Want to Engage on Age? Go to engageil.com UIC s HRSA Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, ENGAGE-IL. Got t to engageil.com, the ho me of UIC s HRSA-funded Join http://www.engageil.com, a community of dedicated to: Educating health professions trainees and practitioners to optimize care of the older adult Engaging patients and families holistic care of the older adult. Empowering older adults through self-management of their health and illness. Enhancing the care of older adults through the integration of geriatrics into primary care, with a culturally appropriate and patient- and family-centered approach Building a collaborative community of learning and practice to improve interprofessional teambased care for older adults At engageil.com, explore our: Free online geriatric training program for health professionals. Interprofessional Summer Scholars Program. Older adults and families education program, with links to resources and our community partners: ACCESS; Housing Opportunities & Maintenance for the Elderly (H.O.M.E.); and Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care. Free downloadable Apps for consumers and clinicians related to dementia and care of older adults. http://www.engageil.com is the virtual portal for all of our far-reaching real-world learning activities outlined below, including accredited education and training available to health professionals across the globe; information for the public and health professionals on how best to care for older adults; and resources to help all older adults and those who care for them. We take advantage of our campuscommunity partnerships and large collection of connected health profession schools and rural regional campus settings to improve care for older adults.
1. Free Online Interprofessional Geriatric Training Not just an online virtual community, the website engageil.com also serves as a portal to our online Interprofessional (IP) Geriatrics Training Program. Simply click Apply to register for our IP Geriatric Training Program. This free online program offers 33 a-la-carte modules on topics related to the care of older adults. Something for everyone! These modules were developed, written, and reviewed by interprofessional geriatric content experts at UIC and across the country. Take one module, or take all of them! We aim to enhance professional and personal competency and help users find ways they can help improve the health of their older adult patients, minimize medication risk, promote patient safety, and reduce the cost of hospital and emergency care services by bettering overall health for older adults. 2. Interprofessional Summer Scholars Program This scholarship is designed to nurture interprofessional teams of students over 8 weeks in summer 2016 and 2017. We will provide a rich, integrated, ethical geriatric care learning experience. Through the Summer Scholars Program, students will understand and address the holistic needs of the older adult in diverse care settings: community- and home-based care, acute care, sub-acute care, and hospice. At the heart of this scholarship are active, experiential learning; discussion and reflection on the unique qualities and needs of older adults across several life phases and care settings; and how an integrated team of interprofessional practitioners can better address their needs. Look for our Geriatric Voices, a formal reflective evaluation book written by our scholars. 3. Older Adults and Families Education and Engagement Through HRSA s innovative GWEP program ENGAGE-IL, UIC has expanded existing community partnerships. Our collaborations value community-based participatory research, programming, and evaluation. The intergenerational H.O.M.E. community comprised of older adult residents and residential assistants, their families, volunteers, and coordinators, alongside the UIC Interprofessional ENGAGE-IL Leadership Team selected health education geriatric topics most salient to their housing communities (Pat Crowley House and Nathalie Salmon House). The ENGAGE-IL Team presented weekly interactive educational programs during winter 2015-2016 called Thursdays at H.O.M.E. The overall goal was to engage and empower older adult residents about their health, increasing knowledge, self-confidence, and hope. These sessions engaged local H.O.M.E. community resources, including Chicago District Police Safety Officers, local
bankers assisting in money management services, and local senior exercise specialists. We are sharing our weekly modules on our engageil.com website and invite others to engage with their communities. We are including H.O.M.E. in planning how to evaluate the success of ENGAGE-IL and are committed to data sharing. The UIC ENGAGE-IL Team will engage with our H.O.M.E. partner in our summer 2016 program, Hot Days of Summer & Senior Safety and our fall 2016 program on Health, Exercise & Safety, which will include Fit and Strong and Matter of Balance. 