Poster Presentations (Group II)

Funded by the Bureau of Health Professions, a national Collaborative on Ethnogeriatric Education was developed composed of representatives of 34 Geriatric Education Centers (GECs) in different parts of the U.S.  Based on prior recommendations of the GEC Taskforce in Ethnogeriatrics, the Collaborative worked together to plan, develop, and disseminate a two-part interdisciplinary Curriculum in Ethnogeriatrics consisting of five Core Curriculum Modules that would cover basic information in cultural competence for geriatric care, and 12 Ethnic Specific Modules that were to be used selectively with the Core Curriculum based on the populations of interest.  The entire Curriculum in Ethnogeriatrics is available online at www.stanford.edu/group/ethnoger.
         The modules in the Core Curriculum were written by 21 authors from 14 different GECs.  The topics are: 1. Introduction and Overview, 2. Patterns of Health Risk, 3. Culturally Appropriate Geriatric Care: Fund of Knowledge, 4. Culturally Appropriate Geriatric Care: Assessment, 5: Culturally Appropriate Geriatric Care: Health Care Interventions, Access, and Utilization.  Each includes a description, learning objectives, content outline, instructional strategies and resources, an evaluation plan, and references and resources.

The 12 Ethnic Specific Modules follow the same outlines as the Core Curriculum modules and were written by 29 authors, most from the target populations, in 8 different GECs.  The topics are Health and Health Care for each of the following populations: African American elders, American Indian/Alaska Native elders, Hispanic/Latino elders (including Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and Cuban American), Asian and Pacific Islander elders, then modules on elders from the following specific populations: Asian Indian American, Chinese American, Filipino American, Japanese American, Korean American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, Pakistani American, and Southeast Asian American (including Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong, and Laotian).  Each of the modules includes description, learning objectives, a narrative description of the content, instructional strategies and resources, specific test questions, cases for discussion, and references and resources.

Since the curriculum was disseminated in hard copy and put online, the reports of utilization and the online survey that is completed by a small fraction of those who visit the site indicate that over 200 organizations from over 40 states and 5 foreign countries are known to be using the curriculum in some way.  These include 183 training programs in colleges, universities, and residencies in 17 disciplines plus clinical sites, community agencies, and governmental organizations.

Challenges have included: making the curriculum modules consistent, given the large number of authors involved; keeping the content current; letting potential users know of the existence of the curriculum; and tracking the utilization.  Others who want to expand the ethnogeriatric content or use the content for training in other disciplines are welcome to use it.  Using the internet is strongly recommended since it clearly expands the access to the curriculum. The modules are currently being updated with recent content, Power Point slides, and some video clips illustrating cross cultural interactions with older patients.