Caregiver Conversations
In this episode we welcome Dr. Daniel Blustein, a retired geriatrician and family physician. Dr. Blustein shares his extensive background in geriatrics, his journey into the field, and the importance of caregiver education through programs like Caregiver Conversations. Join us as we learn more about the role of primary care in geriatric care, the interdisciplinary approach to caregiving, and the significance of audience participation in learning. Dr. Blustein also discusses his motivation for continuing education post-retirement and offers advice on career planning and re-engagement for healthcare professionals.
Meet our Special Guest!
Dr. Daniel Bluestein is a geriatrician and family physician who retired in June 2019 as Professor-Emeritus, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School. Dan arrived at EVMS in 1981, having graduated from the University of Chicago ( and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He completed a residency in Family Medicine at the University of Maryland, and a Robert Wood Johnson faculty development fellowship at the University of Iowa (MS, 1981). Dan previously served as EVMS Family Medicine’s research director, then as its geriatrics division director until his retirement from EVMS as professor emeritus in 2019. Dan has a long history of partnership with the Virginia Geriatric Education Center, VCU, and other statewide colleagues on Geriatrics training grants beginning in 2007-08, then for the period 2010-2015. More recently, he was the EVMS lead for the VCU’s Virginia Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program 2015-2019 (GWEP 1). Dan and his team developed Excellence in Primary Integrated Care-Geriatric Patients, a project which leveraged the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) as a means of integrating geriatrics in primary care. This work was the basis for his selection as a 2016 Hartford Foundation Practice Change Leader. A subsequent Hartford award supported Dan’s collaboration with Senior Services of Southeast Virginia to improve follow-up care for high-risk high need seniors identified in AWVs. This effort received a 2019 National Association of Area Agencies on Aging Innovations Award and a Health Quality Innovators for Virginia runner-up award. Presently, Dan is adjunct professor in the Virginia Geriatric Education Center, Virginia Center on Aging, VCU College of Health Professions. He serves in the conduct of varied educational initiatives concerning primary care of dementia and brain health. He also works in support of the VCoA’s Creating Interprofessional Readiness for Complex & Aging Adults) program and the Virginia Memory Project. His interests also include examination of post-retirement vocational re-engagement.