Research and scholarship in the Section of Geriatric and Rehabilitation Psychology focuses on a range of topics including the following:
• The efficacy of community-based interventions to change health and self-care behavior
• Creating Age-Friendly Health Systems
• Management of multiple chronic illnesses
• Recovery from stroke, spinal cord injuries, brain injury and other acquired disabilities
• Physician communication
• Interprofessional team approaches to rehabilitation care
• Coping with tinnitus and other hearing-related issues
• Provider wellbeing
• Effective education of the healthcare workforce to meet the needs of older adults
Additionally, faculty in the section are involved in medical education research in Rush Medical College’s Office of Integrated Medical Education.
Our work
Our Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program, named CATCH-ON (Collaborative Action Team training for Community Health – Older adult Network), is designed to provide education to improve the workforce for older adults and primary care transformation to improve geriatric care. Learn more at the CATCH-ON website.
Faculty lead the Rush Center for Excellence in Aging efforts in:
• Creating an Age-Friendly Health System, examining the impact of assessing and addressing the 4Ms: What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility. We are also assessing the impact of our educational efforts about the 4Ms for the entire health system. Learn more on the CEA website.
• Developing Schaalman Senior Voices, a collection of inspiring films, educational opportunities, and programs that aim to strengthen the wellbeing of older adults and their communities. We are testing the impact of community conversations, empowering older adults, and educating health students in listening to What Matters to older adults.
Additional research endeavors are focused on promoting behavioral change with adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to better manage and prevent chronic conditions such as diabetes, depression and cardiovascular diseases. As part of this focus, we are conducting a qualitative study on stakeholder opinions about the integration of behavioral health into primary care settings to address the complex needs of older adult patients. We are also working with health disparities researchers in the Department of Preventive Medicine and community partners to design and implement sustainable programs to help community members adapt healthier lifestyles.
Faculty also have significant involvement in medical education scholarship including work related to communication and clinical decision-making as well as initiatives to bring restorative justice practices to academic medicine and enhance student wellbeing.
Finally, we are involved in an ongoing collaboration with Rush’s Division of Hospital Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine to design and implement interventions that enhance patient-physician and team communication.
Recent projects
BRIGHTEN Heart was a trial of a primary-care-based intervention for 250 older adults with depression and cardiometabolic syndrome. While both treatment and control arms improved, the BRIGHTEN Heart intervention had a significantly positive effect on participants who had moderate to high levels of trauma symptoms, as compared to controls. The research team is currently completing manuscripts and awaiting scores on a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to test a streamlined version of this intervention.
The ALIVE! Project pilot tested a bible study plus nutrition intervention in five area churches in an effort to decrease black/white health disparities in cardiovascular disease. The program was developed in collaboration with church members in a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methodology. Significant outcomes in the 172 participants included a one-serving daily increase in vegetables along with increases in total fruit, greens and beans. Participants also had a decrease in weight and blood pressure, along with significant increases in social support for eating healthy. The research team just submitted a grant proposal to NIH to conduct a randomized controlled trial in eight African American churches. Learn more at the ALIVE! Project website.
Funding
Our CATCH-ON program is funded by Health Resources and Services Administration under grant #U1QHP28715.
Our Schaalman Senior Voices program is funded with a generous gift from Gail and Marc Fenton.
Our team
Jay M. Behel, PhD
Director, Section of Geriatric and Rehabilitation Psychology
Associate Dean, Medical Student Affairs, Rush Medical College
Susan Buehler, PhD
Assistant Professor, Section of Geriatric and Rehabilitation Psychology
Jamie A. Cvengros, PhD
Associate Professor, Section of Geriatric and Rehabilitation Psychology
Assistant Dean, Accreditation & Improvement, Rush Medical College
Erin Emery-Tiburcio, PhD
Associate Professor, Section of Geriatric and Rehabilitation Psychology
Co-Director, Rush Center for Excellence in Aging
Abigail Hardin, PhD
Assistant Professor, Section of Geriatric and Rehabilitation Psychology
Laurin Mack, PhD
Assistant Professor, Section of Geriatric and Rehabilitation Psychology
Contact us
Inquiries regarding our research efforts may be directed to Erin Emery-Tiburcio.