Wellmark Foundation Grant to Fund Depression Training Program for Nurses Working with Older Adults

April 16, 2007

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Contact:
Angela Feig
515.245.4551
feigab@wellmark.com

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Wellmark Foundation awarded $88,410 in grant funds to The University of Iowa Foundation to develop a depression training program for nurses working with older adults in Iowa.

Depression Training to Promote Nurses as Advocates for Older Adults seeks to improve the quality of life of older adults through improved education of the nurses who care for them, says Kathleen Buckwalter, Ph.D., R.N., professor of gerontological nursing research at The University of Iowa’s College of Nursing.

“The training program will strive to improve quality of life and reduce disability among older adults by educating nurses about independent nursing actions related to late life depression, including screening, referral and implementation of non-pharmacological nursing interventions. We will also focus on increasing nurses’ use of evidence-based practices in the care and treatment of older adults suffering from depression,” says Buckwalter.

Training sessions will be presented via CD-ROM and will incorporate interactive modules, digitized video presentations, printable job aides, workplace exercises for individual practice settings and guides for training facilitators, says Buckwalter.

The University of Iowa College of Nursing and the Iowa Geriatric Education Center will provide leadership for the development and implementation of the comprehensive training program. For more information about Depression Training to Promote Nurses as Advocates for Older Adults, contact Buckwalter at kathleen-buckwalter@uiowa.edu or (319) 353-3019, or Linda Seydel with the Iowa Geriatric Education Center at linda-seydel@uiowa.edu or (319)353-5756.

The Wellmark Foundation has provided nearly $12 million to fund 350 health-related grants in Iowa and South Dakota since 1997, including $574,147 this cycle. “The Wellmark Foundation collaborates with non-profit and governmental organizations in Iowa and South Dakota to build healthier communities,” says Matthew McGarvey, director of The Wellmark Foundation. “Iowa’s older population is already proportionally large and is expected to grow rapidly in the next several years. We are pleased to support this timely project focused on addressing depression in older adults,” says McGarvey.

The Wellmark Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation created by Wellmark, Inc., doing business as Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. Visit The Wellmark Foundation's Web site at www.wellmark.com/foundation for a list of grant recipients and grant application instructions.  Applications for the next round of community responsive grants are due June 19, 2007. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and The Wellmark Foundation are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.