Lora Packel

A Simulation Center Geriatric Teaching Experience in Interprofessional Communication

To the Editor: Caring for older adults requires the involvement of interprofessional (IP) teams, but health professional students have limited opportunities to learn about geriatric medicine together. The World Health Organization defines IP education (IPE) as multiprofession collaborative learning focused on health outcome improvement. IPE delivery methods include didactics, practice-based interventions, simulations, and experiential strategies. Based on the lack of IP geriatric opportunities, faculty from the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and University of the Sciences (USciences) created a geriatrics focused IPE simulation-based workshop; results are reported from the 2014 workshop.

Faculty facilitators’ and standardized family members (SFMs) perceptions of student teamwork during an interprofessional education simulation workshop

ABSTRACT Standardized patients can be trained to portray standardized family members (SFMs) for interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives to maximize student learning. To date, studies of IPE often focus on student learning outcomes rather than on the feedback and perspectives of SFMs and faculty facilitators (FFs), The purpose of our study was to examine SFMs’ and FFs’ perspectives immediately after participating in an IPE workshop. SFMs and FFs completed a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions to identify positive and challenging aspects of interactions with health professions students during an IPE workshop. A directed content analysis approach was used to assess written feedback (N = 29) from SFMs and FFs. Study findings highlight many similar themes between SFMs and FFs as well as minor differences regarding recognition of emotion and communication transitions. SFMs and FFs both agreed, however, that these are areas for further development by students to improve communication. Our study adds insight into SFMs’ and FFs’ feedback immediately after an IPE workshop.

An Innovative Interprofessional Simulation: Preparing Students to Tackle the Challenge of Care Transitions

INTRODUCTION Transitions of Care (TOC) are associated with communication breakdowns that contribute to medical errors, medication mistakes, and hospital re-admissions. The purpose of this one-day workshop was to teach interprofessional (IP) skills to healthcare students, focusing on verbal and written communication during a TOC of a standardized patient (SP). METHODS Forty-seven students, representing six healthcare disciplines, worked in IP teams to plan a family meeting for a hospitalized SP who had recently experienced a stroke. Students were to communicate pertinent medical, social, and physical issues to the SP, as well as make discharge recommendations. Discharge summaries were entered into an electronic medical record and transmitted to IP teams simulating either a rehabilitation setting or ambulatory care. IP teams utilized these summaries in their family meeting with the SP. After each scenario, students debriefed, focusing on IP competencies. RESULTS Significant improvements were found in nine of fourteen areas measured by the Attitudes Towards Healthcare Teams Scale. Significant improvements were found for confidence in writing an accurate and concise note as well as gleaning information from a discharge summary. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated the effectiveness of a short workshop on improving IP verbal and written communication and confidence in TOC scenarios in acute care, rehabilitation, and ambulatory care. Received: 03/31/2017 Accepted: 10/24/2017

Evaluation of interprofessional health care team communication simulation in geriatric palliative care

ABSTRACT An interprofessional education (IPE) simulation-based geriatric palliative care training was developed to educate health professions students in team communication. In health care, interprofessional communication is critical to team collaboration and patient and family caregiver outcomes. Studies suggest that acquiring skills to work on health care teams and communicate with team members should occur during the early stage of professional education. The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC®) competency-based framework was used to inform the training. An evaluation examined attitudes toward health care teams, self-efficacy in communication skills, interprofessional collaboration, and participant satisfaction with the training experience. One-hundred and eleven participants completed pre- and post-training surveys. Overall, a majority of participants (97.3%) were satisfied with the training and reported more positive attitudes toward health care teams and greater self-efficacy in team communication skills. IPE participants had higher collaboration scores compared to observer learners. Further research is needed to explore long-term effects of IPE in clinical practice.

Factors Influencing Physical Activity Behaviors in Colorectal Cancer Survivors

Purpose. To elucidate factors that impact intention (INT) to be active as well as actual physical activity (PA) behavior in colorectal cancer survivors (CRC-S) using the theory of planned behavior (TpB). Planning for PA was explored as a mediator of the INT-behavior relationship. Chemotherapy-induced neuropathy and fatigue were also explored. Design. A cross-sectional quantitative mailed survey was used. Setting. The study was conducted among community-dwelling adults living in Pennsylvania when diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC). Subjects. Subjects comprised 843 CRC-S diagnosed with CRC in Pennsylvania in 2009. Measures. The survey included questions about planning for PA, TpB constructs, medical and social variables, and PA as measured by a modified Godin Leisure Time Questionnaire. Analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample. A mediation analysis was used to determine if planning mediated the relationship between INT and actual PA behavior. A stepwise regression was used to determine predictors of INT and PA. Results. Ninety-six CRC-S responded, with 25% meeting PA recommendations for health promotion, suggesting that CRC-S are insufficiently active. Perceived behavioral control (PBC) and social norm (SN) accounted for 43% of the variance in INT, whereas 30% of the variance in PA was explained by PBC and age. Neuropathy negatively impacted PA behavior (p = .008). Both action and coping planning partially mediated the INT-behavior relationship (β = 20.08, p = .007; β = 22.85, p = .001, respectively). Conclusion. Survivors at risk for inactivity are those with low PBC, low SN, and neuropathy, and those who are older.