Great Plains – Mountain GWEP Consortium ECHO Series

The Great Plains-Mountain GWEP Consortium brings you “Building Resilience: Maintaining Quality Care in Nursing Homes During COVID”. This is a live 12 week series on Wednesdays, March 2nd – May 18th, 2022 from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm (MST) offered over Zoom.

Presenters include regional and national experts in geriatric care. Receive feedback on your QAPI process from quality improvement experts.

Topics include:

  • Covid Considerations
  • Age-Friendly Care
  • Quality Improvement 
Read more

Telehealth in LTSS Online Course

Our GWEP team, in collaboration with Comagine Health, developed a training program related to Telehealth in Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS). Consisting of a 3-Part ECHO series, toolkit, and an online training course, our goal is to educate LTSS providers, patients/residents, and families to prevent COVID exposure and promote the readiness to respond to COVID-19 through telehealth utilization.  This program will provide access to telehealth technologies by training LTSS staff, providers, and patients, families, and caregivers.

Our Telehealth in LTSS online course is innovative, evidenced-based, and includes best practices for using telehealth will roll-out late spring/early summer on the Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center’s (NRTRC) Training and Education website for professional development.

Read more

Nurse Residency Program

This training and education program is designed to better equip long-term care nurses to care for their patients and improve their leadership skills. Additionally, the course will assist nurses as they prepare to take the Gerontological Nursing Board Certification Exam. If you're interested in learning more, please contact ugecgwep@utah.edu.

Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD) modules

Expert faculty and clinicians at the University of Utah have created a series of free online training modules to help increase knowledge about Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and improve care of residents with dementia. These trainings are designed for patients, family members, and direct care employed in post-acute or long-term care settings.
 
The online educational program is divided into four modules that, in total, will take 2-3 hours to complete. The topics covered in each module include:
  • Overview of Dementia
  • Understanding Behaviors and Your Approach
  • Effective Communication within Long-Term Care
  • Communication and Understanding Behaviors
Click "Read More" below to access the link to the modules.

Managing Opioid Use in Long-Term Services and Support

These interprofessional modules for PALTC providers and staff are centered around opioid use, including topics such as:

  • Reasons for prescribing opioids to treat acute and chronic pain
  • Pharmacology of opioid use in older adults with multiple chronic conditions including dementia
  • Appropriate prescribing of opioids in nursing home residents
  • Opioid misuse in nursing home residents including assessment and treatment
  • Non-opioid pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic pain management regimens

Click "Read More" below to access the links to these modules.

Age-Friendly LTSS ECHO

The Age-Friendly Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) ECHO ModelTM (formerly the Learning Community Series) builds on the prior UGEC Learning Community, connecting community providers in collaborative learning with specialists through live video conferencing via Zoom.  The ECHO model includes case-based learning and mentorship to help interprofessional teams gain the expertise required to provide needed care and/or services. If you are interested in attending, please contact ugecgwep@utah.edu.

Click "Read More" below to view the recordings of past Age-Friendly LTSS ECHO sessions.

Fireside Chats

Our Fireside Chats are based on ADRD, Age-Friendly Health Systems and Dementia-Friendly Communities topics and designed for long-term services and supports (LTSS) organizations, families and caregivers. These "Chats" are open to the community and offered online, via the video-conferencing platform Zoom, on the 1st Thursday of every month at 10am (MT).  Please check our events calendar to see when the next Fireside Chat will be held. The event on the calendar will also contain the link to join the Fireside Chat remotely.

Click "Read More" below to view the recordings of the past Fireside Chats.

UGEC Lectures

UGEC faculty and students frequently present topics relevant for LTSS providers and staff as well as older adults and family caregivers in the community for conferences and University classes. When possible, we share these with our UGEC partners and communities. Please use these for your own knowledge attainment and share with others individually or in groups.

Click "Read More" below to view the presentations.

Roles in Long-Term Services and Supports

Learn more about the long-term care and end-of-life industries from those who work in them. Presenters describe typical work responsibilities, discuss important qualifications and characteristics of successful employees, and give tips on where to learn more or get started. Workers share what they love about their jobs as well as its challenges, while care beneficiaries share why their care team means so much to them! 

Click "Read More" below to view the free videos.

Motivational Interviewing

Check out this module for further information on motivational interviewing to improve health coaching skills and support behavior change.

Student Projects

Explore UGEC- related projects by medical students who have worked with the UGEC PI, Linda Edelman.