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.
Project ECHO: Care of Older Adults
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. 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.
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:
Providing patient-/family-centered care;
Improving chronic health conditions;
Providing effective behavioral health interventions;
Improving treatment and care of those with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias; and
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:
Our 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.
