First-rate geriatric care is, by definition, team care. That is to say, older patients with complex, chronic conditions require an interdisciplinary team of health professionals to provide a wide range of medical as well as psychosocial support services, to develop a treatment plan, track a patient's progress and coordinate care across clinical settings. It is a complex challenge, too often unmet.

The Foundation developed its Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) initiative to create new training models to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of training health professionals to work together as teams. From 1995 to 2005, $17 million for programs related to interdisciplinary team training was authorized. These programs were featured in the 2000 Annual Report and are also described at www.gittprogram.org.

The RAND-University of Pittsburgh Health Institute project was funded in 2001 to create an interdisciplinary academic infrastructure that brings together the skills and perspectives of multiple disciplines will enhance the research and educational activity needed to launch the careers of future academic leaders in aging, as well as improve service delivery for older people. Twelve universities have received funding for developing interdisciplinary research. Information about the program is available at www.rand.org/health/projects/geriatric.