A multi-step education model for advancing competencies in geriatrics and interprofessional collaboration for health students.

At a time when the older adult population is increasing exponentially and health care agencies are fraught with crisis-level short-handedness and burnout, addressing the Quadruple Aim of enhancing patient experience, improving population health, reducing costs, and improving the work life of health care providers is more crucial than ever. A multi-step education model was designed to advance competencies in geriatrics and Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPCP) for health profession students focused on each element of the Quadruple Aim. The goals of this education were to equip students with knowledge and experience to provide team-based care for older adults and achieve satisfaction with the education program. The education steps consisted of online didactics, team icebreaker, skills practice, professional huddles, and interprofessional simulation with debriefing. Over 2,300 students and 87 facilitators from 16 professions completed the training over three years. A positive statistically significant increase was found between pre- and post-measures of IPCP competency, knowledge, and attitudes. Additionally, high satisfaction with the education was reported by students and facilitators. By providing positive geriatric education and experiences for health students to work in interprofessional teams, it can translate into future improvements in older adult population health, health care provider job satisfaction, and reduced health care costs.

African American Family Caregivers Share How they Prepared for the Death of an Older Adult with Dementia: A Pilot Study of Hospice Care in A Nursing Home.

The focus of this pilot study was to ascertain how bereaved African American caregivers prepared for the death of an older family member who died from a dementia-related diagnosis and the role of hospice care; an area with little research to date. Because African American older adults in the United States are at greater risk than Caucasian older adults for dementia-related health problems though less likely to be diagnosed, treated, or to enroll in hospice services, this exploratory study asked questions of the family caregivers' experiences in preparing for the death. Purposive criterion sampling was used to identify six African American bereaved caregivers whose family member lived in a nursing home (five who were enrolled in hospice services) who were extensively interviewed, with the use of conventional content analysis of the transcripts to identify the findings. Because of the limited sample size, themes identified were considered preliminary and may help guide ongoing and further research. Five primary themes revealed ways caregivers prepared: accepting reality; "I just kind of knew;" person with dementia "was ready;" "spending time;" and, getting your "business in order." All caregivers believed it was important to be prepared for the death, with the five who received hospice services reporting that they were prepared. Further research is needed to explore these preliminary findings of African American caregivers of family members with dementia at end-of-life to further inform social work and hospice team care.

Bipositivity: Bisexual Persons' Narratives of Acceptance and Support from Significant Others.

Bisexual individuals often face binegativity in relationships with intimate partners and the health disparities associated with discrimination. The present study sought to explore the little known aspect of identity-based partner acceptance of bisexual individuals. Through the eyes of the bisexual person identified by a snow-ball sampling method of bisexual persons living in the United States, 197 participants completed an open-ended question on positive experiences with partners, with 96 of them emphasizing acceptance and understanding. Findings suggest there are multiple ways bisexual individuals encounter acceptance from their partner-some more neutral expressions and some more overt. Neutral messages were twice as likely to occur compared to overt forms of acceptance. Participants reported themes of: (1) didn't try to change me, (2) ambivalence, (3) proud/rooting, (4) asked me about my experiences, and (5) feeling loved. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for reducing stigma and increasing acceptance by partners.

Positive Aspects of Family Caregiving for Older Adults at End-of-Life: A Qualitative Examination.

Family caregivers of older adults with dementia have significant challenges across many domains. While this role has been found to be burdensome on the caregiver, increasingly, though, there are also significant positive aspects reported by caregivers (known as the positive aspects of caregiving-PAC). This participatory qualitative study of 30 United States caregivers of family members age 65 and older who died with a dementia-related diagnoses used in-depth qualitative interviews and directed content analysis to understand the data. The study addressed a gap in the research literature and asked about caregiver's positive experiences during their family members' last weeks of life and investigated what this meant for the caregiver. Three primary themes were identified: (1) The Importance and Impact of Family Traditions/Celebrations, (2) Use of Humor in Living and the Difficult Experiences at End-of-Life, and (3) "The Gift of Caregiving." These findings are explored and reviewed in light of other research looking at the positive aspects of caregiving for caregivers taking care of persons living with dementia, finding concurrence and some uniqueness across the results. Implications of the findings for families and social work professionals are reviewed.

