-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation with my colleague from Virginia Senator Kaine that would reauthorize the only federally funded programs specifically designed to develop a healthcare workforce focused on the care of older Americans. The Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act would reauthorize two programs important to training specialists who care for our older adults: the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program and the Geriatrics Academic Career Awards Program.

The number of Americans age 65 and older is growing. In 2020, there were just three States in which senior citizens outnumbered children: Maine, Vermont, and Florida. Today, there are 11 States that have more seniors than children, and Maine has the oldest population in the Nation. The percentage of the U.S. population over age 65 rose by 3 percent, to 18 percent, in just 1 year.

The fact is, the United States is facing a shortage of geriatric health professionals and direct service workers to support our aging population. The American Geriatrics Society projects that we will be short some 1,700 geriatricians by the year 2036. Fewer than 7,000 of our Nation's nearly 1 million physicians are board-certified geriatricians. We need to train 1,600 geriatricians per year over the next 9 years to fill that gap.

Complicating this shortfall is the fact that as many as 90 percent of our older adults either have or will develop one or more chronic health conditions. So you put together many chronic conditions, an aging population, multiple medications, and changes that naturally occur in aging, and you have a situation making caring for older adults ever more complex and challenging. In any given year, it is expected that 30 percent of older adults will require specialized geriatric care.

Today, there are 42 Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Programs in 37 States. I am pleased that since the last reauthorization in 2019, this list has expanded to include such a program in the State of Maine. It is located at the University of New England.

For Maine, with an aging population of more than a quarter of a million Mainers over the age of 65 and only 36 geriatricians, there is an acute need to train more geriatric health professionals and direct service providers quickly to meet this growing demand. Maine's program, known as AgingME, has brought much needed support to communities and families throughout the State. For example, AgingME has worked with other training and geriatrics-serving partners to develop a postgraduate credentialing program in geriatrics. Students who participate in the program complete more than 2,000 hours of training in medically underserved communities and rural areas of Maine.

AgingME has also worked to increase the number of community-based learning programs, such as falls prevention education programs in rural areas. It has also helped to connect family caregivers with resources for Alzheimer's and related dementias through its website and through partnerships with Maine's Area Agencies on Aging.

Nationally, the geriatric workforce program has produced significant outcomes. In 2022, the most recent reported year, Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Programs trained nearly 72,000 students, professionals, patients, caregivers, and faculty. These programs were also able to offer faculty development training programs and activities, provide outreach and education to families and caregivers on care delivery for older adults, and train patients in self-management of their conditions. More than 2.2 million individuals have been trained through these programs, of whom 57 percent were patients and their caregivers.

And all of us know the vitally important role that family caregivers play in taking care of their older relatives, often their parents. But we also know that they need help in doing so, including training. Approximately a third of the courses offered focused on Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Patients and caregivers also took courses on other topics related to the health needs of older adults, such as geriatric health, emergency response training, and community health.

Our legislation would also reauthorize the geriatrics career advancement award program. Established in 1998, this program was created to increase the number of faculty engaged in geriatric education.

Transitioning from clinical training and practice into an academic faculty role can be challenging. It requires gaining new skills as an educator, skills not typically taught in clinical training programs. Geriatrics Academic Career Awards support early career development for emerging leaders by providing funding that supports their efforts to develop skills as an educator in geriatrics.

The Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act would reauthorize these two vitally important programs at a combined amount of $48.2 million per year over the next 5 years. It really is a modest investment that will help ensure that our older Americans have the expert care that they need, that their caregivers are provided with training, that other support employees and healthcare providers receive the skills that they need as well. Together, these programs will continue to train the current workforce and family caregivers while developing a cadre of emerging leaders in geriatric education in a variety of disciplines.

In doing both, we can help to ensure that our aging Americans will be cared for by a healthcare workforce specifically trained to meet their unique and often complex health needs for decades to come.

This will lead to improved care for older Americans while saving valuable resources and reducing unnecessary costs.

I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation to strengthen and extend these two important programs.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source