EVALUATION OF A DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE IN GERIATRIC INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMING

approach are advantageous in a rapidly changing health care system where managed care and integrated services are of increasing importance. A statewide Geriatric Education Center, in cooperation with faculty from multiple disciplines at a state-supported major medical college and other nationally known experts in this area, developed a graduate level distance learning course to enhance awareness of the importance of interdisciplinary teaming. Evaluation results documented an increase in the skills important to effective interdisciplinary team functioning. Greater improvements in attitude toward health care teams occurred among students employed in jobs where they worked primarily with older adults. Pre-training and post-training motivational differences were also found to distinguish students engaged in direct care, geriatric employment. Results are discussed in relation to other evaluation studies in this area and the advances likely to be documented with increased recognition of the benefits in employing geriatric interdisciplinary teams.     

THE GERIATRIC INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM APPROACH: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATING TRAINEES TOGETHER FROM A VARIETY OF DISCIPLINES

The special health needs of older persons and the organization of managed care systems necessitate interdisciplinary team health care. However, there is a paucity of training or familiarity with team care among most health care professionals. This article describes one nationwide initiative, funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, in which eight sites trained health care workers from different disciplines to participate as interdisciplinary geriatric health care team members. Although the goal of the initiative was to develop trained interdisciplinary team participants, a major concern of the programs was the initial overcoming of challenges to training professionals from different disciplines together. Both benefits and challenges are identified and several training modalities and techniques to meet the challenges are discussed. These include case studies, standardized patients, cross-discipline role-playing, glossaries, and use of the DISC Personality Profile. The benefits of each of these modalities are examined, and potential pitfalls and perils to be avoided are emphasized.     

CONCEPTUALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF A COURSE ON AGING TO INFANCY: A LIFE COURSE RETROSPECTIVE

This paper describes the conceptualization and implementation of an innovative undergraduate interdisciplinary course that uses life course theory to capture the depth and breadth of the human experience. The collaboration among four faculty representing gerontological social work, occupational therapy, nursing, and dietetics and human nutrition is described, as are the unique teaching strategies utilized. In addition, an unusual retrospective approach to human development is highlighted. Through their participation in this course, future health care practitioners will be able to work effectively with clients throughout the life span in an interdisciplinary environment.     

Interdisciplinary team education promotes innovations in the home care of older people

This article describes a new type of team training that involves undergraduate students of medicine, students from the Aalto University (industrial engineering and management, architecture, information networks, collaborative and industrial design and bioinformation technology) and specialized home care nurses. During the course, the students learned interdisciplinary teamwork and created innovations in the care of older people. The 18 participants formed six microteams (three persons in each team: one specialized nurse, one medical student and one from Aalto University). The course consisted of two seminars and 3 full days of home visits to older people’s homes. Participants were encouraged to make one innovation in each home visit that would improve the older person’s well-being or streamline the processes of home care. During the course, the participants promptly formed tight teams. They valued the know-how of the other team members and learned openly from each other. They also created a number of practical innovations in home care which they presented to executives of older people’s care in a final seminar. The course received very good feedback from the students.

This course is an encouraging example of how gerontological interdisciplinary team training may be successfully applied. The article describes both the learning outcomes and the innovations the students produced during their home visits. It also discusses the learning theories behind effective interdisciplinary team learning.     

DEVELOPING AND USING INTERDISCIPLINARY CASE STUDIES IN TEACHING GERIATRICS TO PRACTICING HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

Continuing education programs for health care professionals who practice in geriatrics are an important part of improving the health care provided to older adults. Programs utilizing active forms of learning that mimic the clinical environment are more successful at changing the behavior of health care professionals than traditional didactic styles of teaching. Problem-based learning methods allow learners to identify their own areas of strength and weakness and to work toward improvement in a manner best suited to their needs. This article describes an interdisciplinary team of educator-clinicians in geriatrics who developed clinical case studies embodying these approaches as one method of improving the learning process for adult health care providers. An actual sample case study is presented as an illustration of the principles embodied in this process. Lessons learned from the development and use of these case studies are summarized in the context of improving the quality of continuing education programs for health care professionals in geriatric practice.     

Best Practices for an Interdisciplinary Team-Taught Course

In the interdisciplinary course, Aging to Infancy: A Life Course Retrospective, the Institute of Medicine's recommendations for education were embraced through the role modeling provided by faculty both across and between disciplines. Over the five years since its creation, the course has introduced students to aging in a positive manner, establishing the foundation for higher level courses within each program's curriculum. The course also introduces students to the interdisciplinary healthcare team and reinforces the need for practitioners who value the interdisciplinary approach and expect it in their place of work. These are best practices for an interdisciplinary course.     

Networks for Success: Preparing Mexican American AVID College Students for Credentials,Completion, and the Workforce

This qualitative study examines how Mexican American students participating in an AVID for Higher Education course perceived their preparation for the workforce and efficacy of completing a college credential. A focus group approach was used to explore how social and cultural networks (networks for success) contribute to college completion. The study is guided by the theoretical framework of building social networks through the availability and reception of social capital. Findings include Mexican American students’ efficacious beliefs of how networks for success assist in their persistence toward college graduation and entry into the workforce. Major themes are college success and social/cultural capital.     

DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CLINICAL TEAM TRAINING PROGRAM: LESSONS TAUGHT AND LESSONS LEARNED

The training of clinicians in working together as an interdisciplinary team has received growing support in geriatrics. Most teamwork training programs have focused on group process and development as the core competencies of team practice necessary to improve levels of team functioning. The experience of the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center (RIGEC) in developing and implementing an ongoing teamwork training program, including the training of several geriatric teams from a variety of health care settings, suggests that additional objectives should include the empowerment of teams for advocacy in rapidly changing health care settings increasingly shaped by economic forces. The lessons learned by RIGEC for the development and implementation of teamwork training include the importance of defining team membership, dealing with the shifting shoals of the health care system, understanding individuals and systems under stress, and redefining the objectives of teamwork training.     

Interprofessional education in gross anatomy: Experience with first‐year medical and physical therapy students at Mayo Clinic

Interprofessional education (IPE) in clinical practice is believed to improve outcomes in health care delivery. Integrating teaching and learning objectives through cross discipline student interaction in basic sciences has the potential to initiate interprofessional collaboration at the early stages of health care education. Student attitudes and effectiveness of IPE in the context of a combined gross anatomy course for first‐year students in Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees curricula were evaluated. Integrated teams of MD and DPT students participated in part of the gross anatomy dissection course at Mayo Medical School. A survey was administered to 42 MD and 28 DPT students that assessed their attitudes toward IPE and cooperation among health care professionals. Pre‐ and post‐experience surveys were evaluated. Positive comments were related to opportunities for developing a better understanding of the nature and scope of each other's programs, encouraging teamwork and communication, mutual respect, and reducing the perceptual divide between disciplines. Ninety‐two percent of the students agreed that interprofessional learning would help them in becoming a more effective member of the health care team. This initial experience with IPE in gross anatomy provides a basis for continued development of interdisciplinary educational strategies. Anat Sci Ed 1:258–263, 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.     

Meeting health,mental health,and housing needs of older adults: A case review of the congregational social work education initiative

This article presents results from an innovative social work field education program, which prepares BSW and MSW students to work in interdisciplinary teams with congregational nurses as they serve persons age 55+ or older. The Congregational Social Work Education Initiative is a field education project based on an applied interdisciplinary model, whereby social work students at the graduate and undergraduate level partner with congregational nurses to serve at-risk members of congregations and religious affiliated organizations (RAOs). Students and nurses provide free health, mental health, and wellness services to address individual, family, group, and community health, mental health, and housing issues. Funded by community health foundations, it trains BSW and MSW students for professional practice in congregational and community religious affiliated settings through interdisciplinary and collaborative methods. Information on the development of the model and case illustrations are provided so other social work educational programs and congregational nurse programs might duplicate its success.     

Problem-Based Learning

Abstract

Problem-based learning has been described for use in medical education and is thought to be a superior approach to traditional didactic methods. We describe the use of PBL as an innovative approach to the education and training of social workers on an interdisciplinary health care team. An actual PBL case is described, and a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages to this approach is presented. The use of PBL on interdisciplinary teams helps educate social workers to work effectively on teams, and educates other professionals about the social work role and how to utilize social work services effectively.     

Interprofessional Dialogues Within a Senior Mentoring Program: Incorporating Gerontology Students as Facilitation Leaders

Effective health care with older adults requires that clinicians and practitioners are knowledgeable about aging issues and have the skills to work within an interdisciplinary team context. This article describes a Senior Mentoring Program that paired clinical students in medicine, nursing, and a physician assistant program with community-dwelling seniors for regular interactions. This interprofessional education experience included graduate gerontology students as discussion facilitators. Because including gerontology students as Interprofessional Dialogue Facilitators (IDFs) was an innovative aspect of the program, their participation within interdisciplinary groups was analyzed. IDFs monitored a secure internet site where clinical students discussed their experiences with their mentors. Discussion posts by the IDFs were clustered into three major types: amplifying statements that stimulated and furthered dialogue, augmenting posts that integrated specialized content on aging within the discussions, and analyzing comments that helped students reflect on experiences from different perspectives. The advantages of including aging content experts, such as gerontology students, within aging awareness activities like Seminar Mentoring programs are discussed.     

Social Work and Law Interdisciplinary Service Learning: Increasing Future Lawyers’ Interpersonal Skills

Social workers and attorneys both interact with persons from diverse backgrounds every day, yet although interpersonal skills are an essential focus of social work education, these skills are not addressed in legal education. Interdisciplinary courses in which social workers and lawyers learn interpersonal skills together and have an opportunity to practice them through service learning opportunities are a way to remedy a gap in legal education. The authors describe a project recently piloted at a large midwestern university in which law and graduate social work students participated in an interdisciplinary course with a service learning component requiring students to work together on cases. As one component of the clinic’s assessment, all students were pre- and posttested via an interpersonal skills survey. The law students showed statistically significant improvement in interpersonal skills at the end of the course. The results indicate a need for increased support for interdisciplinary education, specifically partnerships between the professions of law and social work.     

