Video vignettes depicting the care of an older patient were created to improve student understanding of elder abuse and neglect (EAN). Four hundred and eight students from five health professions programs participated in this interprofessional education (IPE) activity. The main objective of the IPE activity was to improve student understanding of EAN issues and to facilitate interprofessional discussion focused on recognition of and reaction to EAN in the healthcare setting. Students received three video vignettes ahead of time and were asked to list all their concerns regarding the management of the patient (pre-activity). One week later, students completed the Caregiving Scenario Questionnaire (CSQ) and a knowledge survey measuring student knowledge regarding EAN. Students then attended a 4-h IPE event focusing on team discussion of EAN issues. Interprofessional teams watched three different vignettes and once again listed their concerns regarding the care of the patient depicted in the videos (in-class activity). Two weeks after the event, individual students completed the CSQ, the knowledge survey, and an event survey evaluating the IPE event and student attitudes regarding scope of practice knowledge (post-activity). On the pre-activity, the percentage of students correctly identifying EAN ranged from 39% to 70%. On the in-class activity, the percentage of teams correctly identifying EAN ranged from 57% to 91%. On the post-activity, significant improvements were noted in student ability to recognize “abusive” actions on the CSQ with seven of the thirteen improving significantly. However, for “potentially abusive”, and “not abusive” behaviors, students were less likely to list those correctly. Statistically significant improvement was noted on all items in the knowledge survey. On the event survey, majority of students rated the various facets of the IPE event as ‘beneficial’ or ‘very beneficial’. Overall, this IPE event appeared to improve student understanding of issues related to EAN and could be replicated by other programs.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/gabriella-musacchia/61/