Cultivating Dynamic Interprofessional Competency and Communication Skills Among Health Professionals to Optimize Aging

Beginning in the fall of 2017, a team consisting of one occupational therapy faculty, one physical therapy faculty, and one professional from the Center for Interprofessional Practice, Education and Research (CIPER) implemented an interprofessional experience (IPE) for Occupational and Physical therapy students in an assisted living facility. The experience includes orientation and guided communication for the IPE teams prior to an onsite experience with the assigned assisted living facility resident. The teams observed one another complete profession specific assessments and conducted a care plan conference following the IPE experience. Student assessment data spurred on further refinement of the experience and measurement tool of students’ self-assessment of clinical competency and role delineations as well as personal/emotional dynamics of the experience of working with older adults. Beginning in the fall of 2019, nursing students will be integrated into the IPE experience.

A framework for developing an interprofessional experience which focuses on a team-based approach to serving the older adult in an assisted living facility will be shared. Resources that promote team-based learning and help overcome barriers to scheduling within this framework will be shared. This includes power point templates to facilitate an online pre-experience orientation, communications templates for use with students and with clinical partners, and tools for facilitating and assessing a post-experience team meeting.

Participants will glean lessons learned, sticky situations, and effective problem solving based on the presenters experiences in developing and implementing interprofessional activities in occupational therapy and physical therapy didactic coursework focused on older adults. Participants will walk away with tangible tools and action steps to consider the needs of orienting students and clinical partners, guiding student interprofessional interactions for competency, and facilitating care plan recommendations and effective communication amongst team members.