Geriatric-Focused Educational Offerings in the Department of Veterans Affairs From 1999 to 2009

Abstract

The scope of geriatrics-related educational offerings in large health care systems, in either the target audiences or topics covered, has not previously been analyzed or reported in the professional literature. The authors reviewed the geriatrics-related educational sessions that were provided between 1999 and 2009 by the Geriatrics Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (GRECCs) and the Employee Education System (EES) of the United States' largest integrated health care system, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Using records of attendance and content at local training events and regional and national conferences, the authors estimated the number of attendees in different health disciplines and the number and types of lectures. During the past 11 years, GRECCs and EES provided geriatric-related educational sessions to about one third of a million attendees, most of them nurses and physicians, in about 15,000 lectures. About three-fourths of the educational events occurred through local, rather than regional or national, events. Lectures covered a wide variety of topics, with a particular emphasis on dementia and other mental health topics. A comparison of the number of potential learners in VHA with the number of geriatric-related educational presentations over this time period yields an average of one offering per VHA provider every 3 years; most providers likely never received any. Since 1999 the GRECCs have been the dominant source for geriatrics-related education for VHA health professionals, but given that about one half of VHA patients are older than age 65, there is still a large unmet need to provide geriatric education to VHA providers. Examination of the GRECC resources that have been put to use in the past to develop and deliver the face-to-face education experiences described sheds light on the magnitude of resources that might be required to address remaining unmet need in the future, and supports the prediction that there will need to be increasing reliance on distance learning and other alternatives to face-to-face educational modalities.

The Impact of VA's Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Centers on Academic Affiliates

“…Furthermore, from 2001 to 2008, schools that were not affiliated with GRECCs reported a decrease in the mean percent of time spent training medical students, residents, and fellows, compared to GRECC-affiliated medical schools. , 1999, -2011, Discipline 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, % change, 2001, to 2008 Audiology/speech pathology …”

Department of Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Centers: Translating Aging Research into Clinical Geriatrics

“…The means through which the original GRECC education and training mission—to “train… health personnel in the provision of health care to older individuals”—has evolved over time in response to changes in guidance, technology, and support mechanisms for these activities. GRECC programs provide training for medical residents and associated health trainees; educate physicians and other health professionals pursuing geriatric specialization in preparation for academic careers; and train the VA and non‐VA multidisciplinary healthcare workforces through seminars, symposia, conferences, and electronic and print media . The decentralization of funding for GRECC programs in 1996 seriously affected the diversity and breadth of these programs, requiring that GRECCs increasingly rely on non‐VA sources of funding to meet the program's statutory educational mission.…”

“…In the last decade, nearly 63,000 individuals participated in conferences developed by GRECCs—an average of nearly 50 attendees per educational offering. Local educational efforts over the same period tallied more than 240,000 participants, an average of approximately 16 per session …”