4. Free Downloadable Apps We have proven success in technological advances that translate evidence-based knowledge directly to the bedside. Engage-IL's Dr. Gruss wanted to translate research directly into the hands of geriatric clinicians as quickly as possible, which led to her development of the "Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia" App ("bsd") Mobile App. Dr. Gruss, along with a group of dementia care expert practitioners, developed an evidence-based algorithm for management of persons with behavioral symptoms of dementia (BSD). The algorithm includes both non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments. When evaluating a patient with behavioral symptoms of dementia, caregivers need to determine the likely cause and most appropriate response. The bsd App is an interactive algorithm that has decision points with brief explanations at each point for managing persons with dementia. The bsd App is available now free @ ios: Apple App Store: Evidence-Based Treatment of bsd and on the Center for Medicare/Medicaid (CMS) website under new tools. The bsd App has been downloaded more than 2,690 times in 5 countries. Coming summer 2016: Our New Dementia Guide Mobile App! Our ENGAGE-IL Dementia Guide App will provide education about Alzheimer and related dementias to families, caregivers, direct care workers, health professions students, faculty, providers, and the public. The public needs to be informed about signs and symptoms, risks, how dementia is identified/diagnosed, ways to prevent and manage symptoms, and strategies and resources to preserve quality of life for those with dementia and their families. Unlike current Apps that mostly relate to those already diagnosed, including "memory games," etc., our Dementia Guide App will provide evidence-based information on what dementia is, types, contributory factors, risks, symptoms, stages, diagnosis, tests, treatment, management, communication techniques, and links to resources and support services. Also Coming Fall 2016: Our New Geriatric Toolkit Mobile App! This free downloadable App (ios and Android) will consolidate up-to-date information into one convenient package and provide links to the latest guidelines, screening tools, assessment tools, and management algorithms related to clinical care of older adults. These tools will be drawn from evidencebased research and best practices. Better tools for assessment and management can lead to differences in health outcomes. Whether providing care in the acute care setting, community, or home, today's providers
face the same challenge: providing evidence-based age-appropriate care. This competency requires access to clinical resources at the point of care. Our Geriatric Toolkit App provides that access. Interprofessional Collaboration Among our Urban and Rural Campuses ENGAGE-IL is located at UIC s Chicago campus, within the 305-acre West Side Medical Center District located about two miles west of downtown Chicago. The district has the world's largest concentration of public and private health care facilities. In addition, the UIC Chicago campus has one of the largest collections of connected health profession schools, including over 9 different health science disciplines. The ENGAGE-IL team is made up of interdisciplinary researchers, clinicians, and faculty who have collaborated for years in bringing interprofessional educational experiences to UIC students. Our interdisciplinary team hopes we can help learners, faculty, clinicians, and patients come together for closer and more collaborative relationships, understand each other s perspectives, and nurture empathy and humanism for service to older adults. ENGAGE-IL will reach outside our urban campus to offer training sessions with primary care experiences for faculty and students at four rural regional campuses located throughout Illinois: Urbana, Peoria, Quad Cities, and Rockford. In UIC regional campus rural settings, appropriate clinical placements will be developed in clinics within the Carle Clinic Association. These clinics were developed in rural settings to provide care for populations in counties designated as medically underserved areas (MUAs). Most patients cared for in these clinics (85%) are older adults aged > 65. Carle Clinic Association is a provider network in central Illinois serving a number of rural, underserved areas. They currently employ UIC advanced practice nurses (APNs) in a variety of clinical specialties, including a "rounding service" at rural long-term care facilities serving older adults Urbana Rural Region: Champaign County Christian Health Center in Champaign, IL, serves a minority population, including migrant farm workers. Students in the Urbana regions are assigned clinical hours at this Center. In addition, we have 12-15 clinical sites with UIC Nurse Practitioner (NP) preceptors. Additional cardiovascular, endocrine, and geriatric NP preceptors are available in the Carle Clinics. Peoria Rural Region: The Heartland Community Health Clinics provide homeless residents free care in the Peoria area. The residents represent indigent populations, as well as rural citizens with many chronic diseases. Students in the Peoria region spend time at one of the three Heartland Community Health Clinics in the Peoria area. Quad Cities Rural Region: Community Healthcare, Inc. in Davenport, IA, is a federally qualified health center (FQHC). In Bettendorf, IA, we have an endocrinology NP who focuses on diabetes care. Additional NP preceptors work with a cardiovascular group in Davenport, IA. Rockford Rural Region: Freeport Clinic serves a rural population of indigent clients with complex health problems.
Ready to Get Started? Go Engage at engageil.com We have established partnerships with a wide variety of other human services and health care organizations. We would like to thank them all for their generous collaboration. You can find a list at: engageil.com