Montana Geriatric Education
Center Review
Recommendation
(Academic Policy 103)
A. Written Report Summary:
1.
Purpose:
The purpose of the Montana Geriatric Education Centers is to “provide geriatric
education and training for Montana health care professionals, higher education
faculty, and health profession students, so that they might better meet the
needs of the older residents of the state.”
2.
Objectives:
The center plans to add three new areas in its geriatric education and training
programs: health literacy, curricular partnerships, and health screening for
geriatric populations.
3. Anticipated activities:
Activities during the next three years will focus on
developing new instructional modules for the new topics (e.g., health
literacy), continued dissemination and use of existing training modules, and
increasing opportunities for health professions students to participate in
rural outreach screening programs. The
target audiences are current and future (i.e., students) healthcare and social
work practitioners who will practice in states like Montana. The outreach screening program will involve
MUS students from multiple disciplines/campuses and reach patients in a variety
of settings across Montana.
Training
materials will continue to be delivered via a web-based curriculum, an annual
conference, and continuing education sessions offered live and via
videoconferencing to reach practitioners around the state. The more general themes of healthcare in the
elderly will be tailored to the communities and cultural diversity of the Montana
population to be served by health providers and students (future providers). MTGEG programs will emphasize rural health
care to medically underserved populations including American Indians, cultural
and linguistic competency, interdisciplinary training and care, and health
promotion and wellness.
4.
Other organizations
involved:
Consortium Members and Administrative Board
The Montana Geriatric Education Center is currently composed of faculty or
representatives from three institutions (The University of Montana, Montana
Tech, and a continuing medical education provider, Northwest Research &
Education Institute, which is located in Billings) and expects the addition of
MSU nursing faculty along with nursing, medical, and physician assistant
students from MSU, WWAMI program, and Rocky Mountain College, respectively. Within UM, there are three programs involved
in the consortium: pharmacy, physical therapy, and social work.
The Administrative Board of the Montana Geriatric Education Center consists of
faculty from UM, the Billings Clinic Center and Northwest Research and
Education Institute. The Center Director
is Gayle Hudgins from the Department of Pharmacy Practice at The University of
Montana
5.
Reporting line:
Because the extramural funding and the Center are housed in the College of
Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences, the Director reports to Dean David
Forbes.
6.
Relationships with institutional
mission and contribution to academic programs:
The
Center provides unique educational
experiences in geriatrics and gerontology for the faculty, including the many
clinical faculty involved in professional training of students, and for
students in the health professions
and social service fields. As a consortium,
the MTGEC involves faculty, staff, and students in several discipline
from several institutions across the state in its work. The Center’s theme of Partnerships Under the Big Sky describes the many relationships that have
been formed and will be strengthened in the coming years. Finally, through its geriatric health
screening initiative the MTGEG will be providing a direct service to many
elderly Montana citizens in both urban and rural settings.
The Montana Geriatric Education Center contributes to the academic programs of
the university in two areas.
a. Through the
development and refinement of the curriculum on the Health Care Problems of the
Elderly, 34 existing modules and a number of new modules will be made available
for use in the classroom and for online education. Existing modules include 5 core modules, 5
education modules, 9 health problem modules with accompanying case studies, and
5 geriatric screening modules, all of which will be updated in the next three
years. In addition, several new modules
will be developed and added to the curriculum.
b. The geriatric health
screening initiative will provide health profession students in pharmacy,
physical therapy, social work, nursing, medicine and the physician assistant
program with the opportunity to gain clinical experience in rural setting with
a diverse patient population. Clients
will be provided with screening and education for problems associated with bone
density, lipids, hemoglobin A1c, and blood pressure by
students, under supervision of faculty.
The Director
estimates between 100-200 students from several health and social disciplines
have participated in the interdisciplinary hospital-based case conferences, and
several hundred practitioners have participated in the annual meeting
educational sessions or completed the independent study modules.
7.
Similar programs:
Of the 48 Geriatric Education Centers (GEC) funded nationwide, only four are
located in the Pacific Northwest/Northern Rockies area. In addition to the Montana Geriatric
Education Center, they include the Alaska Geriatric Education Center at
University of Alaska Anchorage, the Northwest Geriatric Education Center at the
University of Washington, and the Wyoming Geriatric Education Center at the
University of Wyoming. There are no
other similar programs in the state.
8.
Budget:
The program is supported by extramural funding from the federal GEC
initiative. It was recently renewed for
another three years of support. For two
faculty participants, the funds are used to buy-out 0.3 FTE faculty time
(0.2FTE for Director, 0.1FTE for Board member) and pay for portions of three
administrative and one clinical staff position (2.58FTE total). administrative associate and 0.8FTE assistant director). No new faculty or staff lines are anticipated
over the next five years. All positions
are grant-funded with no other funds being used.
Other needs
The grant funding for the Montana Geriatric Education Center provides an
operating budget for the program, covering office supplies, printing and
postage, library materials, computer or other equipment needs,
telecommunication expense, and travel associated with the project. The College of Health Professions and
Biomedical Sciences is providing 2.5 offices for the various staff involved
with the project as well as administrative and computer support services.
Sources of Funding
The Montana Geriatric Education Center is funded by the Health Resources and
Services Administration (HRSA) in the US Department of Health and Human
Services. Currently, funding for MTGEC
is approved for a three year cycle in the amount of $1,074,160 with $331,709
allocated for the current year. MTGEC
will have to compete for additional funding in 2010. No state or private funds currently support
the Center.
B. Review and Approval Process
2. The Faculty Senate through
its Chair, who in turn shall distribute it to
Review
in terms of Scope as stated in academic policy 100.0
To provide instruction, scholarship, or service to the
University, state or world by: (1)
focusing attention on an area of strength and/or addressing a critical issue,
or (2) facilitating collaborative, multi-disciplinary endeavors to combine
resources from several programs or institutions to address issues of common
interest.
Review
in terms of the University’s mission.
§
Comments:
§
Does
§
Is
the relationship with academic units beneficial? YES
§
Is
the program revenue neutral or does it consume more resources than it
generates? If so, is the use of University resources justified? REVENUE
NEUTRAL
§
Is
the entity making progress toward objectives? Cannot fully
assess. It has produced learning modules
and built a multi-institutional consortium but there are no numbers related to
number of students or providers who have completed training or are using the
information.
Recommendation: The Center should continue its work and seek
renewal of its funding in 2010.
Justification: The Center is funded
by extramural sources at this time and has contributed positively to the
academic mission of the University.