Advanced Geriatrics Evaluation Skills

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Older adults are the fastest growing subset of the population and residency training in the basic concepts of care to the older adult is limited. We created a 1-day interactive training program, Advanced Geriatric Evaluation Skills (AGES), to upskill first-year primary care residents in the care of older adults. Methods: An interprofessional faculty team developed and taught the IRB-approved course to a convenience sample of family medicine and internal medicine interns in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Topics addressed common geriatric presentations seen in the outpatient setting. The faculty provided useful tips and hints for successful workup, diagnosis, and treatment. Results: Over the 3 years, 56 of the 135 (41%) first-year primary care residents participated. Residents reported that the course was well organized, relevant, and well taught, and they appreciated the dedicated time to focus on caring for older adults. During 2019, residents completed a pre- and posttest with 25 multiple-choice questions. The average score on the pretest was 76% and the average on the posttest was 88%. Ninety percent of the residents improved their score from the pre- to the posttest. Conclusions: The development of an AGES program provided a structured geriatric didactic curriculum for primary care residents. The course was well received by the residents, was reported to be relevant and timely, and resulted in increased knowledge in the care of older adults in the outpatient setting.

Feasibility and impact of a short training course on frailty destined for primary health care professionals

“…This is in accordance with the findings of Lally et al, who reported increased confidence and knowledge in goals of care and basic geriatric assessment of participants trained in principles of geriatrics, including frailty assessment, and palliative care [30]. Similarly, two other one-day interactive training programs on geriatrics for the primary care setting, tailored to family medicine and internal medicine trainees' needs, were evaluated as effective in engagement, value, and knowledge acquisition and improved self-efficacy and knowledge of tools of the trainees in the care of older adults [31][32].…”

“…However, representation from both urban and rural regions was achieved, and the participation of both medical doctors and allied staff offers an added value to the completeness of results obtained. Convenience sampling and small sample sizes seem to be common when evaluating training courses which aim at small groups in order to be more interactive and engaging [31,32].…”