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Clinical Updates—June, 2022

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Laptops for Telemedicine Providers

Karen Chacko, MD, professor of medicine and medical director for virtual health, has received a grant from the Federal Communications Commission to increase our telemedicine capability. The grant provides funding for telehealth equipment, including laptops for faculty members who do clinical work that involves telehealth, particularly with outreach to rural and frontier counties in Colorado. You may be eligible for one of these laptops. To find out whether you qualify, complete this survey by June 17.

CU Anschutz Multidisciplinary Center on Aging Updates

CU Anschutz VESPA Team #2 in the US for Elder Maltreatment: The CU Anschutz Multidisciplinary Center on Aging is the home of the 2nd VESPA (Vulnerable Elder Services, Protection and Advocacy) Team in the country. The only other team is located at Cornell University Weill School of Medicine. This team provides consultation and support to clinicians, service representatives and law enforcement by providing experts to help identify elder abuse and the care a victim needs following discharge from acute care. If you are a clinician and are unsure about your patients who might potentially present with elder maltreatment, please contact the CU Anschutz VESPA team at vespa@cuanschutz.edu or Direct: 303-724-3510. More information. 

COAST-IT Needs Medical Students to Participate in Fall 2022: Connecting Older Adults through Interprofessional Telecare (COAST-IT) launched two years ago during the pandemic, to answer a need to help reduce loneliness and social isolation among older adults, and provide CU Anschutz Students an opportunity to connect with older adults, when so many of their clinical experiences were canceled. Older adults and CU Anschutz Health Profession students pair as phone partners and conduct a weekly photo call or Zoom interaction to build connection and mentorship. 

These calls help older adults break down the barriers they may be experiencing of loneliness and isolation and the older adults help CU Anschutz Health Profession students hone their communication skills and better understand how to not engage in ageism in healthcare once they become future clinicians. The program was recognized nationally by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging as a social innovation framework that can be adopted by many organizations across the country. CU Anschutz Medical Students we need you! If you are interested in participating in Fall ’22 please reach out to Jodi Waterhouse.

Health Navigator and Older Adult Research Specialist Training Launched: Older adults have the opportunity to become health navigators for hospitals, clinics and non-profits, and/or research specialists who will join CU Anschutz Research Teams to become a key member to help educate, recruit and retain older adults, in research and clinic trials. These research specialist positions are paid positions, and upon completion of the program, if they so choose, will become part of a hiring pool of candidates to join research teams. If you are interested in hosting a health navigation training program or hiring one of the older adults research specialists, read more about older adult research specialist training or contact Jodi Waterhouse.