Gerontology Grant To College Of Public Health Will Improve Elder Care Statewide

by T.O. Lawrence
11/02/2007

On Sept. 1, the Institute of Gerontology at the College of Public Health received three years’ funding from the Health Research Service Organization in continuing support for the Georgia Geriatric Education Center to the tune of $1.26 million.

This backing was received in conjunction with Mercer University Medical School and the Armstrong Atlantic State University of Health Professions in order to train and re-train health professionals across the state in the area of elderly care.

“With over 70,000 centenarians in Georgia today and more than 1 million projected for the year 2050, geriatric care is a primary concern in the health industry,” said Anne Glass, associate director at the center, “and geriatric education is one of the major concerns in this field.”

The courses vary from geriatric pharmacy, fall prevention and management of problem behaviors to interdisciplinary workshops on delirium, stroke, and neuropsychology. And though the courses are meant mainly for those directly involved in the health-care industry, there are many other groups which will benefit from these programs such as social workers, firefighters and police officers.

“These are programs that many people might find useful,” explained Glass. “Police officers, for example, can receive training in how to deal with an elderly person with dementia or affected memory. Because of the ways which aging affects people, it needs to be approached with different methods than as with typical cases.”

In fact, one ongoing project includes an Aging 101 course to teach the basic concerns of the elderly, which Glass recommends for just about anybody who plans on growing old.

According to glass, 144 of Georgia’s 159 counties are classified as medically underserved and one of the main goals of the center is to provide these areas access to inexpensive training. Many of the courses the center plans to offer will be available via the internet or through local workshops. This makes the information more accessible to non-professionals as well as those with direct ties to the health-care industry.

“An important goal should be trying to reach family caregivers who have no real professional training,” said Amy Friefrich-Karnik of the Family Caregiver Alliance. “People forget that over twenty percent of American households are in this situation and just assume that everyone has their own, personal doctor.”

An initiative supporting the training of minority and second-language professionals should also help make the programs more effective in approaching the state’s growing Hispanic population. According to Melinda Craig, administrative director at the Athens Neighborhood Health Center, this is one of the top issues when dealing with low-income patients and presents a major struggle for health-care professionals who do not speak the language.

“We are currently looking into taking on a Spanish-speaking graduate student for help in translation and interpretation,” Glass explained, “and with any luck, these courses will be made bi-lingual.”

At the end of June, 2010, Glass expects the center will have completed developing and initiating all their modules in locations throughout the state and hopes for continued research in the future.