Using Geriatric Standardized Patients and Technology to Teach Counseling and Health Science Students How to Work Interprofessionally

Abstract

The need for health care providers with geriatric-specific training in the United States is growing. This qualitative article focuses on the reflections of interprofessional health and behavioral science students' involvement participating in a unique 1-day standardized patient experience. Results indicated the experience was positive and meaningful for students.

Interprofessional Collaboration and Telehealth: Useful Strategies for Family Counselors in Rural and Underserved Areas

“…Training should focus on engaging in low-risk IP opportunities such as simulated IP education experiences, cited in the literature as helpful for assisting in developing IP competencies (Johnson et al, 2015). Connecting with local universities or with distance technologies online accomplishes this (Fowler & Hoquee, 2016). Understanding interprofessionalism and the differences between collaboration and consultation, which is often a confusion noted in the literature (Johnson & Mahan, 2019; Kemer et al, 2019), is important to engage with opportunities for professional development and continuing education.…”

Counselor Trainees' Interprofessional Self‐Efficacy After a Career Development Intervention

“…These interventions can take the form of seminars, 16-week courses, conferences, or brief time-limited interventions (Olson & Bialocerkowski, 2014) . These opportunities typically engage students in content related to interprofessional collaboration competencies for engagement (Johnson & Freeman, 2014) and/or specific themes that require interprofessional collaboration, such as geriatric care (Fowler & Hoquee, 2016) . Through the various types of IPE interventions, research has found improvement in multiple areas of career development and professional identity (Johnson & Mahan, 2019;Martinussen et al ., 2012) .…”

“…IPE training in professional health care settings, such as communications courses or team effectiveness interventions, has shown promise with increasing career self-efficacy-belief that one can perform career-related tasks-amongst doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, and other allied health professionals (Buljac-Samardzic et al ., 2010;Nørgaard et al ., 2012) . In allied health professions, IPE is a promising intervention to enhance career development and self-efficacy, and there is some preliminary evidence that it could be beneficial for counselor trainees (Fowler & Hoquee, 2016;Johnson et al ., 2015) . The results of a study investigating the effectiveness of an interprofessional geriatric course that included counselor trainees indicated that counselors' readiness as it relates to working from an interprofessional framework in geriatrics was higher after a 16-week interprofessional course (Fowler & Hoquee, 2016) .…”

“…In allied health professions, IPE is a promising intervention to enhance career development and self-efficacy, and there is some preliminary evidence that it could be beneficial for counselor trainees (Fowler & Hoquee, 2016;Johnson et al ., 2015) . The results of a study investigating the effectiveness of an interprofessional geriatric course that included counselor trainees indicated that counselors' readiness as it relates to working from an interprofessional framework in geriatrics was higher after a 16-week interprofessional course (Fowler & Hoquee, 2016) . The quantitative study investigated pre-and postintervention scores but did not extrapolate meaning from the participants related to their current and future career, investigate counselor self-efficacy that extends beyond "readiness," or determine what experiences impacted their changes (Fowler & Hoquee, 2016) .…”

Gerontological Counseling Trends in Adultspan Journal : 1999–2019

“…The counseling profession has established a need for research and best practices for counseling older adults because of its emphasis on development across the life span (Kampfe, 2015;Myers & Harper, 2004), student and professional interest in gerontology (Foster et al, 2009(Foster et al, , 2014Fowler & Hoquee, 2016;Wagner et al, 2019), and legislative advocacy opportunities (Bergman, 2013). With Medicare reimbursement for counselors as a primary focus of legislative advocacy efforts (Field, 2017;Fullen, 2016), there is a need to legitimize gerontological counseling (GC) as a credible area of competency for counseling professionals, both as an avenue for improving client care across the life span and as proof that the counseling profession possesses relevant educational and training competencies to substantiate inclusion of counselors as Medicare-eligible providers (Bergman, 2013).…”