EVALUATION OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY FACULTY-DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN GERIATRICS

Despite the fact that the elderly population is increasing, most healt h professions faculty have received no formal training in geriatrics. In addition, only limited efforts have been made to evaluate the effec tiveness of training that has been provided. We describe a summer facu lty development program aimed at enabling educators to integrate geron tology and geriatrics into health care curricula at institutions of hi gher education throughout Oregon. We then report the findings of an ev aluation of the first 4 years of the program's existence. The program' s structure; process; and primary outcomes, such as the number of facu lty trained, whether program objectives were met, and trainees' satisf action and self-reported improvements in knowledge, skills, and aging- related attitudes, were examined. Secondary outcomes, such as the offe ring of new gerontology/geriatrics courses for students, revision of c urricula to incorporate geriatric content, development of geriatric cl inical training sites, and increased networking with peers, also were assessed. A multimethod design was used. Data were collected via postt raining evaluation forms, quarterly trainee logs of activity, biannual surveys of institutions of higher education, and summary reports desc ribing participants' independent projects. We found that (a) the progr am had achieved its objectives, received consistently high participant ratings, and improved over the years; (b) the number of courses and c linical training experiences covering geriatric content had increased; and (c) a ripple effect had occurred, with the trainees themselves tr aining a large number of students, peers, and laypersons on a variety of geriatric/gerontolo,gical topics.