Geriatric Emergency Rooms: Better Care, Better Value and Becoming More Common

The Multi-disciplinary Center on Aging at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus was established in 1993 through an agreement between the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, the deans of the schools on the Anschutz Medical Campus and the leadership of the University of Colorado Hospital. The mission of the center is to promote improved health for older adults through the establishment and continuation of high quality and innovative clinical programs; the education of community professionals in geriatrics and gerontology; an emphasis on multidisciplinary team care and activity; and the promotion of collaborative transdisciplinary efforts in basic, clinical, and health services research that span the university community.
Welcome Clinicians, Service Providers and Community Members to the 18th Annual Rocky Mountain Geriatrics Conference. Rising geriatric populations, multiple chronic diseases and burgeoning needs for long term care and home health services are just some of the facets of aging facing our healthcare and service provider communities. Providers working with older adults need to be equipped with efficient and effective ways to care for this growing patient population.
Please join us for 2-days of education and knowledge exchange presented by clinicians and researchers providing the latest information of work being done in the aging sector.
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has been designated an Age-Friendly University for its leadership in research, education and care for older adults.
The recognition is part of an international effort endorsed by the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) to create more programs, policies and opportunities for an aging population.
CU Anschutz is the first academic medical campus in Colorado to become a member of the Age-Friendly University Global Network, joining a small group of designated academic medical campuses worldwide. CU Anschutz becomes the first campus in the CU System to receive the Age-Friendly University Designation, as well as #87 in the world and #4 academic medical campus in the world to receive the designation.
The
Health Care Navigator Training Program, formerly offered by ExperienceEngaged, was one of three Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment-recognized Health Navigator training programs and the only such program that explicitly focuses on
engaging and training older adults. The 7-week program trains older adults interested in both volunteer or paid positions such as the new Older Adult Research Specialist (OAR) position available later this spring. OAR participants are
trained in both Health Care Navigator and Research Specialist curriculum, and upon completion become a valuable member of CU Anschutz health care and research teams.
For more information and to attend the first informational session to be held in February please contact:
Jodi Waterhouse, Jodi.waterhouse@cuanschutz.edu Kady Nearing, Kathryn.nearing@cuanschutz.edu
For more information please email: Jodi.waterhouse@cuanschutz.edu
Older adults have been significantly impacted by loneliness and social isolation during COVID-19. At the same time, health professional students in their first 1-2 years of training have lost opportunities to have interactions with older adult patients. The team at CU Anschutz, led by the CU Anschutz Multidisciplinary Center on Aging, hosts a social isolation outreach program where students from either the CU Anschutz pharmacy, nurse practitioner or dental medical school programs will pair with an older adult to have weekly to bi-monthly social phone calls.
These calls are meant to help older adult’s combat loneliness and the feeling of isolation that so many have experienced. The older adults, through these phone conversations, will help students in their future clinical practices improve their communication skills and better serve their older adult patients. For many of these students, older adults will be their largest patient population, so working on honing their communication skills is extremely important to become better clinicians. If you are interested in participating yourself as an older adult in this program or are a service provider of a community of older adults and interested in having your residents participate please contact Jodi.waterhouse@cuanschutz.edu
Older Coloradans are incredible contributors to the economy of the state. See a snapshot of just a few of their many contributions to the economy and workforce in Colorado.
Population
1.2 million Older Coloradans
21% of the State’s population
Source: 2018 State Demographer Office
Homes
80% of Older Coloradans 60+ Own Their Own Home
Source: 2018 U.S. Census
Impact
Economic Impact of Older Coloradans, 60+ to the State
$20.1 Billion Annually
Source: 2018 CASOA report
Workforce
33% of Older Coloradans 60+ are in the workforce
Source: 2018 U.S. Census