Jacqueline Eaton

Environments for Lifelong Learning in Senior Centers.

ABSTRACT Senior-center learning opportunities must adapt, as new retirees are better educated than their predecessors. We examined 3 multipurpose senior centers using 120 hours of observations and 30 participant interviews. Variation existed in the ability to maximize synomorphic relationships, where the physical environment supported educational activities. The center with the greatest success had the most active participation. Low participation was noted when multipurpose rooms were utilized, as learning was compromised by distractions. Computer learning thrived in a computer lab, but machines were neglected when located in an employee break room. Successful learning programs fit the environment, in addition to providing volunteerism and empowerment.

The Development and Validation of the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale: Assessing the Interprofessional Attitudes of Students in the Health Professions.

Purpose No validated tools assess all four competency domains described in the 2011 report Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPEC Report). The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a tool based on the IPEC Report core competency domains that assesses the interprofessional attitudes of students in the health professions. Method In 2012, an interprofessional team of students and two of the authors developed and administered a survey to students from four colleges and schools at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center (Health, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy). The authors randomly split the responses with complete data into two independent subsets: one for exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the other for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). They performed these analyses to validate the tool, eliminate redundant questions, and identify subscales. Their analyses focused on aligning tool subscales with the IPEC Report core competencies and demonstrating good construct validity and internal consistency reliability. Results Of 1,549 students invited, 701 (45.3%) responded. The EFA produced a 27-item scale, with five subscales: teamwork, roles, and responsibilities; patient-centeredness; interprofessional biases; diversity and ethics; and community-centeredness (Cronbach alpha coefficients: 0.62 to 0.92). The CFA indicated that the content of the five subscales was consistent with the EFA model. Conclusions The Interprofessional Attitudes Scale (IPAS) is a novel tool that, compared with previous assessment instruments, better reflects current thinking about interprofessional competencies. IPAS should prove useful to health sciences institutions committed to training students to work collaboratively in interprofessional teams.

Autism spectrum disorder and the applied collaborative approach: a review of community based participatory research and participatory action research

The quest to understand ASD is monumental, dramatic and paradigmatically shifting. Research advances in ASD challenge the traditional understanding of autism and call for a “reconceptualization” of autism given the revolutionary impact of recent discoveries. Related to this reconceptualization of autism, are the countervailing forces signaling a shift in the research “agenda” where individuals with ASD are part of the research process–and offer an understanding of autism beyond bench science and traditional scholarship. Although many interpretations of autism remain grounded in the biomedical paradigm, individuals with autism, through narrative self-representations and activities are changing the perspective of autism transforming it from “cure to community.” The involvement of individuals with ASD, along with their families, and school and workplace representatives moves research closer to a “communityengaged” endeavor and helps to build a stronger science that is translational and sustainable. This paper examines the role of both community-based participatory research (CBPR) and participatory action research (PAR) in the study of autism issues via the trends analyzed by Scopus in journal publications within an established time-frame of publication dates and specific search analytics. An example of using an ecological model to explore the use of CBPR and PAR in autism research is presented. The goal of this review is to determine trends in publications in these domains and to assist scholars and future researchers to consider identified publications as a part of their plans to use CBPR or PAR designs and ecological models when designing their community engaged research methodology.

The Feasibility of Ethnodrama as Intervention to Highlight Late-Life Potential for Nursing Students and Older Adults

One barrier to the expansion of geriatric health care providers is the limited desire of nursing students to work with older adults. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of using ethnodrama as an intervention to highlight late-life potential. Twelve baccalaureate nursing students were paired with 12 residents of an assisted living facility to complete transformative learning activities focused on the topic of late-life potential culminating in a performance of an ethnodrama developed from these data. Transcripts of initial student meetings, self-reflections, the performance, postperformance discussion, and open-ended survey questions were analyzed using in vivo and pattern coding. Older adult participants recognized and emphasized positive late-life potential, whereas students explored potential throughout the life span and reflected on its meaning in their own lives. Increasing discussion about late-life potential may alter the stigma associated with aging.

