Program Innovations for Quality Care in ALL Communities   

Presenters: 

• Sarah Foidel, OTD (Director of the Pacific School of Occupational Therapy, Associate Professor) 
• Laura K. Byerly, MD (Oregon Health & Science University, Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics) 
• Leah Brandis, MPH, RDN (Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network) 

Summary:

Oregon’s older adult workforce mirrors the national landscape with a significant lack of healthcare providers specializing in geriatric care within primary care, behavioral health, and long-term care. Fortunately, there are several innovations in Oregon focused on improving access to older adult care education and training for healthcare team members and the long-term care workforce. These innovations work to create a stronger and more age-friendly healthcare workforce for all Oregonians. We will highlight two large groups focused on accessible education and training for the healthcare workforce, primarily those in rural and underserved regions. First, we will introduce the Oregon Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP), a federally funded education and training program that creates partnerships within Tribal, rural, and underserved Oregon. Oregon GWEP delivers education on age-friendly and dementia-friendly care. Second, we will explore the Oregon ECHO Network (OEN), which follows an “all teach all learn” tele-mentorship model for primary care and long-term/residential care teams to improve their confidence in caring for complex medical conditions. OEN’s courses help improve geriatric care accessibility for older adults in rural settings by training local providers and teams to deliver high-quality geriatric care in their communities.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe gaps in older adult medical and behavioral health care locally and nationally.

• Describe the educational opportunities provided by the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program for healthcare trainees, providers, and communities.

• Explain the workforce and patient benefits of becoming an age-friendly health system in primary care and long-term care.

• Describe the Oregon ECHO Network model and its role in providing practical education for healthcare workforce in rural and underserved communities.

• Identify two geriatric-focused educational opportunities through the Oregon ECHO Network.

Continuing Education Credits

Stay tuned for more information. 

This is the second of four sessions of OGA's 2025 virtual conference. You can register for individual sessions or, at a discount, for the entire conference series. For an overview of all sessions, please visit the conference page.

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Sarah Foidel, OTD (she/her) is the director of the Pacific School of Occupational Therapy and a tenured Associate Professor. She has worked as an occupational therapist for 25+ years in a variety of settings including acute care, mental health, skilled nursing, and neurology. Passionate about delivering evidence-based assessments to assist in designing creative interventions for advanced neurological illness, Sarah has provided education at the local, national, and international level. She is faculty for OHSU’s ECHO program to provide consultation to rural nursing homes regarding behavioral health and SUD challenges. She edited and co-authored the book Neurocognitive Disorders: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Patient-Centered Care, and is a recent partner for Oregon's first HRSA GWEP award.

Laura K. Byerly, MD (she/her) is a clinician educator and geriatrician at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in the Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics. Dr. Byerly received her medical degree from OHSU, completed internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, and completed geriatric medicine and health professions education fellowships at the University of California, San Francisco and San Francisco VA Medical Center. She cares for older adults in OHSU’s Internal Medicine Clinic and affiliated post-acute and long-term care facilities. Dr. Byerly focuses on age-friendly education for health professions trainees and primary care teams, particularly in rural and underserved settings. As the program director for the HRSA-supported Oregon Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP), she drives initiatives to train and improve Oregon’s workforce for holistic, interprofessional care in tribal, underserved, and rural communities. 

Leah Brandis, MPH, RDN (she/her), is a public health project manager. She specializes in training the older adult care workforce. She joined the Oregon ECHO Network at Oregon Health and Science University in 2020 and has supported over 20 cohorts of older adult workforce training ECHO programs and looks forward to 11 future GWEP funded ECHOs. In 2024, she began supporting the new Oregon Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health & Aging with a focus on workforce training. Prior to joining OHSU, she worked for Comagine, the Quality Improvement Organization where she was the project lead for the CMS Nursing Home Patient Safety Collaborative for 5 years. She has eleven years of experience working in nursing facilities as a clinical registered dietitian nutritionist and food service director.  When she isn’t working you can find her puttering in her garden or hiking in the forest. 

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