Interprofessional faculty development: integration of oral health into the geriatric diabetes curriculum, from theory to practice

Abstract

BackgroundHealth care workforce shortages and an increase demand for health care services by an older demographic challenged by oral–systemic conditions are being recognized across health care systems. Demands are placed on health care professionals to render coordinated delivery of services. Management of oral–systemic conditions requires a trained health care workforce to render interprofessional patient-centered and coordinated delivery of health care services. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effectiveness of an interprofessional health care faculty training program.MethodsA statewide comprehensive type 2 diabetes training program was developed and offered to multidisciplinary health care faculty using innovative educational methods. Video-recorded clinically simulated patient encounters concentrated on the oral–systemic interactions between type 2 diabetes and comorbidities. Post-encounter instructors facilitated debriefing focused on preconceptions, self-assessment, and peer discussions, to develop a joint interprofessional care plan. Furthermore, the health care faculty explored nonhierarchical opportunities to bridge common health care themes and concepts, as well as opportunities to translate information into classroom instruction and patient care.ResultsThirty-six health care faculty from six disciplines completed the pre-research and post-research assessment survey to evaluate attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions following the interprofessional health care faculty training program. Post-training interprofessional team building knowledge improved significantly. The health care faculty post-training attitude scores improved significantly, with heightened awareness of the unique oral–systemic care needs of older adults with type 2 diabetes, supporting an interprofessional team approach to care management. In addition, the health care faculty viewed communication across disciplines as being essential and interprofessional training as being vital to the core curriculum of each discipline. Significant improvement occurred in the perception survey items for team accountability and use of uniform terminology to bridge communication gaps.ConclusionAttitude, knowledge, and perceptions of health care faculty regarding interprofessional team building and the team approach to management of the oral–systemic manifestations of chronic disease in older adults was improved. Uniform language to promote communication across health professionals, care settings, and caregivers/patients, was noted. Interprofessional team building/care planning should be integrated in core curricula.

The difficulties of interprofessional teamwork in diabetes care: a questionnaire survey

“…Therefore, not only are physicians and nurses greatly involved in patient treatment for people with diabetes, but so too are registered dietitians, physiotherapists, clinical laboratory technicians, and pharmacists. Thus, the disease requires the skill and talents of multiple health care providers, and as such, interprofessional teamwork is extremely important for diabetes care 2,3. Successful interprofessional teamwork – in other words, when multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds work together and are able to provide comprehensive services effectively by working with patients, their families, caregivers, and communities – leads to better patient care and safety, and improves health outcomes for patients 4–7.…”

Dental participation in geriatric interprofessional education courses: A systematic review

“…Only one study was published in 1981 and the other 6 were published between 2012 and 2015 indicating the recently increasing interest in research in this area. All publications originated from the United States . Three originated from the same centre, University of Alabama at Birmingham Geriatric Education Center, with 2 of them reporting on the same training experience and sample .…”

“…Geriatric outreach facilities (i.e. nursing homes) were the main teaching venue in all studies where undergraduate students were involved, while faculty members were trained within University locations …”

“…The participant groups ranged from 38 to 193 persons and most of them volunteered to participate in the IPE programmes. Five studies described IPE training courses for undergraduate students, while there were 2 for faculty members . Two studies clarified that the dental students were seniors attending their 4th year and in one case participants were 3rd year dental students …”

Adoption of Oral Health Curriculum by Physician Assistant Education Programs in 2014

“…Accessing faculty from other disciplines to facilitate interdisciplinary learning is an effective strategy for maximizing resources and building collaborations among both students and faculty. 27 Among the program directors who indicated there was no oral health curriculum in their education programs (21.6% of all respondents), about half (48.1%) revealed that the PA program had "never" considered incorporating an oral health curriculum. This suggested an opportunity to further educate faculty in PA programs about the importance of oral health to systemic health and its impact on health outcomes, especially in Respondents were permitted to select multiple response options.…”