Explore insightful works from our partners, showcasing their research and expertise. These resources offer valuable perspectives on advancing healthcare, education, and support for Georgia's aging community.
Geriatric Fellowship,
Emory University Geriatric Fellowship will provide a longitudinal, interprofessional clinical training rotation of 8-weeks with at least 20 hours per week of didactic and clinical care in primary care sites with the intent to have Georgia Gear-sponsored fellows practice in these sites upon completion of their program.
Grady Health System,
The Grady Health System is one of the nation's largest public safety-net hospitals. The Emma I. Darnell Geriatrics Center at Grady is a collaborative Emory and Morehouse interdisciplinary and outpatient model that provides care to the older and frail patients. In October 2021, Grady received the Age-Friendly Health System (AFHS) - Committed to Care certification, an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States. The certification recognizes Grady as a leader in a rapidly growing movement committed to the care of older adults guided by an essential set of age-friendly, evidence-based practices, causes no harm, and is consistent with what matters to the older adult and their family. To address the need for increased workforce for Georgia’s Medicaid nursing home patients, Georgia Gear will facilitate a new partnership between Grady and Crestview Nursing Home to expand age-friendly care through education of the nursing home supportive care workforce in their pursuit of IHI AFHS participation and recognition.
IHI AFHS Institute for Healthcare Improvement Age-Friendly Health Systems Initiative,
Age-Friendly Health Systems is an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), in partnership with the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA). The initiative aims to address the challenges that health systems face to consistently provide evidence-based practices to every older adult at every care interaction. An Age-Friendly Health System involves consistently delivering a set of four evidence-based elements of high-quality care, known as the “4Ms,” to all older adults within the system: What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility. -Define IHI AFHS and list all partners that are doing IHI (Grady, IMC, SCIM)
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.
Integrated Memory Care,
The Integrated Memory Care (IMC) program is a nationally recognized patient-centered medical home that provides primary care, individualized for people living with dementia and their families. IMC is a nurse-practitioner led model and partnership between the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University and Emory Healthcare primary care. The IMC's patient centered approach allows patients to receive a broad array of health care services in a single visit from an interprofessional team of nurses, geriatricians, neurologists, social workers, and medical assistants to provide exemplary care coordination in all areas of the patient's care. IMC operates an ambulatory clinic practice and a community facility practice where care is driven by individualized plans aligned with patients' goals. The model takes a primary palliative care perspective, emphasizing aggressive symptom management, advance care planning, and holistic care. IMC has been recognized as a National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) level 3 patient centered medical home and by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as an Age Friendly Health system participant site. Becoming an Age-Friendly Health System entails reliably providing a set of four evidence-based elements of high-quality care, known as the "4Ms," to all older adults in your system: What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility.
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine – South Georgia,
The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine – South Georgia (PCOM-SGA) is a private, not-for-profit additional location of the fully accredited PCOM. PCOM-SGA was founded in 2019 to help grow medical education in Southwest Georgia and meet the long-term health care needs of the region. PCOM-SGA emphasizes in its teaching knowing how to ask the right questions; listening for answers; and making connections where others might not see them. PCOM-SGA’s focus on an integrated, team-oriented approach to health care helps learners dive deeper than the diagnosis to treat the whole person. Georgia Gear has partnered with PCOM-SGA to provide interprofessional clinical training in rural and underserved primary care sites, with the intent to have these trainees practice in these sites upon completion of their clinical training programs.
Preventive Medicine Rotations,
Emory University Preventive Medicine Rotations will provide longitudinal, interprofessional clinical training rotations of 8-weeks with at least 20 hours per week of didactic and clinical care in primary care sites with the intent to have Georgia Gear-sponsored residents practice in these sites upon completion of their program.
RYSE,
RYSE specifically targets historically underrepresented minority healthcare professionals with a specific emphasis on faculty in academic health sciences. Faculty diversity is linked to student diversity, cultural competence of graduates and an inclusive climate on campus. While the number of minority faculty has increased over time, they continue to have less representation relative to their presence in the US population. There have been increasing efforts to grow the number of underrepresented minority faculty in academic medicine (URiM). This program will enhance peer mentoring and sense of community among URiM faculty members; develop/enhance leadership and career development skills identified by participants; encourage meaningful discussions about the experience of navigating academic health sciences as a URiM faculty members; and contribute to efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive environment. Target audiences will include URiM faculty from General Internal Medicine—TEC Primary Care, VA, Grady, Geriatrics—as well as Palliative medicine and Family Medicine. To reach URM physicians, who are often providing care in underserved communities, we piloted the Diverse Recruitment & Retention Is Valuable (DRIVE) Program. We are replicating this course, linking it to community organizations (the Atlanta Medical Association / GA State Medical Association, affiliates of the National Medical Association), adding geriatric educational components, and expanding it to two cities beyond Atlanta. The goals of the program are to enhance peer mentoring and a sense of community among self-identified URiM faculty members (by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Department of Health & Human Services categories); develop/enhance leadership and career development skills; engage in discussions about navigating academic health sciences as a URiM faculty member; and contribute to creating a more diverse and inclusive environment.
US Department of Veterans Affairs,
The Atlanta VA Healthcare System is a full-service, level 1A tertiary care hospital with one nursing home facility and 21 Community-Based Outpatient Clinics. The Atlanta VA has one of the eight national VA National Quality Scholars Programs, preparing nurse and physician leaders in quality and safety. The Birmingham/Atlanta GRECC (B/A VA GRECC), initiated in 2001, is one of 20 GRECCs nationally that improves care for older Veterans through research, education, & clinical innovation. The B/A VA GRECC has five areas of focus: incontinence; mobility; musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases; management of chronic conditions, polypharmacy, and end-of-life care; and promoting non-institutionalized care. B/A VA GRECC faculty lead the new employee orientation session, Aging Sensitivity, in Birmingham and Atlanta. In 2023, 49 sessions were conducted with a total of 1,593 new employees. This training was updated to include Age-Friendly concepts, common communication challenges in aging and skills to accommodate these needs. Relevant telemedicine programs include Clinical Video Telehealth Continence Clinic (2018-present); Office of Rural Health GRECC Connect Telehealth Program (consultation to primary care and caregivers) in rural sites (Blairsville and Oakwood).