Family caregivers for older persons with dementia offer recommendations to current caregivers: a qualitative investigation.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Family members who care for older adults with dementia encounter significant difficulties across many domains. There is limited research in this area; thus, the aim here is to share the actual experiences of 30 family caregivers to other family caregivers and to show how these experiences can provide help and recommendations. METHODS: This qualitative study of 30 family caregivers of family members aged 65 and older who died with dementia-related diagnoses used in-depth qualitative interviews conducted over a 12-month period for data collection and content analysis to understand the data. The study asked what they learned and what subsequent recommendations these caregivers had for other family caregivers taking care of an older person with dementia. RESULTS: Four primary themes emerged from the content data analysis and included the following: (1) "do not do it alone"; (2) patience, love, and kindness; (3) "first of all, take care of yourself"; and (4) "get educated." CONCLUSIONS: This study is unique in asking directly of family caregivers of older persons who died of dementia what they learned and what they want to share and recommend to ongoing and future family caregivers.

Dying With Dementia: Caregiver Observations of Their Family Members' Physical Decline and Behavioral or Psychological Changes During Their Last Days.

Family caregivers of older persons with dementia have significant challenges across many domains. These reported problems encountered over their caregiving time are for many reasons, but what makes the caretaking difficult is complicated by both the unknown nature of the dementia disease and the dying trajectory. While there are studies, primarily from health-care professionals, of this dying process and the last few weeks of life for older persons with dementia, much less is known directly from the family caregivers' perspectives and experiences. This qualitative study of 30 caregivers of family members aged 65 years and older who died with dementia-related diagnoses used in-depth qualitative interviews conducted over a 12-month period and directed content analysis to understand the data. The study asked what physical, behavioral, and psychological changes they observed and experienced during their family members' last weeks of life. Three primary themes were identified around behavioral and psychological changes: (a) they become different people, (b) did not recognize caregiver, and (c) wandering and getting lost; and two primary themes identified physical decline: (a) system started shutting down and (b) drastically diminished self-sufficiency. Implications for families and professionals are reviewed and discussed.

Barriers and Facilitators to Preparedness for Death: Experiences of Family Caregivers of Elders with Dementia.

Less is known about how caregivers prepare (or not) for the death of a family member with dementia. This study's purpose was to explore how caregivers handle these dementia deaths, including identification of barriers and facilitators to preparing caregivers for the death of an elder family member dying with dementia. This qualitative, descriptive study employed a purposive sampling strategy in which the principal investigator interviewed 36 caregivers of family members age 65 and older who died from a dementia-related diagnosis. Directed content analysis was used to analyze the data. Four primary themes were identified as barriers: (1) hindrances to information; (2) barriers to hospice; (3) ineffective attempts to comfort; and (4) the nature of death with dementia. Six themes were identified as facilitators: (1) religious/spiritual beliefs; (2) caregiver initiative; (3) prior experience; (4) bearing witness to decline; (5) professionals alerting caregiver (of what to expect of impending death); and (6) culture and legacy of family caregiving. The results support an increased role of social work in addressing caregivers' awareness of impending death and helping prepare them for the death of an elder with dementia.

Interprofessional education model for geriatric falls risk assessment and prevention.

BACKGROUND: One 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. METHODS: Students 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. RESULTS: Paired 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. DISCUSSION: Results 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. CONCLUSION: Effective 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: Insights From a Cohort of Nursing Students.

The central research questions of this study sought to understand the experiences of nursing students participating in an interprofessional simulation experience. This study used a nonrandom, purposive sample of 75 nursing students from one Midwestern university. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the data. Five primary themes emerged from the data: (a) benefits of interprofessional collaboration, (b) communication, (c) "real-life" learning, (d) increased self-confidence, and (e) intraprofessional collaboration. The results of this study reveal the value of participation in interprofessional simulation activities and emphasize the need for continued development and implementation of such activity into nursing education.