iPads, iBooks, Apps! What\u27s all the iFuss about?

The iVolution is here. It is iThis and iThat every way you turn. Is this just another iFad, or is it truly revolutionizing education? In a recent survey conducted by EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research on undergraduates and technology, 31% of students reported owning tablet technology a 15% increase from the previous year and 76% of students reported owning smart phones. This finding was a 14% increase from the previous year. Students also reported using smart devices in class to access material, participate in activities, look up information and photograph material as learning strategies. Thomas Jefferson University is riding the iWave and taking strides to better integrate technology at all levels of medical training; leading the forefront of the iVolution, syllabi, course materials, and textbooks are now delivered in some of our courses via iPads. In the past few years, the Jefferson Health Mentors Program has embraced the use of new technologies, including Wikis, online discussion boards, Google docs, and Skype platforms to facilitate asynchronous IPE interactions. These platforms have helped to promote IPE by easing scheduling logistics and by allowing students to collaborate electronically on team-based assignments. Over the past summer, JCIPE, the Jefferson Health Mentors Program (JHMP), faculty from Jefferson Medical College and the School of Health Professions, Academic & Instructional Support & Resources (AISR) and Jeff Information Technology (IT) assembled a working group and developed yet another innovative tool to better integrate technology into our IPE efforts – the product was a new iBook, entitled “Assessing Patient Safety.

What? So What? Now What? Student Reflections on IPE and Collaborative Practice

Outline Background • Description of Health Mentors Program (HMP) • Purpose of Study Methods • Description of Analysis Results • Themes and Sub-themes Conclusion

A 360 Degree View of the Jefferson Health Mentors Program: Students, Administrator and Faculty Weigh in on Seven Years of Interprofessional Education

Learning Objectives •List three strategies for successful implementation of an Interprofessional Education (IPE) curriculum •Develop a roadmap for starting, expanding or evaluating an existing IPE program •Discuss challenges and shared lessons learned with CQI in implementing IPE with a panel hosted by HMP students, administrator and facult

Developing and Sustaining Innovations in Interprofessional Education

Purpose: The purpose of this seminar is to discuss the process of developing and sustaining a longitudinal interprofessional education (IPE) program. Background: Recent reports from the Interprofessional Education Collaborative and the World Health Organization have reinforced the importance of training the healthcare workforce for future collaborative practice. As a result, we are now starting to see new innovations in academic institutions where pre-licensure training programs are integrating interprofessional education into existing uniprofessional curriculums. However, developing and sustaining IPE programs can be a challenging process, complicated by varied schedules, differing accreditation standards, faculty buy-in, and limited funding for IPE innovation. Description of Intervention/Program: The Jefferson Health Mentors Program (HMP) is a two-year longitudinal IPE curriculum that brings together faculty and students from six training programs, including: couple and family therapy, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, and physical therapy. Student teams are partnered with a volunteer Health Mentor, a person with a chronic health condition and/or impairment, and complete a series of team-based curricular modules addressing the health mentor’s life and health history, as well as his/her wellness, safety, and health behaviors. Since program inception and initial curricular content development in 2007, interprofessional teams of HMP faculty content experts, student course liaisons and administrative staff have been continuously modifying the HMP curriculum and seeking new ways to sustain this large longitudinal IPE program. Curricular modules are modified each year based of faculty feedback, student course evaluations, focus groups and mixed-methods evaluation data. Results/Conclusion: Developing an interprofessional education module or program takes time, resources and collaboration. Using the Jefferson HMP as an example, we will explore approaches to IPE curriculum development and revision as well discuss lessons learned for sustaining an effective IPE program, which can be adapted to any educational setting. Learning Objectives: At the end of the seminar, participants will be able to: Design an interprofessional education curricular activity for integration into uniprofessional training programs Identify three specific components needed to sustain an interprofessional education innovation References: Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel. (2011). Core competencies for Interprofessional collaborative practice: Report of an expert panel. Washington,D.C.: Interprofessional Education Collaborative. World Health Organization: Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice.Geneva, WHO, 2010. Available at http://www.who.int/hrh/resources/framework_action/en/

