The Innovating, Maximizing and Advancing Geriatric Education (imAGE) program provides resources and products for comprehensive geriatrics education for health care and social service providers at all levels.
The imAGE program draws on the expertise of IU School of Medicine geriatrics faculty and staff, developed and honed since 1997.
The imAGE program trains current and future health care providers for older adults by:
The Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders (GRACE) model of primary care was developed specifically to improve the quality of care for low-income seniors. The GRACE intervention to improve the longitudinal integration of geriatric and primary care services across the continuum of care includes the unique features of in-home assessments and care management provided by a nurse practitioner and social worker team with extensive use of specific care protocols for evaluation and management of common geriatric conditions.
The Aging Brain Care (ABC) program is an evidence-based population brain health management program that uses an interdisciplinary care team to improve the brain health of community dwelling adults at risk for cognitive impairment or those living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The program is rooted in collaborative care and includes the patient’s care partner(s) and the patient’s primary care team. Unique characteristics of the ABC model include home-based assessments of caregiver stress and patient cognitive, behavioral, psychological and functional status coupled with protocol-driven interventions. All interventions are done in collaboration with the primary provider—the ABC model does not assume care of the patient but rather brings additional resources to the table for the primary provider.
The Aging Brain Care (ABC) Community program helps people with dementia and their family caregiver further strengthen the support for caregivers of individuals with dementia and maximize the ability of people living with dementia to remain in community settings. Care coaches will deliver the ABC Community intervention to caregivers via telephone contacts to assess the caregivers’ burden levels by using the Healthy Aging Brain Care (HABC) Monitor to address challenges and provide ongoing education and support.
In partnership with United Healthcare, the imAGE program develops and implements monthly ECHO sessions. IU School of Medicine's geriatrics faculty and staff initially conducted a needs assessment of participants. The program uses the evidence-based model of ECHO to facilitate learning on person-centered and geriatric best practices in preparation for Indiana’s soon-to-be managed long-term services and supports environment. ECHO sessions are 90 minutes long and include a didactic presentation on a geriatric topic, two case review from Allen County and Shelby County, and a wellness presentation.
Contracted by IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, imAGE staff developed, implemented, and are evaluating a geriatrics curriculum for all first-year residents at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital. The curricular objectives were created, and clinical application of the curriculum was determined to be optimally implemented at IU Health North. There the geriatrician, Samantha Kay, MD, provides short didactics as well as bedside teaching both in the inpatient and outpatient settings. Evaluation from residents and the residency program director will be used to provide quality improvement of the one-month rotation.
Through a contract with the State of Indiana, associate director of imAGE Shannon Effler, MSW, serves as the state’s Dementia Strategic Plan Coordinator. In this role, she is responsible for coordinating the delivery of the plan’s objectives targeted at reducing the prevalence of dementia and supporting people living with dementia and their caregivers across Indiana.
Partnering with the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) Division of Aging, imAGE provides all current Indiana APS units with a statewide standardized core curriculum. The curriculum is based on 23 competencies from the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) as well as from feedback and identified needs collected from all Indiana APS units.
The Geriatric Resources for the Assessment and Care of Elders (GRACE) care delivery model conducts comprehensive in-home assessments by a nursing/social service interprofessional team and supports the development and completion of a thoughtful, structured care plan with the primary care team. This intervention will be compared to Annual Wellness Visits, which will be offered by comparison practices in a structured way.
