Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC)

Birmingham/Atlanta GRECC

• Incontinence and related disorders
• Mobility and rehabilitation
• Musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases
• Clinical decision support to manage chronic conditions, polypharmacy, and end-of-life care
• Strategies to promote non-institutionalized care

• Comparing treatments for urinary symptoms in Parkinson’s disease
• Treating coexisting nocturia and insomnia
• Improving access to urinary incontinence treatments
• Prevention of lower urinary tract symptoms
• Exercise interventions in cerebrovascular disease, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson's disease, HIV and Alzheimer’s disease
• Hospital mobility programs
• Genetics of osteoarthritis and joint replacement recovery
• Reducing potentially inappropriate medication prescribing in the Emergency Department (EQUiPPED)
• Implementation and dissemination of innovative programs in VA Community Living Centers
• Implementation of comfort care order sets

• Office of Academic Affiliations’ Birmingham/Atlanta GRECC Advanced Fellowship in Geriatrics
• Geriatric Pharmacy Residency, Geriatric Physical Therapy Residency, Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Residency and Associated Health Trainees in Social Work, Audiology, Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Optometry and Pharmacy
• Age-Friendly Communication Skills Training for new employees
• All workforce dementia communication skills training: Start Making Sense: How to Communicate Effectively with Veterans with Dementia (TMS #15873)
• Palliative and Supportive Care Geriatric Scholars Advanced Practicum (3-day immersive with TVHS GRECC)
• BEE WeLL Workforce Series: Employee Enrichment & Wellness Lunch N' Learns - 'Caring for you so you can care for others;’ sessions to foster Joy in Work via regular self-care, wellness, professional development and fun
• VISN-wide support of Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative
• Annual Dementia Caregiver Support, Education and Resource Fair

• Increased access to geriatric care, including caregiver support, cognitive evaluation, and medication management, for rural areas in the Southeast
• Continence care, including telehealth clinics
• Fall prevention and mobility assessment and treatment
• Created decision support toolkits for providers
• Age-friendly health system participant sites
• Teaching sites for residents, fellows, advanced practice nurses and other health professionals

• Syed Q, McGwin G, Burningham Z, Kelleher JL, Mather J, Hastings SN, Stevens MB, Morris I, Jackson GL, Vaughan CP. Gabapentinoid prescribing in Veterans Administration emergency departments implementing EQUIPPED. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2024 Apr;72(4):1265-1268. doi: 10.1111/jgs.18759. Epub 2024 Jan 19. PMID: 38243674.
• Rilling JK, Lee M, McIsaac J, Factor S, Gallagher P, Kim JH, Zhang J, Zhou C, McDade TW, Hepburn K, Perkins MM. Evaluation of a Photo Captioning Cognitive Empathy Intervention for Dementia Caregivers. Clin Gerontol. 2024 Oct-Dec;47(5):832-845. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2024.2317972. Epub 2024 Feb 19. PMID: 38372125; PMCID: PMC11331024.
• Chiles JW 3rd, Wilson AC, Tindal R, Lavin K, Windham S, Rossiter HB, Casaburi R, Thalacker-Mercer A, Buford TW, Patel R, Wells JM, Bamman MM, Hanaoka BY, Dransfield M, McDonald MN. Differentially co-expressed myofibre transcripts associated with abnormal myofibre proportion in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2024 Jun;15(3):1016-1029. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.13473. Epub 2024 Apr 22. PMID: 38649783; PMCID: PMC11154789.
• Abraham A, Hart A, Bozzorg A, Pothineni S, Wolf SL, Schuh K, Caughlan M, Parker J, Blackwell A, Tharp Cianflona M, Asker C, Prusin T, Hackney ME. Comparison of externally and internally guided dance movement to address mobility, cognition, and psychosocial function in people with Parkinson's disease and freezing of gait: a case series. Front Aging Neurosci. 2024 May 15;16:1372894. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1372894. PMID: 38813534; PMCID: PMC11135342.
• Schwartz AW, Munro S, Echt KV, Mirk A, Solberg LM, Wozneak K. Scaling and spreading age-friendly care: Early lessons from the VA National Age-Friendly Action Community. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2025 Feb;73(2):583-591. doi: 10.1111/jgs.19321. Epub 2025 Jan 9. PMID: 39787269.
• Hatzikotoulas, L. Southam, L. Stefansdottir, C. G. Boer, M.-L. McDonald, J. P. Pett, et al. Translational genomics of osteoarthritis in 1,962,069 individuals. Nature. 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08771-z. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08771-z
• Zubkoff L, Ould Ismail AA, Jensen L, Haggstrom DA, Kale S, Issa MM, Tosoian JJ, Siddiqui MM, Bloomquist K, Kimball ER, Zickmund S, Schroeck FR. Integration and evaluation of implementation strategies to improve guideline-concordant bladder cancer surveillance: a prospective observational study. Implement Sci Commun. 2025 Apr 7;6(1):37. doi: 10.1186/s43058-025-00721-0. PMID: 40197353 
• Varley AL, DeRussy AJ, Jones AL, Hoge A, Gordon AJ, Richman J, Riggs KR, Gelberg L, Gabrielian S, Blosnich JR, Montgomery AE, Carey E, Kertesz SG. The Association Between Chronic Pain, Substance use, and Primary Care Experience Among Veterans with Ongoing or Recent Homelessness. J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Dec;39(16):3172-3181. doi: 10.1007/s11606-024-09078-x. Epub 2024 Oct 15. PMID: 39406964; PMCID: PMC11618259.

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