| Autor: |
Huh JWT; Psychology Service/Medical Practice, San Francisco VHA Health Care System , San Francisco, CA, USA., Rodriguez R; Psychology Service, Durham VHA Health Care System , Durham, NC, USA., Gould CE; Palo Alto Geriatric, Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), VHA Palo Alto Health Care System , Palo Alto, CA, USA.; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine , Stanford, CA, USA., R Brunskill S; Mathematica Policy Research, Inc ., Oakland, CA, USA., Melendez L; Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), VHA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System , Los Angeles, CA, USA., Kramer BJ; Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), VHA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System , Los Angeles, CA, USA.; Division of Geriatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) , Los Angeles, CA, USA. |
| Abstrakt: |
There is an alarming supply and demand gap for geropsychology expertise within the United States. Health policy experts called for increasing geriatric mental health competencies for all mental health providers, including within Veterans Health Administration (VHA), to address this problematic gap. The VHA Geriatrics Scholar Program (GSP) Psychology Track was developed because there were no commercially available trainings in geropsychology for licensed psychologists. Developing the GSP Psychology Track was based on an evidence-based educational model for the VHA primary care workforce; and included a stepwise curriculum design, pilot implementation, and program evaluation. The educational program was pilot tested with eight VHA psychologists. Evaluation results demonstrated feasibility of implementing an innovative integrated multimodal educational program in geropsychology. Furthermore, this program was associated with reports of increased confidence in geropsychology competencies and self-reported implementation of geropsychology knowledge, indicating the potential for this educational model to improve mental health care for older Veterans. |
