|
Outreach
Conferences are based on needs assessment. The following are
recent programs:
- Ethnicity
and Dementia
- Geriatric
Performance Measure Training
- Living
with Grief When Illness is Prolonged
- Building
the Post Acute Care Continuum
- Age
Specific Competencies
- Implementing
Clinical Guidelines
- Community-Based
Geriatric Care
- Pain
Management and Pallative Care
- Geriatric
Evaluation and Management
- Healthcare
for Aging Women
- Home
Health Care
Videotaped
educational programs for major conferences are distributed
throughout VISN22 and provide CME units for 3 years post the
event.
GRECC
actively develops training partnerships. The following were
supported through affiliation with the California Geriatric
Education Center, Sepulveda GRECC, Los Angeles County Area
Agency on Aging, and the California Council on Gerontology
and Geriatrics
- 6th
Annual Hospice Conference
- Fraud
and Abuse Teleconference
- 16th
Annual Intensive Course in Geriatric Medicine and Board
Review
- Train
the Trainer: Geriatric Interdisciplinary Teams
- Health
and Aging: Faculty Development Program
- GRECC
Faculty in 1997 provided 54 outreach lectures and research
presentations to a total audience of 451 persons.
Evaluation
is an important element of the educational process and includes:
- Geriatrics
and Extended Care Educational Needs Assessment
- GRECC
training programs are evaluated pre and post practicum
- Geriatric
Performance Measure Dissemination and Training
- VAMC
Education Tracking Systems
Education
Contacts
| Name: |
JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez, PhD
Assoc Director, Educ & Evaluation Geriatric Education
Specialist |
| Name: |
Cynthia
Schlesinger, MSG
Assoc Director, Educ & Evaluation Geriatric Education
Specialist
|
| Telephone: |
310-268-4670
310-478-3711 x40679 |
Research
GRECC
research programs and personnel are increasingly integrated
with clinical care activities. Basic research focuses on the
development and treatment of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis,
and other age-related bone and joint disorders, and the cellular
basis of immunologic aging. Health services research centers
on methods to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of
health care delivery in the VA geriatric population. Clinical
research centers on the implementation and effectiveness of
the CHIME, SHAPE and PARC programs.
From
its inception in 1976, the West Los Angeles GRECC Research
Program has focused on the cellular and molecular mechanisms
of immunologic aging. Since the decline in immune response
with age is associated with increased susceptibility to infection,
research studies with clinical applications which may be effective
in the prevention, early detection and control of infections
in the elderly have been conducted. Beginning in 1989, GRECC
research expanded to include basic and clinical aspects of
osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and other age-related musculoskeletal
disorders. Decreased activity of bone-forming cells (osteoblasts)
with age leads to osteoporosis. Therefore, clinical, cellular,
and molecular studies have focused on defining the mechanisms
that lead to the development of osteoporosis with aging and
on the mechanisms involved in the hormonal and intracellular
ion regulation of bone metabolism. Newer programs combine
clinical and basic approaches to studies of age-related bone
and joint disorders.
The
aim of the Health Services Research component of GRECC is
to perform studies to improve the effectiveness and efficiency
of health care delivery in the VA geriatric population, an
effort which also has broad implications for health services
delivery outside the VA system. Current research involves
defining the usefulness of various functional Status scales
as outcome measures within the VA, and cross-culturally, as
well as comparing the effects of different treatment interventions
for specific diagnoses on patient outcomes.
|
