Grant from Health Resources and Services Administration allows continuation of University of Southern Indiana’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program

The University of Southern Indiana has received another five-year grant, this one totalling $5 million, from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to continue its Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, which runs through the university’s College of Nursing and Health Professions.

According to an article on the University of Southern Indiana’s website, Dr. Katie Ehlman, who is a professor of Gerontology and the director of the Bronstein Center for Healthy Aging and Wellness, explained the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, and what the new cycle of grant funding will allow the program to continue doing. Dr. Ehlman said, “This new funding allows our team to continue to focus on integrating age-friendly and dementia-friendly initiatives in primary care. Additionally, this funding supports innovative ways to address nursing home workforce shortages by creating clinical pipelines, including a Pre-Apprenticeship Program through the Indiana Office of Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship (OWBLA), as well as a U.S. Department of Labor-registered Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Apprenticeship Program. It is an honor for USI to work with partners across organizations with the goal of improving the lives of older adults by educating the geriatric care workforce.” 

The Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program was initially established in 2019 thanks to a $3.7 million grant awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The program aims to improve health for geriatric patients by integrating geriatric care into primary care, giving more older adults in Indiana access to the care they need. The program has so far seen the University of Southern Indiana partner with Deaconess Health and further integrating geriatric care into primary care through the Age-Friendly Health Systems Framework, dementia curriculum, and help from Area Agencies on Aging. This partnership will continue on for at least the next five years.

Additionally, more partnerships are expected to fall into place during this next cycle of funding for the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program. The Southwestern Indiana Area Health Education Center, which operates at the University of Southern Indiana, will work to help develop pipelines for students who graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy degree, or an Occupational Therapy Assistant degree, in order to ensure students who have gained skills and knowledge about this expansion of geriatric care are going to work in places where those skills are especially needed.

Dr. Ehlman explained what else the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program has in the works, saying, “What has always made the USI GWEP unique is our intentional work across organizations to create a shared space to serve our community. Our funding will allow us to grow our model of having care managers from Generations and SWIRCA & More integrated into Deaconess primary care clinics. We will move from three clinics to 13 clinics by the end of the funding period. Plus, with our new funding, we will establish a consortium of nursing homes to improve care for older adults through evidence-based programming and innovative AI applications.”

For more information about the University of Southern Indiana, visit the school’s website.