Interprofessional Faculty Development: Looking Back, Moving Forward

The need to incorporate interprofessional education (IPE) in healthcare professions training is well known, dating as far back as the 1972InstituteofMedicinereport. Since its inception in 2007, the Jefferson Health Mentors Program (HMP) incorporates students from six different professions in a longitudinal program at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU). A core group of faculty have been responsible for the development, implementation and maintenance of this large interprofessional program. The HMP faculty has increasingly recognized the need for new strategies to recruit additional faculty, to support faculty development, and to sustain faculty participation in this program. In this session, we will describe the faculty development program used at TJU that provides faculty with the skills needed to facilitate interprofessional small group sessions, to provide formative feedback to students from multiple professions, and to lead discussions within their own courses that incorporate aspects of interprofessionalism. Specific faculty development tools will be described, including: 1) online faculty guides; 2) instructional workshops; 3) an online question and answer tool; and 4) faculty mentorship. Preliminary anecdotal findings suggest that faculty are receptive to these support tools and workshops. Faculty find it helpful to have the ability to preview material, discuss content and teaching methods with seasoned facilitators, and attend or listen to workshops which provide an outline for facilitating each IPE session. Plans to formally evaluate this faculty development program will also be shared. Motivating faculty to participate in IPE programs is imperative to sustaining innovations in IPE. Providing a multipronged approach to faculty development can assist health professions faculty in teaching IPE competencies and will ultimately increase faculty retention and support for IPE. Learning Objectives: The participant will be able to: Identify a model for interprofessional faculty development. List 3 strategies to sustain faculty participation in an interprofessional program. Compare and contrast methods for evaluation of a faculty development program

WeCareAdvisor, an Online Platform to Help Family Caregivers Manage Dementia-Related Behavioral Symptoms: an Efficacy Trial in the Time of COVID-19.

Dementia-related behavioral and psychology symptoms (BPSD) are undertreated and have negative consequences. However, families do not have access to disease information, tailored problem-solving  and effective management strategies, and with COVID-19, are more socially isolated and distressed. To address this dementia care gap, we describe a Phase III efficacy trial testing an online platform, WeCareAdvisor, and design modifications necessitated by COVID-19. WeCareAdvisor provides caregivers with disease information, daily tips, and a systematic approach for describing behaviors, investigating underlying causes, creating tailored strategies, and evaluating their effectiveness (DICE). The trial will enroll 326 caregivers nationwide, randomly assign them to immediately receive WeCareAdvisor (treatment), or a 3-month waitlist (control) and evaluate short (1- and 3-month) and long-term (6-month) outcomes for caregiver distress with and confidence managing BPSD, and BPSD occurrences. We will also evaluate utilization patterns with different prompting conditions: high-intensity (telephone and email reminders), low-intensity (email reminders), or no reminders to use WeCareAdvisor. COVID-19 necessitated design modifications resulting in greater inclusivity of caregivers from diverse races, ethnicities, and geographic areas. Key modifications include shifting from in-home, in-person interviewing to telephone; adjusting tool functionality from operating on a grant-funded iPad to caregivers' personal internet-capable devices; and expanding recruitment from one metropolitan area to nationwide. Study modifications necessitated by COVID-19 facilitate national outreach, easier tool adoption, and enable more diverse caregivers to participate. This study addresses a critical dementia care need, and design modifications may shorten timeline from efficacy testing to commercialization

Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Targeted National Recruitment of Community-Dwelling Caregivers Managing Dementia-Related Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms: A Recruitment Approach for a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Over 16 million caregivers of people living with dementia require support in a range of issues, including self-care, disease education, and guidance for how to manage behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Non-pharmacological interventions are needed to address these areas, and online applications have been shown to be safe and effective. To ensure the efficacy of such interventions, racially, ethnically, geographically, and socioeconomically diverse participants must be recruited to increase the generalizability of study outcomes. This protocol paper describes a recruitment plan using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to reach a representative sample of caregivers across the United States for a national Phase III clinical study. Using publicly available census data from the American Community Survey (ACS), combined with location data for local aging resources such as Area Agencies on Aging (AAA), recruitment will be derived from data analysis conducted in ESRI ArcGIS v10.7.1. Datasets including age, gender, income, and education will be assessed nationally at the county and census tract spatial scale in a nine-step process to develop recruitment priority areas containing high concentrations of eligible participants living in the community. Overall, the current protocol will demonstrate the value of GIS in tailoring targeted outreach strategies to recruit community-dwelling populations through local resource institutions. This novel approach may have far-reaching implications in future recruitment initiatives and help to secure racially/ethnically diverse samples

An Interprofessional Geriatric Clinical Skills Fair

Objectives: 1. Discuss the need to expand geriatric and interprofessional education for health professionals. 2. Describe the effectiveness of an interprofessional clinical skills fair as a teaching model for geriatric and IPE competencies. 3. Describe one method for evaluating an Interprofessional Geriatric Clinical Skills Fair. 4. Discuss opportunities and challenges for implementation and evaluation of a new or expanded interprofessional geriatric clinical skills fair. Presentation: 25 minute