Geriatric Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

The pillars of preventative geriatric care include screening, counseling and immunizations. Participate in this module to learn about national guideline recommendations for screening older adults, screening special populations, such as veterans, and strategies for counseling older adults about nutrition, exercise, and social connectivity. Learn which immunizations are recommended for older adults and what preventative services are available.

Authors
Ashish Ansal, MD Clinical Physician College of Medicine
Department of Family Medicine Co-Investigator,
ENGAGE-IL University of Illinois at Chicago

Valerie Gruss PhD, APN, CNP-BC
Associate Professor
College of Nursing
Director, ENGAGE-IL
University of Illinois at Chicago

Authors’ Bios
Dr. Ashish Ansal is a family physician with the UIC, Miles Square Healthcare System, a primary care clinic focused on treating the underserved patient population. At Miles Square, Dr. Ansal serves as the Medical Director and clinical physician. Through his leadership role at Mile Square, Dr. Ansal works to improve high quality access to healthcare for patients in the Englewood community. He also serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor for the UIC family medicine program and helps train future physicians. Dr. Ansal completed his medical school training at Ross University School of Medicine, he completed his residency from University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dr. Valerie Gruss is Associate Professor in the UIC College of Nursing. She is a board-certified Nurse Practitioner with a broad range of clinical expertise and research experience working in primary care and with multidisciplinary teams in a variety of settings. Dr. Gruss’ position at UIC blends her roles as researcher, clinician and educator.

In 2015, Dr. Gruss was awarded a $2.5 million three year grant through the HRSA Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP), to create an interprofessional education program for improving the care of older adults. Additionally, $100,000 per year was awarded to Dr. Gruss’ research in Alzheimer’s and associated dementias. She and her team have launched a free mobile app, Dementia Guide Expert for families, available on iOS and Android. In 2016, Dr. Gruss was awarded the GAPNA “Excellence in Research Award”.

Dr. Gruss is clinical consultant/research collaborator on a Federal Demonstration Project for the State of Illinois, “Money Follows the Person”, which transitions eligible seniors out of nursing homes and back to the community. She was awarded the UIC College of Nursing’s ‘2010 Faculty Practice Award’ and was honored with the “Best Care Practices in the Geriatrics Continuum” award by the American Medical Directors Association, 2008.

Dr. Gruss teaches in the UIC College of Nursing graduate nursing program. In pursuit of changing current nursing education to a more interdisciplinary model, she jointly founded the “Collaborative for Excellence in Interprofessional Education”(CEIPE). This group of volunteer faculty represents over 10 disciplines, providing students with interprofessional immersion experiences. Dr. Gruss serves on the UIC Vice Chancellors’ IPE Steering Committee to move the UIC IPE strategic plan forward. In 2016 Dr. Gruss was awarded the UIC “Teaching Recognition Program Award”.

Expert Interviewee
Ron Chacko, MD
Physician, Oak Street Health Provider
Physician, Lending Hands for Life Provider, Erie Family Health Center

Expert’s Bio
Dr. Ron Chacko, MD is a family physician with Oak Street Health, a primary care clinic designed for adults with Medicare. At Oak Street, he has served on leadership roles to develop clinic processes that improve the quality of preventive care delivery in a team based model of care. From 2011-2014, he led the multidisciplinary HIV primary care program at Lawndale Christian Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) on the west side of Chicago. He completed his medical school training at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, residency at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center in Lawrence, MA, and a primary care HIV fellowship at University of Southern California Pacific AIDS Education Training Center in Los Angeles, CA.

Editor:
Memoona Hasnain MD, MHPE, PhD
Professor and Associate Department Head, Faculty Development & Research
College of Medicine,
Department of Family Medicine
Co-Director, ENGAGE-IL
University of Illinois at Chicago

Duration: 30 minutes
Format: Video Stream & pdfs

Handout – One Slide Per Page

Handout – Three Slides Per Page

Resources and References

In support of patient care, Rush University Medical Center is accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Rush University Medical Center designates this live activity for a maximum of (0.50) AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This activity is being presented without bias and without commercial support.

ANCC Credit Designation – Nurses
The maximum number of hours awarded for this CE activity is 0.50 contact hours.

Rush University is an approved provider for physical therapy (216.000272), occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, social work (159.001203), nutrition, speech-audiology, and psychology by the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. Rush University designates this live activity for (0.50) Continuing Education credit(s).

Rush University Medical Center designates this knowledge based CPE activity for 0.50 contact hours for pharmacists.

Upon completion of this module, learners will be able to:

Describe which screening services are suggested for older adults
Define strategies for counseling older adults about nutrition, exercise, and smoking cessation
Identify which immunizations are recommended for older adults
Describe preventative services available to older adults

For technical support, please notify engage@engageil.com.

To report a complaint, please contact the ENGAGE-IL Program Help Desk at engageIL@engageil.com.

This ENGAGE-IL learning activity fully complies with the legal requirements of the ADA and the rules and regulations thereof. Learners with special needs can make requests for accommodation at any time by sending e-mail to engageIL@engageil.com.