By Rick Vacek | August 26, 2025
It’s a new age in geriatric care, and University of Texas at Dallas students in Comets HELP know what that care should look like – and, just as importantly, what it should sound like.
The Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) is a national model of hospital care designed to prevent delirium and functional decline in hospitalized patients over the age of 65. The 75 volunteers in the UT Dallas chapter meet with patients at UT Southwestern’s Clements University Hospital and attend monthly workshops and lectures.
It is an ideal way for pre-med students in the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College to gain valuable experience, demonstrated by an exchange between the program’s director, Dr. Jessica Voit, and junior Srividya Nalladdhighal.
“It got me a lot more interested in the geriatric population,” Nalladdhighal told a listener as Voit stood nearby during the Summer Platform for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) symposium at UT Dallas. “I hadn’t really worked with older adults before.”
Voit didn’t hide her delight with the terminology.
“She’s heard my rant on ageism, which includes age-biased language,” said Voit, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UTSW.
“It has changed my perspective,” Nalladdhighal continued. “There’s a connotation to it. We have stereotypes with the term ‘elderly.’”
The American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics defines ageism as “stereotyping of or discrimination against people – usually older adults – because of their age.”
But there is much more to learn about its effects. A report in the National Library of Medicine said that while it may lead to mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, among older adults, there is not enough data to establish a hypothesis.
On the flip side, the review of 13 articles found this correlation:
“Older adults with a high level of psychological well-being may be less negatively affected by ageism, especially those who were proud of their age group, experienced less negative emotions, were more optimistic about aging and their future, were more self-confident about their bodies and were flexible in setting goals.”
That’s why Comets HELP is so important.
The need for more geriatric physicians is clear.
The American Geriatrics Society reports that the current total of 8,220 full-time practicing geriatricians will decrease slightly by 2030 while the demand for geriatricians will increase by 50%. As the number of people over the age of 65 continues to grow, a healthcare crisis looms.
“As a geriatrician, it makes me really sad that this important population is often very underserved,” Voit said. “Some of the medical challenges are different as people get older, and that goes unappreciated.”
“I’ve seen the growth in the students – the maturity. Some of them have had really profound experiences with patients.”
DR. JESSICA VOIT
After earning her bachelor’s degree in biology as a Eugene McDermott Scholar at UT Dallas in 2009, Voit went to UTSW for her M.D. and was introduced to geriatrics by a mentor there. “It definitely matches my personality and my skillset,” she said. “When I went through my training as a resident, I found that it was my calling.”
Now her calling includes trying to create future geriatricians. But quality is as important as quantity.
“We want high standards and quality interventions,” said Voit, daughter of the retired Dean of the Honors College, Dr. Edward “Ted” Harpham. “It is meant to be high caliber students doing high caliber work. I’ve seen the growth in the students – the maturity. Some of them have had really profound experiences with patients.”
The experiences usually include finding out what patients have accomplished in their lives – or, in some cases, are still accomplishing.
Lucie Nguyen, Co-President of Comets HELP during the 2024-25 academic year, enjoyed talking with a man who had been in the entertainment business in Las Vegas, and she marveled at a 90-year-old who still scuba dives.
But she also was moved by a woman who was traumatized by hospitals because her mother died in her arms.
“They have interesting stories,” Nguyen said. “They have a lot of knowledge to impart. They’re a pretty cool generation.
“There’s a perception that they’re less capable. But in working with geriatrics, you can see that older adults present in so many ways. It’s a very diverse population.”
Nguyen graduated in May and is applying to medical school. She hopes to become a geriatrician.
Nalladighal was at the SPUR to present her research examining the implementation of Comets HELP into the UTSW Emergency Department. The program has grown steadily since Voit started it in 2018, and the benefits for patients are obvious.
“Hospitalization is a hard time for people, and these students are making it better,” she said.
But students benefit, too. Voit noted that the program gives them “foundational knowledge that many medical students and even residents are lacking, let alone pre-medical students.”
Stefanie Martinez, who also presented her Comets HELP findings at the SPUR, sees another value in the program: It develops students’ communication skills.
“Starting off with HELP,” she said, “I would walk into a patient’s room and wouldn’t really know what to say. It helped a lot to learn from more experienced HELP members, and I can confidently say that I know how to lead a conversation with a complete stranger who is a lot older than me. I’m not sure how many people my age could say that.”
Martinez is in the process of researching how Comets HELP affects students’ career trajectories. It certainly has affected hers: “I really enjoy working with this population, and I think there’s a lot to learn from them. It piques my interest in geriatrics.”
Students’ enthusiasm for the program enabled Voit to expand it to three UT Southwestern units plus the Emergency Department, and she plans to add the Intensive Care Unit in the fall. Her ultimate goal is to have Comets HELP serve the entire UT Southwestern Medical Center and nearby Parkland Hospital.
None of that happens if volunteers aren’t intrigued by the work and dedicated to learning more – about dementia, delirium and other challenges of older patients.
“It makes me very hopeful to see young students educated in these core principles,” Voit said. “I hope some of them become geriatricians. I hope all of them are geriatric sensitive and savvy and combat ageism and take care of older adults with grace and expertise.”
They would do well to adopt Nalladdhighal’s attitude:
“I really like talking with patients. I really like brightening their day.”
Voit loves to hear that, too.
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