Interprofessional education model for geriatric falls risk assessment and prevention

Abstract

BackgroundOne in three people over the age of 65 fall every year, with 1/3 sustaining at least moderate injury. Falls risk reduction requires an interprofessional health team approach. The literature is lacking in effective models to teach students how to work collaboratively in interprofessional teams for geriatric falls prevention. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development, administration and outcome measures of an education programme to teach principles of interprofessional care for older adults in the context of falls prevention.MethodsStudents from three academic institutions representing 12 health disciplines took part in the education programme over 18 months (n=237). A mixed method one-group pretest and post-test experimental design was implemented to measure the impact of a multistep education model on progression in interprofessional collaboration competencies and satisfaction.ResultsPaired t-tests of pre-education to posteducation measures of Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale scores (n=136) demonstrated statistically significant increase in subscales and total scores (p<0.001). Qualitative satisfaction results were strongly positive.DiscussionResults of this study indicate that active interprofessional education can result in positive student attitude regarding interprofessional team-based care, and satisfaction with learning. Lessons learnt in a rapid cycle plan-do-study-act approach are shared to guide replication efforts for other educators.ConclusionEffective models to teach falls prevention interventions and interprofessional practice are not yet established. This education model is easily replicable and can be used to teach interprofessional teamwork competency skills in falls and other geriatric syndromes.

Interprofessional education in geriatric medicine: towards best practice. A controlled before–after study of medical and nursing students

“…The theoretical basis for IPE is known 9. Nevertheless, IPE in geriatric medicine still lacks established standards and best practice, for example, regarding the optimal timing and delivery, or which IPE models are most effective for addressing specific problems 10–14. It is well known that one of the difficult things to learn in the healthcare provision process is the timing and the way of communication among healthcare providers, both for teams and or individuals 8.…”

Novel model to teach health care delivery in geriatrics

“…Dementia care management, teaching the 5 M Framework outlined by the American Geriatrics Society, palliative care, falls risk assessments, and many other geriatric syndromes have been presented using an IPE model. (Brown et al, 2018;Dreier-Wolfgramm et al, 2017;Fulton et al, 2020;Schwartz et al, 2020). Most were performed during the clinical training years for students and faculty, after the didactic years, or as a one-workshop session.…”

Practices and behaviors of professionals after falls in institutionalized elderly with and without cognitive decline

“…[4][5][6][7] As affirmed by some researchers, it is the responsibility of professionals to decrease event incidence, providing care and striving to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the elderly. 5,[8][9][10] With this in mind, the objectives of this study were: a) to construct and validate a scale for assessing the practices and behaviors of professionals in nursing homes after elderly falls (SAPBAEF); b) to describe the practices and behaviors of professionals after falls in institutionalized elderly; and c) to determine the association of practices and behaviors after falls in institutionalized elderly with health professionals' length of experience, training and age.…”