Partner Program
Apprenticeship
The Gerontology Institute of Georgia State University and Georgia Gear are partnering with Georgia nursing homes to collaboratively identify and implement a state registered apprenticeship program for the purpose of providing certified nursing assistants meaningful career advancement within their discipline. Specifically, we will pilot test a registered apprenticeship program in partnership with at least one nursing home and assess the feasibility and sustainability of the apprenticeship model in Georgia nursing homes.
The GSU Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions is located on Georgia State University's campus in Atlanta. The School of Nursing offers Ph.D. and DNP programs and currently has 277 undergraduate nursing students and approximately 316 master's students in several specialty nursing areas. Lewis College has graduated more than 5,000 nurses, NPs, educators, and researchers to serve in GA and beyond. Their mission: to prepare the next generation of clinicians and scholars who collectively enhance individual and community health in a culturally diverse society. Their strategic priority around collaboration is to strengthen relationships with local health partners from community-based partners to tertiary care centers.
Georgia State University's Gerontology Institute is a university-wide unit responsible for the development and coordination of instruction, research, and community service activities in gerontology. Building on 50 years of gerontological education, the Institute is among the oldest and most accomplished gerontology programs in the Southeast offering undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates. Faculty are research active, receiving funding from federal and private funders, including the National Institutes of Health, Health Resources and Services Administration, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Hitachi Foundation. Faculty, staff, and students are committed to the Institute's tagline, "Leading the way in an aging society," and are dedicated to improving quality of life and making a difference in the lives of older adults and those who support them.
The Gerontology Institute is engaged in the Georgia Gear partnership with Dad's Garage, the improvisational theatre company. Together, we are developing and advancing research and programs focused on improv training for care partners of persons living with dementia, including family and friends, health care professionals, and direct care workers. The goal is to improve dementia care experiences through the application of improv techniques.
Improving Care Through Improv
Founded in 1995, Dad's Garage is an award-winning non-profit theatre company that brings in over 30,000 people a year at our Ezzard Street home in Atlanta's historic Old Fourth Ward, public events across the continent, and festivals around the globe. Each season features original plays and world premieres created by our artistic family. While just about everyone in the artistic group at Dad's is an improv comic, the artists also write, direct, design, and perform in our scripted shows and write, perform, direct, and edit pieces for DGTV, our YouTube channel. We support the creation of new and experimental works that travel around the country and transform the careers of their creators.
Dad's Garage is a key partner in demonstrating and training in improvisation techniques, which includes training in "Yes, and …", mirroring, and storytelling. These skills can be used by paid and informal caregivers to help them be more present in the moment and thus improve communication skills when supporting persons living with dementia. Dad's Garage offers small workshops for 5-25 people and can accommodate large group events from 26-300 people.
