Geriatrics

E-mail: byron.bair@hsc.utah.edu

Address: RM 4R250 SOM
Phone: 584-2522

The Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center in conjunction with the Division of Geriatric Internal Medicine has two clinical demonstration projects that have or will have IRB approval that may be suitable for medical student participation.

Web TV to support caregivers with spouses with cognitive disorders.  This project is funded by the VA GRECC Clinical Demonstration Program.  It is designed to develop an interactive support system for caregivers who are taking care of persons with cognitive disabilities which include various types of dementia and those with traumatic brain injuries (TBI).  Dialogues will be designed to interact with caregivers on a daily basis to provide support, education and help them navigate the healthcare system.  Outcome measures will look at mental and physical health functioning of caregivers and patients along with resource utilization and satisfaction. 

Polypharmacy Telemedicine program.  This program is funded by the VA GRECC Clinical Demonstration Program.  Its purpose is to help patients with 5 or more medications navigate the VA healthcare system.  The system is designed to coordinate care between the patient and primary care providers.  The patients respond to a web based set of questions on a daily basis.  These responses are stratified into low, medium and high risk responses.  Care coordinators monitor responses on a daily basis and facilitate interventions for medium and high risk responses.  Patients in this clinical demonstration program are monitored for compliance with medications, clinical outcomes, resource utilization and program satisfaction.  There are various secondary data analyses that are ongoing for this project

12/07