University of Texas Medical Branch 1 of 4

Educational Performance Outcome Measures

Virtual Center of Excellence in Ethnogeriatrics

(D. Chiriboga, B. Yee, C. Looney)

Introduction

The EPoM for the UTMB subcontract will be to develop the Virtual Center. This EPoM can be considered a "macro" level EPoM, in that it will look at the extent to which the Virtual Center has been created and Is functioning successfully. Specifically, the EPoM will be to Determine the cost-effectiveness ratio of a Virtual Center of Excellence in Ethnogeriatrics".

Note that the subjects" in this EPoM are really the faculty themselves (at least initially; students also will become involved as distance and web-based courses are developed).

SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES

  1. Primary goal: Establish a Virtual Center of Excellence in Ethnogeriatrics.
    1. Create an administrative structure and organizational chart
      1. Contact has been made with the SAHS Dean, who has assigned the Vice Dean (Dr. Ken Ottenbacher) to the role of liaison. Dr. Ottenbacher has talked to central administration and I am scheduled to meet with administration representatives (including Dr. Rosemary Simpson).

      Year 01: Identify all regulations concerning establishing an academic center, complete all necessary paperwork

      Year 02: Establish the Virtual Center

    2. Create a physical site for the Center
      1. Provisionally, the physical site will be located at the School of Allied Health Sciences. Exact details awaiting meeting with Dr. Rosemary Simpson

      Year o1: Determine site location

    3. Create a mechanism for appointments to the Virtual Center
      1. Virtual Fellow, Members, Associates or just Fellows, etc
      2. Develop criteria for organizational membership
      3. Select initial membership (membership of Committee on ethnogeriatrics, others based on suggestions from TCGEC program directors/committee members)

      Year 01: Complete specifications for i-ii, send invitations

    4. Develop a mechanism for setting Center agenda and activities
      1. regular faculty meetings (group meetings)
      2. protocol for contacting individuals (point to point)
      3. protocol for calling special meetings

      Year 01: Identify day to day operations of the Center

      Year 02: Implement operations

    5. Identify and Develop Resources of the Center
      1. virtual library (on the web: syllabi, presentations that are not copy righted, etc)
      2. courses and modules on videotape
      3. resource list of books by individual members
      4. distance education courses and modules

      Year 01: Identify resources

      Year 02: develop web base

    6. Establish communication procedures and technologies
      1. Chatrooms (scheduled?), list server, flash, threads
      2. PoTS-based distance conferencing (vs. Ethernet, etc)
      3. Distance learning strategies and associated hard and software
      4. Purchase hardware and software (for fellows only?).

      Year01: try out technologies,

      Year 02: implement

      Year 01: Learn the new technologies, explore options

      Year 02: Implement

    7. Address the primary (and macro-level) EPoM of the subcontract: " Determine the cost-effectiveness ratio of a Virtual Center of Excellence in Ethnogeriatrics"
      1. Identify the segment costs of hardware, software, access, learning needs associated with the Virtual Center Year 01
      2. Do pre-post survey on user's network, frequency of interaction with other professionals in minority aging, publication and publication rate, frequency with which seek advice and information from minority health professionals, frequency of actual collaborations (on grants, presentations, publications, courses), sense of being isolated either geographically or professionally, satisfaction with current status on all the above, perceived change over the last year.

    Year 01: Pre-Survey

    Year 02: Para-Survey

    YearO3: Post-Survey

  2. Develop and implement at least one distance learning, modulized course on ethnogeriatrics

Year 01: learn technologies, assemble multi-media components

Year 02: implement with at least one remote site

Year 03: add at least two more site

APPENDIX

  1. The Survey: The Pre-Para-Post Survey should:
    1. Include questions about level of computer expertise/familiarity (novice, intermediate, expert, techie), in addition to item b (ii) above
    2. Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction with current status, with the Virtual Center
    3. Should be done prior to implementation, and at yearly intervals
    4. Use of computers, computer-related technologies, etc
    5. Have ways of identifying, over time, the added value of being a member of the Center
    6. Have ways of tracking acceptance of technologies associated with the Center. as well as satisfaction with the Center.
    7. Track specifics such as how often they ask people for help, give help, participate in joint projects (grants, courses, presentations, papers for pub.).
    8. Sense of identity as a Center Fellow, Member, Associate
  2. Hypothesis
    1. Hypothesis 1: Compared to the costs of running a traditional center, the Virtual Center will constitute a cost efficient means of linking faculty and providing opportunities for collaborative teaching and research.
    2. Hypothesis 2: The more isolated, either geographically or professionally, the Center member. the more cost-effective Center participation will be.

      3. The idea of actually making appointments to the Virtual Center may be very effective in making the Center a real Center for members. Ideally, in a real Center, Center faculty have multiple opportunities for .'coffee klatching" types of interactions (i.e., informal interactions where not only is there the creation of social bonds but also less formal exchanges of information, tips, etc), as well as one on one and group meetings. A Center should create a synergy where the whole is greater than the parts, and where people have a group or cohesive identity. There should be ease of access and multiple opportunities for the exchange of information, ideas, etc.

    3. Hypothesis 3: Participation in the Virtual Center will not impose undue restrictions and technical demands on the participants.

    While we hypothesize that participation will not impose problems. we will also be interested in exploring details of the learning curve required to become a full participant and user of the Virtual Center. For example, does this learning curve vary with the expertise/familiarity of the member with computer-related technologies? Does the learning cure and utilization vary with the level of system administration, etc, available at the member's home campus?

  3. Cost Factors: we will need to know how much it costs to set up a faculty member as a participating member of the Virtual Center

    4. Segment costs. How much does it cost for:

    1. hardware (including maintenance)
    2. software
    3. access (internet, PoTS - where long distance charges enter in-- might need an 8OO number???)
    4. costs associated with listservr/chatrooms (may be invisible)
    5. system administration (not tracked: should be invisible)
    6. learning "how to"
    7. stakeholders may need to tell us other things that need to be tracked since cost factors may vary across campuses.

    Costs should be computed on a quarterly basis. Effectiveness possibly should be calculated on a yearly basis (????).

    What are the most efficient ways of letting Center members interact? one modality consists of "Chatrooms" (with scheduled presence. For example, Dr, Yee might host a regular chatsession on a specific day each month, etc). Another modality would be the Listserver., another will be actual audio-video one to one or group interactions.

  4. The Stakeholders

Stakeholders. Initially, Center members will be drawn primarily from Bobbie Yee's Committee on Ethnogeriatrics. It would seem appropriate, due to their stature, that this initial group be admitted as Fellows to the Center. As Fellows7 we would then draft criteria, etc.

Involvement of Stakeholders. As soon as feasible, the Center should begin involving new/potential members in decisions such as; how often should group meetings be held, what should the priorities (including the technologies, such as listserver vs interactive conferencing, as well as courses modules and presentations, etc) be, etc?