The National Association of Geriatric Education Centers (NAGEC) plays a vital role in addressing the profound shortage of competently trained health professionals in all disciplines to care for the daunting needs of today’s older adults and tomorrow’s rapidly graying America. It also recognizes the critical role that GECs must play in DHHS-HRSA’s efforts to train first responders to potential bio-terrorism attacks.

NAGEC is seeking:

• Reinstatement of Bureau of Health Professions Title VII funding for geriatrics in the FY 2006 Budget.
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• $36 million to assure the integrity and viability of the Bureau of Health Professions Geriatric Education Centers Program (GECs). This amount provides funding for existing GECS, Geriatric [Fellowship] Training for Physicians, Dentists and Behavioral/Mental Health Professionals, and Geriatric Academic Career Awards (GACAs) .

The Geriatric Education Center Program (Section 753 (a) of the Health Professions Education Partnership Act of 1998 under Title VII of the Public Health Service Act):

• Supports 50 GECs nationwide.
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• Serves local communities and, together, the entire country.
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• Strengthens multidisciplinary training of health professionals in assessment, chronic disease syndromes, care planning, emergency preparedness, and cultural competence unique to older Americans.
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• Has trained more than 425,000 health care professionals from 27 health-related disciplines to better serve the burgeoning older adult population.
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• Has developed over 1,000 curricular materials on aging-related topics, including interdisciplinary team care, geriatric syndromes, ethnogeriatrics, cultural competency, health literacy, quality of care, rural health access issues, bioterrorism and emergency preparedness
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• Has delivered 282 distance learning programs to 37,000 health care professionals in rural and underserved areas.
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• Is Cost Effective: Low-cost professional geriatric training interventions have reached health care providers that have reported 2.4 million patient encounters and enhanced quality of care provided to our elderly
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• Meets the critical need to prepare the United States health care workforce to care for aging baby boomers.

The Bureau of Health Professions offers three Geriatrics Programs that provide interdisciplinary training in geriatric care for all health professions. The three are: the Geriatric Education Centers Program (GECs); the Geriatric Training Program for Physicians, Dentists, and Behavioral/Mental Health Professionals; and the Geriatric Academic Career Awards Program (GACAs).

The Geriatric Education Center (GEC) Program provides grants to support collaborative arrangements that involve several health professions schools and health care facilities. Within defined geographic areas, GECs provide educational programs for health care professionals in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and other health concerns of the elderly.

• Continuing education - offerings on cardiovascular health, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, delirium dementia, depression, exercise and fitness, health promotion, mental health, oral health, osteoporosis, urinary incontinence, sexuality, substance abuse, polypharmacy, elder abuse, pain management and palliative care, and bioterrorism and emergency preparedness.
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• Curriculum development and dissemination - over 1000 products, including elder abuse, ethics, interdisciplinary team care, rural access, teleconferencing, web-based modules, ethnogeriatrics, and improvement of quality care. Materials are available through the GEC Clearinghouse.
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• Training and retraining of faculty - with the increasing number of elderly, there will be a need for all health care providers to have content in geriatric health. Concerns have emerged about the aging of the health care workforce itself and the retirement of trained health professionals at a time when the age wave is cresting. Severe nursing shortages, a projected need for 36,000 geriatricians by 2030, a dearth of health care professionals and faculty trained in geriatrics in nursing, social work, pharmacy, and other health-related professions, makes the crisis even more severe. The GECs are addressing this need. Finally, the GECs also provide students with clinical training in geriatrics in nursing homes, chronic and acute disease hospitals, ambulatory care centers, and senior centers. To date, the GECs have trained over 425,000 health practitioners in 27 health-related disciplines. In FY 2005, 50 GECs were funded.

The Geriatric Training Program for Physicians, Dentists, and Behavioral/Mental Health Professions offers one- or two-year programs to train these professionals to become geriatric academicians. Programs provide fellows with exposure to elderly patients in various levels of wellness and functioning and from a range of socioeconomic and racial/ethnic backgrounds. Clinical rotations include geriatric consultation services, acute care services, dental services, geriatric psychiatry units, day and home care programs, rehabilitation services, extended care facilities, geriatric ambulatory care, and community care programs for elderly persons. This is the only program in the U.S. that trains faculty in postdoctoral geriatric dentistry. In FY 2005, 13 programs were funded.

The Geriatric Academic Career Awards (GACA) support the academic career development of geriatricians in junior faculty positions who are committed to teaching geriatrics in medical schools across the country. GACA recipients are required to provide training in clinical geriatrics, including the training of interdisciplinary teams of health care professionals. Activities include curriculum development, serving on medical school curriculum committees; providing care and teaching in a wide range of clinical settings; clinical research; participating in educational programs to build their own skills; and providing continuing education to practicing health professionals of multiple disciplines as well as community workers, including police personnel, informal caregivers, and community dwelling elderly persons. In FY 2005, 102 GACAs were funded.

For FY 2005, the geriatric health professions programs received $31.5 million.