Health care provider experiences in primary care memory clinics: a phenomenological study.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing need for community-based services for persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Memory clinic (MC) teams in primary care settings have been established to provide care to people with ADRD. To consider wider adoption of these MC teams, insight is needed into the experiences of practitioners working in these models. The purpose of the current study is to explore the experiences of health care providers (HCPs) who work in primary care Memory Clinic (MC) teams to provide care to persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). METHODS: This study utilized a phenomenological methodology to explore experiences of 12 HCPs in two primary care MCs. Semi-structured interviews were completed with each HCP. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Colaizzi's steps for analyzing phenomenological data was utilized by the authors. RESULTS: Three themes emerged from the analysis to describe HCP experiences: supporting patients and family members during ADRD diagnosis and treatment, working in a team setting, and personal and professional rewards of caring for people with ADRD and their family members. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide insight into current practices in primary care MCs and on the motivation of HCPs working with persons with ADRD.

Integrating gerontological competencies in Canadian health and social service education: An overview of trends, enablers, and challenges.

As the number of older adults increases, it is imperative that gerontological competencies are imbedded in health and social service education reviews of Canadian published and grey literature presents trends, barriers, and enablers of sustained movement toward graduating professionals with gerontology competencies. Overall, gerontological education remains insufficient. Main barriers include resources for faculty and teaching. This review also identified discipline-specific competency frameworks that could inform curriculum enhancement and education accreditations; however, most educators were unaware of these. Further limiting workforce development is the lack of gerontology competency statements within regulatory documents. This review concludes with recommendations for federal and provincial policies to establish educational accreditation programs in geriatrics, develop core competencies, and integrate these into regulatory frameworks. Failure to do so will continue the trend of insufficient preparation of health and social service professionals to care for older adults.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Team Member Perspectives of Person-Centered Care (TM-PCC) Survey for Long-Term Care Homes.

Person-centered care (PCC) is fundamental for providing high-quality care in long-term care homes. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of an 11-item Team Member Perspectives of Person-Centered Care (TM-PCC) survey, adapted from White and colleagues (2008). In a cross-sectional study, 461 staff from four long-term care homes in Ontario, Canada, completed the TM-PCC. Construct validity and internal consistency of the TM-PCC were examined with a principal component analysis and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Findings revealed a three-component structure with factor 1, Supporting Social Relationships; factor 2, Familiarity with Residents’ Preferences; and factor 3, Meaningful Resident⁻Staff Relationships. The TM-PCC, as compared to the original survey, presented with less components (i.e., did not address Resident Autonomy, Personhood, Comfort, Work with Residents, Personal Environment, and Management Structure), yet included one new component (Meaningful Resident⁻Staff Relationships). The TM-PCC has a similar internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient 0.82 vs. White et al. 0.74⁻0.91). The TM-PCC can be used to assess PCC from the staff’s perspective in long-term care homes.

Communicating during care transitions for older hip fracture patients: family caregiver and health care provider's perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: Older hip fracture patients frequently require care across a variety of settings, from multiple individuals, including their family caregivers. We explored issues related to information sharing during transitional care for older hip fracture patients through the perspectives of both health care providers and family caregivers. METHODS: Thirty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted with family caregivers (n = 9) and health care providers (n = 26) of six hip fracture patients to gather perspectives on information sharing at each care transition, beginning with post-surgical discharge from acute care. Data were analysed using conventional qualitative content analysis methods using NVivo8 software. RESULTS: Both family caregivers and health care providers recognise that family caregivers' involvement has important benefits for patients, but this involvement is frequently limited by poor information sharing. Barriers include limited staff time, patient privacy regulations and lack of a clear structure to guide information sharing. Receiving, not offering, information was the focus of information sharing by both family caregivers and health care providers. CONCLUSIONS: Specific barriers that lead to poor information sharing between family caregivers and health care providers have been identified in this study. Possible interventions to improve information sharing include encouraging communication with family caregivers as standard care practice, educational strategies and more effective use of health information systems and technologies.