What to Expect at a Session
Attendees: Project ECHO-Geriatrics sessions have participants from throughout Washington and sometimes neighboring states. The majority of attendees are at family medicine residency network clinic sites, but many join from other clinics or independent practices. Participants are family medicine residents (the highest number), nurse practitioners, practicing physicians, nurses, therapists (e.g. physical, occupational, and speech), social workers and many others.
Expert Geriatrics Panel: We have a robust interprofessional panel of experts including geriatricians, nurses, pharmacists, geriatric psychiatrist, social worker, Area Agency on Aging staff (from several WA Area Agencies on Aging). Read more about our panelists
General guidelines for getting the most out of a session:
1. Prior to your first session, please view
2. Please join 1-2 minutes early
3. Please turn your video on. Community building is an important part of ECHO.
4. We welcome your questions after the didactic as well as your participation in the case discussion.
5. Keep for yourself during the session. We encourage you to participate when/if you are comfortable but another key goal is intentional observation.
Focus on 3 things:
- How do each of the interprofessional team members contribute to the session? Any missed opportunities for team member contributions?
- What was discussed related to each of the 4 Ms?
- What Matters (e.g., goals of care, patient priorities)
- Mentation (e.g., dementia, depression, delirium)
- Mobility (falls, performing activities of daily living)
- Medications (age-related changes, potential impact of medications on the other Ms)
- What questions do you have?
Preparation prior to sessions: There is no prep required prior to the sessions, but it may help enhance participation. When we get them in advance, I will forward the case to you. Take a moment to review it and formulate questions, ideas, and recommendations you may have. The case forms do not tell the whole story but are a good start. Prior participants have found it helpful to jot down thoughts on the notes sheet guide as they review the case.
Session Breakdown
ECHO Session content 12:30-1:30: (zoom link will be provided)
1. mini-didactic: the first 15-20 minutes of the session will be a mini-didactic on a primary care geriatrics topic. These are set on a rolling basis. All mini-didactics are recorded and archived on nwgwec.org's and . After the didactics there is always time for questions and answers
2. case discussion: 40 minutes. Each month 1-2 participants from the region will present a case. Cases are submitted in advance using our case form. The interprofessional expert panel and participants ask clarifying questions, then provide recommendations. During the case discussion we particularly emphasize the 4Ms of geriatrics (What Matters, Mobility, Mentation, and Medications). We do not require any of you to submit a case
**After the session, join the separate Zoom link for the debrief which will start at 1:35
Interprofessional Post-ECHO Debrief (1:35-2PM) (separate Zoom link will be provided)
After each Project ECHO-Geriatrics session you attend, there will be an interprofessional debrief. This is exclusively for the Age-Friendly Healthcare Interprofessional Training Program participants. During these sessions, Dr. Kate Bennett will answer questions you may have about the case/case content, expand on the case discussion, and get your thoughts on the interprofessional contributions. This will be on a separate Zoom link. This second session is required to meet requirements for the program, a survey will be shared at the end for attendance keeping.
Additional information: You can read more about Project ECHO-Geriatrics at our website:
