The need for improved competency in the health care and caregiving workforce is shaped by several factors. These include demographic shifts, a shortage of trained geriatricians, lack of primary health-care providers with adequate training in geriatrics, and persisting unmet needs reflected by poor health status indicators of older Floridians.…

This study examined whether attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration (Physician-Nurse, Physician-Social Worker, Nurse-Social Worker) held by medical, social work, and nursing students changed after completing an interprofessional curriculum consisting of (a) Interprofessional Education Development Session and (b) the Senior Aging and…

Purpose: To demonstrate the feasibility of the BRIGHTEN Program (Bridging Resources of an Interdisciplinary Geriatric Health Team via Electronic Networking), an interdisciplinary team intervention for assessing and treating older adults for depression in outpatient primary and specialty medical clinics. The BRIGHTEN team collaborates "virtually"…

There is a widening gap between the health care needs of older persons and the treatment skills of the health care professionals who serve them. This gap is especially severe in rural areas, where there is a shortage of and inadequate collaboration between health care professionals and poor access to services for older persons. There is also a…

Notes that despite the frequent claims of the superiority of interdisciplinary teams over more usual care patterns, systematic studies of the effectiveness of geriatric interdisciplinary teams are rare. Illustrates the difficult conceptual and methodological problems encountered by investigators. Suggests future research directions. (Author/ABL)

Describes the first 16 months of operation of a nursing home based community-oriented rehabilitation unit that utilized an interdisciplinary team approach in its admission evaluation and in its patient management decision making. Of the 27 patients discharged to homes, 23 were still in their homes after an average post-discharge period of eight…

Describes the development of a mobile geriatric outreach team. The importance of thorough, interdisciplinary assessment and the offering of active, brief psychotherapy are stressed. Community education programs and consultations to the aging network reach the senior community and other referral sources. Preliminary program evaluation data are…