Vanderbilt School of Nursing has been awarded a new five-year, $5 million Health Resources and Services Administration Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program grant to develop and provide training in age-friendly and dementia-friendly care to those who work with older adults across Tennessee. The training is designed for a multidisciplinary group of providers, health care professionals, students, trainees, patients’ caregivers and policy makers.
“We have a growing number of people in this country with dementia, and people are not prepared to take care of them,” said Professor Jennifer Kim, DNP, MSN’97, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN, the grant’s primary investigator. “This funding is allowing us to teach students, physicians, direct care workers and nurses in nursing homes about age-friendly care.”
Age-friendly practices recognize the great diversity in both capacity and circumstances for older adults. They also anticipate and respond to older adults’ needs and preferences in an equitable way, which is vital when working with older adults with dementia.
The grant includes application of numerous innovative models to stimulate and sustain the training of families and health care professionals caring for older adults. Some of these models include virtual reality training and clinical consultations. Kim believes the virtual component is vital to not only health care professionals, but also unpaid family caregivers.
“Virtual reality training will help family members to find others, because I think a lot of people have loved ones who are struggling with dementia, but they don’t really talk about it,” she said. “It’s a great way for people to connect with each other and realize they aren’t alone.”
Additionally, the grant promotes training among health care professionals to reduce burnout and build resilience when addressing the unique challenges of caring for older adults. The grant proposes a practice model designed to reduce barriers and to support expanded opportunities for underrepresented groups in care.
“The grant is providing essential funding to our nonprofit partners in their caregiver training and caregiver workshops,” Kim said. “It’s connected our community, government and academic partners, and fits with the state’s strategic plan. It’s all really come together.”
The Middle Tennessee Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program will facilitate partnerships between VUSN, Meharry Medical College, Middle Tennessee State University and long-term care facilities to integrate age-friendly practices and learning opportunities on care of older adults in clinical settings. Master of Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing students from MTSU and Vanderbilt will also be enrolled in an immersive dementia training curriculum.
Additional community partners for the grant include Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy and Health Services, AgeWell Middle Tennessee, Alzheimer’s Tennessee, Cherokee Health Systems, National Healthcare Corporation, AARP of Tennessee, Tennessee Collation for Better Aging, Tennessee Valley Healthcare System and the Tennessee Department of Health.
The Middle Tennessee Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $5,000,000 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.