Kansas Age-Friendly Nursing Workforce Forum

On June 9, 2025, the Kansas 4M Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) hosted the inaugural Kansas Age-Friendly Nursing Workforce Forum in Topeka, Kansas. This statewide event brought together 55 nursing home professionals and nurse educators from rural and underserved communities to address critical workforce challenges and advance Age-Friendly Health Systems (4Ms) care: What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility.

The forum featured a keynote presentation by Alice Bonner, Senior Advisor for Aging, Institute for Healthcare Improvenent and fireside chat introducing the 4Ms framework, followed by interactive small-group sessions. Participants collaborated to identify:

• Opportunities and challenges for integrating age-friendly nursing education into clinical care.
• Strategies to increase comfort and adoption of 4Ms care in long-term care settings.
• Actions to foster partnerships across organizations and advance strategic planning.

Key Outcomes

• Improvement in participants’ competencies related to age-friendly nursing education and interprofessional collaboration.
• Strong commitment to implementing evidence-based 4Ms care and building an age-friendly Kansas nursing workforce.

Why It Matters

Kansas faces a shortage of nurses and nursing faculty, limiting the capacity to meet growing care needs for older adults. This forum marks a critical step toward bridging the “know-do” gap and preparing the current and future workforce for age-friendly and dementia-friendly care.

Partners

University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas Nursing Workforce Center, Kansas Health Care Association, University of Kansas Area Health Education Center, and Washburn University School of Nursing.