Altering Nursing Student and Older Adult Attitudes Through a Possible Selves Ethnodrama.

The purpose of this mixed method study is to evaluate the effects of participation in the development and implementation of ethnodrama about possible selves on nursing student attitudes toward older adults and older adult attitudes to aging. Twelve nursing students and 12 older adult long-term care residents collaborated in a transformational learning experience involving interviews on the topic of possible selves culminating in the presentation of an ethnodrama developed from these data. Longitudinal data from student surveys about attitudes toward older adults were analyzed using growth modeling, whereas older adult pre-post data on attitudes toward aging were analyzed with a paired samples t test. Video of group discussions and open-ended feedback on the overall experience were analyzed to provide qualitative understanding of change in student attitudes over time. Although positive overall, student attitudes varied in initial status and rate of change. Students who interacted most frequently with older adults had more neutral attitudes. Older adult attitudes surrounding psychosocial loss improved over the course of the intervention. Normalizing attitudes may be as important as improving attitudes; neutrality may be more representative of realistic perceptions of older adults and late-life potential.

The process of creating an ethnodrama highlighting late life potential through nursing student and older adult collaboration

The purpose of this article is to describe the process of creating an ethnodrama focusing on possible selves. Twelve older adult residents of an assisted living facility were paired with 12 nursing students to conduct semistructured interviews on the topic of possible selves. Interviews were analyzed in an iterative process involving in vivo and pattern coding. Themes relating to late life potential were identified, including hopes, fears, barriers, and aids to possibility. The ethnodrama was outlined from these themes and composite characters were created to represent findings. Ten final interviews were recorded with student adult dyads reading the script and providing feedback as member checks. The final draft was work shopped with a theatre company. Ethnodrama has the potential of increasing innovation in research but methodology must be clarified to improve consistency and rigor leading to greater acceptance in the research community.

Aging and the Arts Online: Lessons Learned From Course Development and Implementation.

With the recent move toward competency-based gerontology education, incorporating humanities and arts will be necessary for accreditation. This article describes the pedagogical approaches and lessons learned during 5 years of development and implementation of an asynchronous online course in Aging and the Arts. Fifty graduate and undergraduate students participated in the course over five semesters. Discipline diversity increased subsequent to designation as a fine arts general education course. Students expressed appreciation for multimedia resources, an initial fear of creating a wiki, and online redundancy was reduced through increased community engagement that also augmented application in real-world settings. The visual nature of arts and aging lends itself to a compelling and interactive online course experience that can be adapted to synchronous, hybrid, and face-to-face formats. Opportunities for community engaged learning will increase as art programs for older adults become more prevalent.

Board 391 - Research Abstract Development and Construct Validation of the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale (IPAS) for Assessing the Impact of Interprofessional Simulations (Submission #1233)

