diversity, and promoting access to mental health and dementia care. The format includes a combination of expert interviews and “solo-casts”. Topics range from depression and suicide prevention to Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias to the unique needs of LGTBQ older adults and caregivers to health disparities experienced by African American and Latin-X communities related to dementia and the COVID-19 pandemic. During this session, Dr. Koepp will discuss the role podcasts play in public education and share tips for starting an evidence-based podcast.

Interdisciplinary Therapy Assessments for the Older Adult

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
Lynn Chatfield ◽  
Sandra Christos ◽  
Michael McGregor
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Outcome Measurement ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Screening Process ◽  
Evidenced Based ◽  
Changing Economy

In a changing economy and a changing industry, health care providers need to complete thorough, comprehensive, and efficient assessments that provide both an accurate depiction of the patient's deficits and a blueprint to the path of treatment for older adults. Through standardized testing and observations as well as the goals and evidenced-based treatment plans we have devised, health care providers can maximize outcomes and the functional levels of patients. In this article, we review an interdisciplinary assessment that involves speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and respiratory therapy to work with older adults in health care settings. Using the approach, we will examine the benefits of collaboration between disciplines, an interdisciplinary screening process, and the importance of sharing information from comprehensive discipline-specific evaluations. We also will discuss the importance of having an understanding of the varied scopes of practice, the utilization of outcome measurement tools, and a patient-centered assessment approach to care.

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