Continued funding for geriatric care for UAMS

Continued funding for geriatric care for UAMS

Matthew Moore: The U.S. population is getting older, and that trend will continue to rise. According to the Population Reference Bureau, the number of Americans ages 65 and older is projected to increase 47% by 2050. At the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, they are dedicated to improving geriatric medicine and education, especially in rural areas. They received a five-year, $5 million federal grant to continue their work to improve the quality of care for older adults. Dr. Robin McAtee is the director of the Arkansas Geriatric Education Collaborative at UAMS. She says this grant is part of a longstanding funding program that’s been going on for about 25 years.

Robin McAtee: It started out as a geriatric education center. There were center grants all across the United States, focused on the education of healthcare professionals within geriatrics. That was before geriatrics was recognized as a specialty in medical schools or anywhere else. Health Resources Administration (HRSA) recognized that adults were getting older and that this specialty was not being taught in medical schools, nursing schools, or any other healthcare professional schools. They started funneling money to update healthcare professionals in the field on geriatrics and to get it recognized as a specialty field. It really is.

MM: Let’s talk a little bit about the programs happening here. Some of this work is meant for professionals, for doctors and for people in the medical field. Part of this is also intended for laypeople.

RM: We are partnering with a lot of lay partners. Part of this is in the word “collaborative,” and that’s something that the Health Resources and Services Administration really wants us to collaborate with: the community and other entities that take care of older adults or provide programs. For the past several years, we have partnered heavily with senior centers across the state, helping provide evidence-based programs for them. When I talk about evidence-based programs, they are just programs that have been proven to work through research, such as the Diabetic Empowerment Education Program, which really helps diabetics. It’s a pretty standardized program where you bring in people with diabetes, pre-diabetes, or those who just want to prevent it, and really talk about diet, nutrition, exercise, and the types of foods to eat. A big part of it is hands-on.

We also have programs to help prevent loneliness, whether it’s an art program or an exercise program. And of course, we have physical activities. We do a program called Ageless Grace, which is another evidence-based program. It’s exercising from a chair and is proven to impact neural pathways. It’s fun, and people laugh and enjoy it. We even have a line dancing class with one of our partners.

We have support groups for those with partners or parents with dementia, working with many local churches, rural churches, and minority churches. We’re really trying to impact the underserved community.

MM: How do you find ways to avoid being paternalistic with the help and work toward empowerment for the individuals?

RM: I think that’s something HRSA has tried to help us with in recent years. There’s a program called Age-Friendly, and there’s also Dementia Friendly. It’s been endorsed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the American Hospital Association, Catholic Health Initiatives, and the Hartford Association. It’s widely supported by national health organizations. This is called the “4M’s of Age-Friendly Care.” The first M of the 4M’s is what matters. We emphasize that one of the first things to ask an older adult during a clinic or hospital visit is: What’s important to you? What matters in your life? Because you don’t want to be paternalistic. You may think that getting their blood sugar or A1C down to seven is important, or getting their blood pressure down, and all these numbers, but what might really be important to that person is going to their grandson’s baseball games every weekend. So, mobility might be the most critical factor there. How can we get you there? How can we make sure you feel well enough and have the accessories or tools and resources to help you do that?

So, we’re training and working with a lot of clinics in rural areas, like AR Care clinics, infusing these 4M’s into their care. Everything revolves around what matters. That’s how we get to them, and if it matters, you’ll go to that training to help you take better care of yourself.

MM: Yeah, absolutely. It helps them to frame their priorities, and ‘I’m only going to be able to achieve this if I’m taking care of myself.’

RM: Yes, and they love being asked that. Most of them are really taken aback. It’s like, “Oh, you care what I think?” We tell them, “Yes, we do care.”

MM: Why do you think that’s the case? Why do you think they’re taken aback by that?

RM: I think they’re programmed. The doctor tells them what’s wrong, what to do, and they either do it or don’t. But when they’re asked, they’re like, “Oh, you care,” and many of them can’t articulate that. Sometimes they don’t know. But you ask them, “Let’s talk about that next time you come in three months, and let’s frame your care plan around what’s important to you.” If you want to maintain your medical capacity, let’s talk about what social activities need to be done, what activities to get involved in, and what support we can bring into the home to make that happen for you.

Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. The authoritative record of KUAF programming is the audio record.


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