The Utah Geriatrics Education Consortium (UGEC) was a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) from 2015-2024. The UGEC provided age-friendly and dementia friendly training to health professions students, clinicians, direct care workers and families. Free online UGEC training programs can be assessed through the links under each course name.
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD)
Expert faculty and clinicians at the University of Utah have created a series of free online training modules to help increase knowledge about Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and improve care of residents with dementia. These trainings are designed for patients, family members, and direct care employed in post-acute or long-term care settings.
The online educational program is divided into four modules that, in total, will take 2-3 hours to complete. The topics covered in each module include:
- Dementia: Causes, Symptoms, & Progression
- Treatment Options for Challenging Behaviors
- Effective Interprofessional Care Teams
- Dementia-Focused Communication Techniques
Access the ADRD Modules. Further instructions on completing the course will be listed on the home page of the modules.
Age-Friendly Care Training Courses
The Age-Friendly Care Training consists of three courses: 1) Geriatric Core Competencies; 2) Communication, Care Transitions and End-of-Life Conversations; and 3) Fundamentals of QAPI.
Each topic area contains objectives, background information, learning activities, and resources. Links to sources are embedded throughout the course, including in the Background, Key Terms, and Additional Resources subsections. Following each topic is a "Test Your Knowledge" 10-question, non-graded quiz, which is designed as a learning activity. This online training course is designed to be self-paced.
Note, to access the College of Nursing Catalog where the Age-Friendly Care Training courses are stored, you will need to create an account with the University of Utah Canvas program. If you’ve never enrolled in a course before
The Age-Friendly Care Training: Geriatric Core Competencies course provides a foundation of essential knowledge and skills in the delivery of high-quality care to older adults. The content focuses on aging as a normal developmental process and assessment of the older adult, paying particular attention to geriatric syndromes that often negatively impact this population. Key recommendations and evidence-based practice from the Hartford Institute of Geriatric Nursing are embedded throughout the course. Topics covered include: Age-Friendly Health Systems Initiative; Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA); Normal vs. Atypical Aging Changes; Geriatric Syndromes I: 4Ms Mobility and Medication; Geriatric Syndromes II: 4Ms Mentation and What Matters Most; and Additional Geriatric Syndromes and Conditions.
Access the Geriatric Core Competencies course.
The Age-Friendly Care Training: Communication, Care Transitions, and End-of-Life Conversations course covers communication skills building strategies, tools for improving care transitions, and information about Advance Care Directives (ACD) and Advance Care Planning (ACP). The course also examines leadership responsibilities, reliance strategies, caregiver roles and support services in the community. Topics covered include: Communication, Collaboration, and Team-Based Care; Care Transitions and Care Quality; Leadership, Roles and Resilience; Family Caregivers, Resources and Respite Services; and Palliative and End-of-Life Care Conversations.
Access the Communication, Care Transitions, and End-of-Life Conversations course.
The Age-Friendly Care Training: Fundamentals of Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) provides a foundation on developing a performance improvement project (PIP). The course is designed to enhance LTSS professionals' knowledge on the purpose and significance of QAPI plans, and covers the five elements of a successful QAPI within skilled nursing facilities and home health and hospice organizations. The course provides step-by-step instructions on starting a quality improvement project, including developing a project charter and identifying the project team. Topics covered include: What is a QAPI; Essential Elements of QAPI; Opportunities for Improvement and Data Sources; Developing a Project Charter and Selecting the PIP Team; and Systematic Analysis and Systemic Actions.
Access the Fundamentals of Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) course.
Goals of Care Conversation
The UGEC Goals of Care Conversations (GoCC) Training course is designed to help the long-term services and supports (LTSS) and ambulatory care workforces conduct high-quality goals of care conversations about life-sustaining treatments and services. The UGEC GoCC training materials were adapted from and made available for public use through the VA National Center for Ethics in Health Care. Original materials are available for download from the VA National Center for Ethics in Health Care GoCC Training.
Dr. Shaida Talebreza, Palliative Care and Geriatric Physician with the Salt Lake City VA Health Care System and the University of Utah, created the video presentations for this online course. This course will take 1-2 hours to complete, and consists of the following three modules:
- Introduction to Goals of Care Conversations & Life-Sustaining Treatment Plans (24 min)
- Responding to Emotions (26 min)
- Framework for Conducting Goals of Care Conversations and Establishing Life-Sustaining Treatment Plans (50 min)
Access the Goals of Care Conversations course.
