VCU receives $2 million federal grant to train health professionals in geriatric care

By Michael Ford
University News Services

The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded Virginia Commonwealth University a $2 million grant to expand and improve the training of health professionals who care for the elderly.

The grant renews funding for VCU’s Virginia Geriatric Education Center’s five-year project that focuses on improving the training of health professionals on issues such as cognition and dementia, nutrition and obesity prevention and treatment, end-of-life care, mental health and the prevention of dependence brought on through falls. With this funding, the VGEC, which is part of the School of Allied Health Professions’ Department of Gerontology, will expand into a statewide geriatric educational consortium with Eastern Virginia Medical School and the University of Virginia Health System.

The project will provide extensive training for 1,500 health professionals and will sponsor multiple training sessions among the three sites annually.

J. James Cotter, Ph.D., associate professor of gerontology and project director for the training grant, said healthcare professionals – physicians, nurses, social workers and therapists – will need improved skills to deal with the older population, which is growing rapidly. The first baby boomers turn 65 in 2011.

“The age wave is crashing upon us, and in the next 30 years we will see a doubling of the aging population,” said Cotter, an expert on quality of long-term care who has developed, implemented and evaluated senior services for 25 years. “This project allows us to reach out statewide with a uniform program that ensures better trained health professionals to care for older Virginians.”

E. Ayn Welleford, Ph.D., assistant chair of gerontology and the project’s co-director, added that the project aims to “train health professionals to promote maximum independence in older adults in Virginia and develop a health care culture devoted to successful aging.”

The training program will cross several disciplines for expertise. Geriatric specialists from VCU schools of Allied Health Professions, Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Social Work and the Department of Psychology will contribute. EVMS will draw on its Glennan Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology and Department of Family Medicine. UVA’s resources will come from its schools of Medicine and Nursing.

“This grant will allow us to make tremendous strides to help Virginia’s elders and their families and caregivers to have access to health professionals who are superbly trained in geriatric issues,” said Iris A. Parham, Ph.D., professor and chair of gerontology and executive director of the VGEC.

“For 20 years, the VGEC has been at the forefront of geriatric issues and advanced training for health related professionals,” said Cecil B. Drain, Ph.D., dean of VCU’s School of Allied Health Professions. “The award of this highly competitive grant ensures that older Virginians will have continued access to the best educated geriatric professionals in the country.”

The $2 million award is from HRSA’s Bureau of Health Professions, which emphasizes the preparation of health care providers to serve diverse populations and to serve in the nation’s 3,000 medically underserved communities. HRSA is an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.