Terry Fulmer: Population Health News

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Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, President of The John A. Hartford Foundation, writes about approaches to the unique health care challenges that rural older adults face in a recent Population Health News Thought Leaders Corner.

Dr. Fulmer talks about the limited access and the unbalanced supply and demand of the rural health care workforce posing a great challenge to ensuring the health and well-being of everyone in rural communities, including older adults.

"The John A. Hartford Foundation is addressing workforce issues as a critical lever for making rural health care more age-friendly," through work, for instance, with the Eldercare Workforce Alliance. Another partnership that is making gains is with the federal Health Resources and Services Administration’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program. "There are now 44 geriatric education centers — 30 of which serve rural areas — that train people who provide health care to older adults."

"We need to share learnings from these success stories so similar workforce innovations can be implemented in every corner of the country. We must demand that we have equal access and equal quality of health care regardless of where we live."

To go to the article, click here.