Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

62 Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness
semination strategy, has created a successful and sustainable national education
and training program. While $2.4 million in HRSA funding added
momentum to the Collaborative’s work, there was clearly a will among the
GEC network to address the pressing need for older adults to be included
in emergency and disaster preparedness plans and to receive appropriate
and sensitive care after events such as natural or man-made emergencies.
The GEC network demonstrated its connectivity and resourcefulness by
mobilizing quickly to effectively train the nation’s health care workforce in
this critical area.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Geriatric Education Center
Bioterrorism and Emergency Preparedness (BTEPA) Collaborative in not only the success
of this joint endeavor but in providing information for the preparation of this chapter:
Dr. Arleen Johnson directs the Ohio Valley Appalachia Regional GEC at the University
of Kentucky; Dr. Melen McBride is the associate director emerita at the Stanford University
GEC; Dr. Robert Roush directs the Texas Consortium GEC at Baylor College
of Medicine’s Huffington Center on Aging in Houston, Texas; Dr. Nina Tumosa is the codirector
of the Gateway GEC at Saint Louis University; and Dr. Karen V. Lamb teaches
at Rush University and is also associated with Mather LifeWays in Evanston, Illinois.
Mather LifeWays joined the BTEPA Collaborative in 2006 as a non-GEC partner; an original
BTEPA partner, the Western Reserve GEC, represented by Barbara Palmisano, MA,
RN, and Margaret Sander, MA, LSW, withdrew from the Collaborative at the conclusion
of HRSA supplemental funding in 2005.
The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the research and editorial assistance
of Annette M. Atanous, MSSW, Bronx VA GRECC education specialist.
NOTE
1 . The contract was between HRSA and Robert Roush, PhD, who led a technical advisory
group to write this White Paper Chapter. Other members of the group included
George Taffet, MD, Robin McFee, MD, Nina Tumosa, PhD, Elyse Perweiler, RN, and
Nora O’Brien, MA. Unfortunately, HRSA did not release this chapter upon completion.
REFERENCES
Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary and Community-Based Linkages. (2006). Minutes.
Retrieved January 22, 2009, from http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/interdisciplinary/acicbl/
072406minutes.htm
Bioterrorism and Emergency Preparedness in Aging Collaborative (2004, January). Consensus
summary GEPR Collaborative meeting. Annual Meeting of the Association of
Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE), Miami, FL.