Objectives: This study examines the impact of social work interventions in aging on quality of life (QOL) and cost outcomes in four categories (health, mental health, geriatric evaluation and management, and caregiving). Methods: Systematic review methods are employed. Databases were searched for articles published in English between 2004 and 2012…

The Geriatric Scholar Program (GSP) is a Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) workforce development program to infuse geriatrics competencies in primary care. This multimodal educational program is targeted to primary care providers and ancillary staff who work in VA's rural clinics. GSP consists of didactic education and training in geriatrics…

Few gerontology and geriatrics professionals receive training in driver fitness evaluation, state reporting of unfit drivers, or transportation mobility planning yet are often asked to address these concerns in the provision of care to older adults. The American Medical Association (AMA) developed an evidence-based, multi-media Curriculum to…

Derived from Buddhism, mindfulness is a unique approach for understanding human suffering and happiness that has attracted rapidly growing interest among health care professionals. In this article I describe current thinking about the concept of mindfulness and elaborate on why and how mindfulness-based interventions have potential within the…

Purpose: Turnover among direct-care workers (DCWs) continues to be a challenge in long-term care. Both policy makers and provider organizations recognize this issue as a major concern and are designing efforts to reduce turnover among these workers. However, there is currently no standardized method of measuring turnover to define the scope of the…

This study evaluated the effect of a transformative learning (TL) intervention on functional health literacy and diabetes knowledge in older African Americans. Twenty participants from senior community centers completed a six-session intervention. The short-form Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (s-TOFHLA), Literacy Assessment for…

Purpose: We describe and evaluate a project designed to pilot test an evidence-based clinical intervention for assessing and treating depression in older adults in rural primary care clinics. Project ADAPT--Assuring Depression Assessment and Proactive Treatment--utilized existing primary care resources to overcome barriers to sustainability…

This article describes a Delphi study to identify research priorities of gerontological social work practitioners and to compare these priorities with those of social work academic researchers. A national expert panel of 52 gerontological social work practitioners completed questionnaires to delimit a set of high-priority research topics. Findings…

Based on the researcher's observations during a month-long visit to the Soviet Union as a specialist in gerontology and guest of the Soviet Ministry of Health, comparisons were drawn between educational intervention procedures in gerontology and/or geriatrics for health care professionals in the Soviet Union and the United States. Locus of such…

Background: Persons with an intellectual and developmental disability frequently face barriers in accessing preventive services in community-based health care systems. As they age into middle years, they are at increased risk for functional decline. This paper presents a description of an advanced practice nurse (APN) intervention used in a pilot…

There is a growing need for professional psychology training in nursing home settings, and nursing homes provide a rich environment for teaching geropsychology competencies. We describe the nursing home training component of our Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Predoctoral Internship and Geropsychology Postdoctoral Fellowship programs. Our…

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of an educational intervention on the knowledge and attitudes of pre-allied health students toward older adults. The subjects were 41 pre-allied health students assigned to an intervention (n = 19) or comparison group (n = 22). The intervention group participated in a six-hour multi-modal…

Purpose: The psychiatric home visit is an effective intervention for elderly patients who otherwise would not receive mental health services. Home visits also have potential to be useful for training. Here, the current practice of home visits in geropsychiatry fellowship programs is examined. Design and Methods: The directors of 55 current…

Purpose: This article reviews the effectiveness of a new training program for improving nursing staffs' detection of depression within long-term care facilities. The course was designed to increase recognition of the Minimal Data Set (MDS) Mood Trigger items, to be brief, and to rely on images rather than didactics. Design and Methods: This study…

Purpose: More than 14 million persons are projected to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) by the year 2020; therefore, it is not surprising that the literature contains numerous caregiver intervention studies. What is surprising is that although minority elders represent one of the fastest growing segments of the older population, they are…