Rowan receives $2.55 million HRSA grant to create New Jersey Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program

Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine has received a three-year, $2.55 million dollar grant from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) to establish the New Jersey Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (NJGWEP). An innovative coalition of several area organizations, Rowan's NJGWEP is the only New Jersey based project - and one of 44 nationally - that will share in the $35.7 million awarded by HRSA this fiscal year. The HRSA awards will support programs in 29 states that prepare the health care workforce to respond to the needs of older Americans.

Dr. Anita Chopra, the director of Rowan's NJGWEP and of the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging (NJISA) at the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, says the NJGWEP will be a "boots on the ground" project.

"Working with our partner organizations, we will use the team-based practices we have pioneered at the NJISA to integrate geriatrics into primary care, create community-based programs to support patients and families, and help transform health care delivery systems to improve the quality of care for older individuals," she explains.

"The NJGWEP reflects the sort of innovative thinking that has made our School of Osteopathic Medicine one of America's most recognized in the important field of geriatric medical education," says Dr. Ali Houshmand, president of Rowan University. "This program not only answers an immediate need, but prepares our health care workforce for the near future, when one out of every five Americans will be aged 65 years or older."

A major goal of Rowan's NJGWEP will be to develop and implement inter-professional education and training programs that focus on the complex health and psychosocial needs of older patients, their families and caregivers by:

• Integrating geriatrics into primary care practices in two area Accountable Care Organizations;
• Providing training on dementia, delirium and depression throughout New Jersey to health care professionals, home health aides and family caregivers so that they can assess and address the needs of older adults;
• Creating community-based programs for patients, families and caregivers to improve health outcomes in older adult populations; and
• Delivering training statewide on early detection of dementia among intellectually and developmentally disabled adults.