Home Project ECHO: A Tele-Mentoring Movement Transforming Healthcare

Project ECHO: A Tele-Mentoring Movement Transforming Healthcare

What is Project ECHO?

Among the many challenges Kentuckians face in rural and underserved communities is healthcare access. This is especially true for older adults. In these communities, it can be difficult for individuals to find providers close to them who are educated in the complexities of caring for older adults. In 2018, the UofL Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging began using a new technology and training model, called Project ECHO®, to address this issue head-on.

Project Echo® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a tele-mentoring movement dedicated to sharing knowledge and amplifying the capacity of health care professionals to provide best practice care for underserved people all over the world. Recognizing a need for increased specialists, particularly in rural communities, Project ECHO utilizes the teleconferencing platform Zoom to create hub-and-spoke knowledge sharing networks around the world. By creating communities of learning Project ECHO improves treatment by moving information instead of people.

Project ECHO was launched in 2003, at the University of New Mexico, by Sanjeev Arora, M.D., to teach physicians in rural New Mexico specialized hepatitis C treatment. Today, there are more than 220 Project ECHO hubs, in 31 countries, treating more than 100 diseases and conditions. In order to improve the health and wellbeing of older adults, we launched in 2018 a Project ECHO focusing on the care of older adults.

 Resources and Publications


 What does our “Project ECHO: Care of Older Adults” Address?

Project ECHO: Care of Older Adults is a growing community of health care providers and community stakeholders dedicated to best practices in the care of older adults. Each session (on the 1st and 3rd Friday, 12:00-1:00 pm EST) includes an educational didactic (topics found in the schedule below),  case presentation, and discussion to address the following needs:

  1.  Providing patient-/family-centered care;
  2.  Improving chronic health conditions;
  3.  Providing effective behavioral health interventions;
  4.  Improving treatment and care of those with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias; and
  5.  Increasing interprofessional collaborative care. 

Spring 2019 Didactic Schedule additional palliative care and hospice sessions coming soon)

January 18
Lori Paris           Levels of Care
February 1
Mona Huff     
Peer Mentoring
February 15
Lacy Robinson Living Funerals
March 1
Barbara Head
Life Review
March 15
Barbara Gordon
Role of Community Organizations
April 5
Sarah Teeters
Elder Abuse
April 19           
Jamie Nash
Polypharmacy
May 3
Oaks’ Day
Break
May 17
Sheri Rose
Tech Innovation
June 7
Sam Cotton
Improving Brain Health

 


How to Join:

The Project ECHO approach is building a community to learn how to better treat and improve the quality of life for older adults in Kentucky. It will give you increased knowledge and continuing education credits (coming soon!) in the convenience of your office.  To learn more and join us please contact the Project ECHO Coordinator, Justin Magnuson, by email [email protected] or phone at 502-852-5629. Not only will your participation make a difference in your practice and in the lives of the older adults, it will be great fun. 

 

Blog Contributor:   


Justin Magnuson
iCCOA & Project ECHO Coordinator
University of Louisville
Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging
[email protected]

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