Critical,multicultural education for remembering and reconciliation: A discussion of an interdisciplinary social science course for international students in Finland

In the autumn of 2004, an interdisciplinary social science course entitled Remembering, Forgetting and Forgiveness: Justice and Reconciliation from the National to the International was offered to undergraduate students at the University of Tampere, Finland. The course had 49 students from 10 different countries on three continents. A large portion of the students were on international exchange through the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS) programme. The objective of the course was to explore the role of social memory and justice in the process of reconciliation on many different levels. Learning activities aimed to initiate discussions on cross‐cultural understandings of how to overcome violations and forgive or forget. Among the cases explored were child abuse, the massacres in Kosovo, the South African truth commissions and the Finnish civil war. A variety of teaching methods were utilised in the course. Cooperative learning methods were emphasised. Students engaged in group work activities and discussions and listened to a wide range of guest lecturers from diverse disciplines. The evaluation of students was based on individual learning portfolios constructed by students.

This paper focuses on how a multicultural education was constructed through the pedagogy of the course, along with discussions with students who assessed their own learning process and perspectives. The theme of the course was judged by students to be very interesting and important, but the role of creative learning methods was viewed as equally significant. Exchange students, in particular, appeared willing to take greater risks in learning during their year abroad. The development of new approaches to learning could thus be an important element of internationalising efforts by universities. Finally, sensitive issues, such as contested collective social memory and complex reconciliation efforts, are best approached through cooperative learning methods that emphasise dialogue.     

An interdisciplinary approach to family diagnosis and treatment: The S.C.A.N. center

This paper will summarise the author's experience with the interdisciplinary approach to family diagnosis and treatment as practised in the setting of five teaching hospitals in a major city in the United States of America. It will describe how a small group of dedicated health care workers, having organised an interdisciplinary hospital team within one hospital, went on to develop a network of inter-related service and training programs in an intensely competitive environment which favors those who enhance their organisation's prestige, wealth, and power.     

基于健康产业平台人才培养的情感教育

健康产业是为人们提供预防、诊断、治疗、康复、保健等服务的产业。基于健康产业平台人才培养的情感教育,对于提高学生行业品德认知、培养行业品德情感、养成行业品德行为有着重要的作用。在专业培养的过程中应加强人文教育的渗透,把学生的品德、情感和专业的培养结合起来。重视建立适应时代发展的教师队伍,建立完善的健康产业学生情感教育体系,加强平台课程建设,注重实践的实效性,使学生成为尊重人类、尊重生命、有爱心的人类健康的守护者。     

EVALUATING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM TRAINING INSTITUTE IN GERIATRICS: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING TEAMWORK THEORY AND PRACTICE

Changes occurring in both health care and higher education systems in the U.S. suggest the need for the development of innovative model programs for interdisciplinary team training. This article reports on the development and evaluation of one such program: an interdisciplinary team training institute in geriatrics and primary care sponsored by the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center in 1999. Key principles underlying the design of program content are summarized. Evaluation data analyzed include information on attendees' backgrounds and teamwork experience, and an assessment of the most important and least important insights gained from participation. Specific ratings for each session include relevance and knowledge attainment. Major observations and recommendations include the combination of theory and practice, a focus on current and cutting edge issues, the importance of educational marketing research, and implications for program evaluation.     

Understanding social learning relations of international students in a large classroom using social network analysis

A common assumption in higher education is that international students find it difficult to develop learning and friendship relations with host students. When students are placed in a student-centred environment, international students from different cultural backgrounds are “forced” to work together with other students, which allows students to learn from different perspectives. However, large lecture rooms may provide fewer opportunities for students to work together in small groups. The purpose of this article is to understand how 191 international students from 34 cultural backgrounds and 16 host students build learning and friendship relations in a large classroom of 207 students. We have used an innovative mixed-method design of social network analysis in a pre- and post-test manner combined with two sets of focus groups. Using multiple regression quadratic assignment procedures, the results indicate that learning ties after 11 weeks were significantly predicted by the friendship and learning ties established at the beginning of the module, (sub)specialisation, and whether students were Chinese or not. Contrary to previous findings, team divisions played only a marginal role in building (new) learning relations. A substantial segregation between Confucian Asian, European international and UK students was present. Follow-up qualitative data highlighted that international students made a conscious effort to build friendship and learning relations primarily outside the formal team, which for some were along co-national lines, while others were pro-actively looking for new perspectives from multi-national students. These results indicate that the instructional design might have a strong influence on how international and host students work and learn together. We believe that this study is the first to provide an in-depth and unique understanding of how international students from different cultural backgrounds build friendship and learning-relationships with other students in- and outside their classroom over time in a large classroom of 200+ students.