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Project Echo – Geriatrics

Teleconference is lifeline for seniors

UW’s family medicine residents have monthly access to guidance on managing elder patients’ conditions. On the third Friday of the month, a team of geriatric specialists lead a teleconference, Project ECHO – Geriatrics, a teleconference that is one of the Pacific Northwest’s most concerted efforts to improve care of elderly people.

New Publication!

We are delighted to announce the publication of our first article, Project ECHO – Geriatrics: Training Future Primary Care Providers to Meet the Needs of Older Adults in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education (JGME).

Read the Article

Overview

Established in 2016, our ECHO program is based on the ECHO model uses a hub-and-spoke knowledge-sharing approach where expert teams lead virtual teleECHO sessions, amplifying the capacity for providers to care for older adults. Our program’s didactics focus on covering the 4Ms of Age Friendly Care and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias.

ECHO Model

The ECHO model was developed at the University of New Mexico to improve access to specialty care in underserved communities and has spread worldwide. We adapted this model to target trainees (primarily physicians and nurse practitioners).

4Ms of Age Friendly Care

What Matters
Mobility
Medication
Mentation

Our Reach

We collaborate with participants from across Washington and Idaho.

Our Audience

Our participants include trainees and practicing clinicians across multiple disciplines.

How Our Sessions Work

Virtual, Monthly, Ongoing Sessions

Every 3rd Friday of the month @ 12:30 – 1:30pm Pacific, year-round.

Format

Our sessions include a brief didactic (15 min), followed by case consultation(s) and discussion.

Community Panelists

We are the first ECHO to include community members on our specialist panel, bridging the community-clinic gap.

Didactic Database

Our didactics are recorded and freely available to watch online, anytime.

CONNECT WITH US

For more information or to join our sessions, please reach out.

Our Impact At A Glance

Two-thirds of attendees plan to change their practice as a result of our sessions.

89% of attendees highly rate our didactics, cases, and virtual delivery.

Attendees report perceived knowledge increase from before to after our sessions.

We have found it invaluable. The didactic and case-based learning is of the very highest quality and promotes true geriatric care consideration by our residents.

– Kevin Braun, MD, MPH, Program Director
Family Medicine Residency, Olympia, WA

Our Partners

ECHO Model

The heart of the ECHO model™ is its hub-and-spoke knowledge-sharing networks

FM Residency Network

29 family medicine residency programs across 5 states in the WWAMI region.

UW ECHO Team

University of Washington’s ECHO team was the first group to replicate the ECHO Model.

Meet Our Panel

Katherine Bennett, MD

Medical Director, Project ECHO – Geriatrics

Zachary Marcum, PhD, PharmD

Geriatric Pharmacist

Beth Labardi, MD

Geriatric Psychiatrist

Thuan Ong, MD, MPH

Geriatrician

Carol Crawford, PharmD

Geriatric Pharmacist

Barbara Cochrane, RN, PhD

Geriatric Nurse

Elizabeth Phelan, MD, MS

Geriatrician, NW GWEC Project Director

Shannon McDonald, MSW, LICSW

Clinical Social Worker

Mary Pat O’Leary, RN, BSN

ADS Nurse Planner

Phung Nguyen, MPA

ADS Representative

Breanne Swanson, MS

AAADSW Representative

Aimee Verrall, MPH

Program Manager

Our Didactics

Our Project ECHO – Geriatrics didactics are easily digested at 15 minutes in length and cover a range of geriatric topics focusing on evidence-based practices useful for primary care healthcare providers. Search and watch our didactics online, anytime.

GO TO DIDACTIC DATABASE

MOST RECENT

June 1, 2021

Opioids in Older Adults

By Carol Crawford, PharmD, BCCGP, BCPS

Associate Professor University of Washington, School of Pharmacy

Watch Video