Introduction/Background Development of interprofessional competencies is essential in the training of practice-ready health professionals. Many interprofessional educational (IPE) programs use simulations to teach collaborative team skills. These IPE simulations should facilitate students meeting the recently published IPEC Core Competencies.1 However, determining whether this occurs is difficult since no validated tools currently exist to assess all four IPEC Core Competency domains. The goals of this study were to develop, validate and test a novel scale to assess interprofessional attitudes of students in the health professions. This scale was designed to incorporate the core competency domains defined in the IPEC Report and to be used in assessing the impact of IPE simulations on health professional student attitudes towards interprofessionalism. Methods An online survey containing 42 questions based in part on the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS)2-4 and new questions based on the IPEC Core Competencies was developed and administered in 2012 to a diverse group of 1549 health professional students from the University of Utah Health Sciences (UUHS). The UUHS is an academic health center composed of four schools and colleges (Health, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy), including nursing, medical, pharmacy, medical laboratory science, nutrition, occupational therapy, public health and physician assistant students. Analyses were performed to validate the assessment tool, eliminate redundant questions and cluster questions into subscales. Results The responses from the 42 item online survey tool were evaluated to assess construct validity and internal consistency reliability. A survey response rate of 45% (n=701) was obtained. After removing incomplete survey responses, a dataset consisting of 678 responses was randomly split into two datasets which were independently analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA, n=342) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA, n=336). The result of the EFA was a 27 item scale that we named the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale (IPAS). The EFA identified five subscales with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.62 to 0.92 (Table 1). The CFA indicated the content of the five subscales was consistent with the EFA model. The collection of validated survey questions is being incorporated into surveys administered to students before and after IPE simulations to evaluate the impact of the simulations on interprofessional attitudes. These IPE simulations are designed to train students to work collaboratively in interprofessional teams and include students from all four schools and colleges at the UUHS at various levels of training. The Results of these on-going assessments using the IPAS will be described in more detail during the presentation. Conclusion We have created and validated an assessment tool, the IPAS, which contains items that reflect current interprofessional competencies. The IPAS is being used to assess the impact of IPE simulations on student’s attitudes towards working collaboratively in interprofessional teams. References 1. Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel. Core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice: Report of an expert panel. Washington, D.C2011: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education-resources/IPECReport.pdf. 2. Parsell G, Bligh J. The development of a questionnaire to assess the readiness of health care students for interprofessional learning (RIPLS). Med Educ. 1999; 33:95-100. 3. Reid R, Bruce D, Allstaff K, McLernan D. Validating the readiness for interpersonal learning scale (RIPLS) in the post graduate context. Med Educ. 2006; 40: 415-422. 4. Williams B, Brown T, Boyle M. Construct validation of the readiness for interprofessional learning scale: A Rasch and factor analysis. J Interprof Care. 2012; 26: 326-332. Disclosures CDC Experience in 2009-2010: a year fellowship in epidemiology at the CDC, funds provided to the CDC Foundation by Pfizer Elsevier Publishing Co.

Context Matters for Nurses Leading Pain Improvement in U.S. Hospitals

Abstract Background: Pain continues to be a problem in hospitalized patients. Contextual factors contribute to the success of pain quality improvement efforts. Aims: This paper describes nurse team leaders’ perceptions of organizational context and factors perceived to help and hinder the process of leading a unit‐based improvement effort focused on pain. Design: Qualitative descriptive design. Setting: Interviews took place over the telephone. Participants: Nurses from 106 hospitals across the United States. Methods: Investigators interviewed 125 nurses leading a unit‐based pain quality improvement project in partnership with the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators. Lewin’s Field Theory guided a thematic analysis. Results: Key contextual factors related to the amount of change in the health care environment and characteristics of the organization and providers. Helping forces included characteristics of nurses, teamwork, a culture of quality, opportunities for learning, pain management resources, and accountability for pain management. Hindering forces included: barriers to involvement, attitudes and relationships, lack of knowledge, and types of patients. Conclusions: Overcoming the pervasive barriers of constant change and lack of staff involvement while also capitalizing on the culture of quality and characteristics of the health care team may further enhance and sustain improvement efforts related to pain management of hospitalized patients. New models for influencing quality improvement could be strengthened with involving frontline staff in both planning and implementation of improvement efforts. Clinical Implications: Because of the diverse responses, it is recommended that each unit conduct a force‐field analysis to guide successful implementation of improvement efforts.

Navigating the future of gerontology education: curriculum mapping to the AGHE competencies

ABSTRACT The recent adoption of gerontology competencies for undergraduate and graduate education emphasize a need for competency-based education. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the approach one program took to mapping and aligning courses to the newly adopted Association for Gerontology in Higher Education’s (AGHE) competencies in an effort to clarify curriculum needs for a diverse student population, increase the measurability of objectives, and apply for Program of Merit status through AGHE. Assessment of current courses led to mapping objectives to competencies, identifying missing content, and revising courses to reduce knowledge gaps. Barriers and facilitators to this process are examined in an effort to share the implications of one program’s competency alignment process.