In order to access the College of Nursing Catalog where the UGEC Goals of Care Conversations (GoCC) training is stored, you will need to create an account with the University of Utah Canvas program. If you’ve never enrolled in a course before, create your free account. If you’ve already registered, enroll through your current account. When you click the link above to the training course, you will be redirected to a Canvas page that will ask you to either log in or create a new account.
To access the course later, go to your dashboard. For more information on using your Dashboard, see this tutorial.
Managing Opioid Use in Long-Term Services and Supports
These interprofessional modules for students, health care providers and LTSS staff are centered around opioid use, including topics such as:
- Reasons for prescribing opioids to treat acute and chronic pain
- Pharmacology of opioid use in older adults with multiple chronic conditions including dementia
- Appropriate prescribing of opioids in nursing home residents
- Opioid misuse in nursing home residents including assessment and treatment
- Non-opioid pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic pain management regimens
Click the links below to review each module!
Module 1: Opioid use in long-term care
Module 2: Opioids and risks in older adults
Module 3: Opioid use in older adults with dementia
Module 4: Recommendations and strategies for opioid use in older adults
Module 5: Applying Opioid wisdom to long-term care
Module 6: SBIRT- A hammer or screwdriver? Choosing the right tool
Module 7: Non-opioid pharmacological & non-pharmacological pain management techniques
Module 8: Motivational interviewing
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based communication approach that has been adapted for the brief healthcare setting to address lifestyle management and treatment adherence issues, including chronic pain. MI has particular utility with individuals who are less motivated, less ready for change, and more angry or oppositional. Therefore, in addition to better clinical outcomes, the MI approach improves patient engagement by reducing resistance and defensiveness--an advantage when a difficult discussion ensues, such as a recommendation to taper/discontinue opioid use.
Access the Motivational Interviewing to Improve Health Coaching Skills and Support Behavior Change online training.
The Motivational Interviewing module is stored on the University of Utah Canvas program. If you’ve never enrolled in a course before, create your free account. If you’ve already registered, enroll through your current account. When you click the link above to the module, you will be redirected to a Canvas page that will ask you to either log in or create a new account.
To access the course later, go to your dashboard. For more information on using your Dashboard, see this tutorial.
Person-Directed Living in Long-Term Care
This course equips nursing students, certified nursing assistant (CNA) students, and healthcare professionals working in long-term care communities with a new approach to supporting older adults through a person-directed care framework. This courses focuses on enhancing communication and relationships with older adults by understanding behaviors as expressions of unmet needs. In addition, this course emphasizes the skills needed to create a more supportive and person-directed living environments to promote positive change in long-term care settings. After completing this online program, learners will be able to:
- Assess residents' unique needs and preferences
- Provide holistic support that honors a person's background, culture, and values
- Develop personalized care plans tailored to residents' desires
- Communicate effectively using the Person-Directed Care Framework to enhance care delivery
Access the Person-Directed Living in Long-Term Care course.
In order to access the College of Nursing Catalog where the UGEC Goals of Care Conversations (GoCC) training is stored, you will need to create an account with the University of Utah Canvas program. If you’ve never enrolled in a course before, create your free account. If you’ve already registered, enroll through your current account. When you click the link above to the training course, you will be redirected to a Canvas page that will ask you to either log in or create a new account.
To access the course later, go to your dashboard. For more information on using your Dashboard, see this tutorial.
Telehealth in LTSS Online Course
Adoption of telehealth, in response to COVID-19, has been necessary for Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) providers, especially for nursing homes with COVID-19 units.Therefore, it is imperative that LTSS staff and providers are knowledgeable about telehealth principles and best practices in their respective settings. In addition, LTSS nurses need distance-based education to improve geriatric assessment and communication skills in order to provide assistance for telehealth visits.
Connecting Care Through Telehealth is an online course designed to inform and improve best practices when using telehealth and virtual services in LTSS settings. Informed by the Age-Friendly Health Systems 4Ms framework, content is tailored for providers and care-teams, residents/patients, and families and caregivers within nursing homes, assisted living communities, and home health and hospice organizations. This course is hosted on the Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center's (NRTRC) website, and consists of five modules:
- Module 1: Introduction to Telehealth and Virtual Services in Long-Term Services and Supports
- Module 2: Connectivity and Setting up a Telehealth Visit
- Module 3: Best Practices for Facilitaing a Successful Telehealth Visit
- Module 4: Monitoring Telehealth and Virtual Services in Quality Improvement Programs
- Module 5: Tele-Visits Tutorials for Patients/Residents, Families and Caregivers
In addition to resources (described below), course modules also include technology troubleshooting tips, communication etiquette, and tools that can be modified to the needs of each LTSS setting. Enroll in this course.