Ensuring a Knowledgeable Geriatric Workforce: Interdisciplinary Education in Long-Term Services and Supports

In this symposium, we describe five interdisciplinary educational programs to enhance the geriatric workforce in long-term services and supports (LTSS): Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), assisted living, and home health and hospice. The interdisciplinary teams that came together to offer the programs leveraged technology to maximize access to experts in both the curriculum development process and the delivery of the educational programs for a wide range of target learners. The first program, an interdisciplinary telementoring series on dementia care for therapists in SNFs, was developed by a team of experts from occupational, physical and speech therapy. The program included asynchronous online didactic content and case-based learning relevant to therapists. The second program engaged faculty from seven graduate programs: Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Dentistry, Social Work, Nursing and Physician Assistant to co-create an interprofessional LTSS graduate certificate in Gerontology. The certificate encompasses asynchronous online courses to enable flexibility across programs and cover content specific to LTSS. In the third program, LTSS nurses completed an online educational course to better prepare them to care for complex older adults, improve leadership skills, become more resilient, and complete QAPI projects. The fourth program focused on utilizing interdisciplinary perspectives to educate LTSS direct care staff on the unique needs of LGBTQ older adults. The fifth program offered a virtual telehealth clinical experience to prepare physical therapy students for practice in a SNF setting. The curriculum included eight virtual modules and four telehealth patient encounters that exposed students to interdisciplinary teams in the SNF context

Interdisciplinary Telementoring for Therapists in SNFs to Improve Dementia Care Knowledge and Skills

Occupational, physical, and speech therapists possess knowledge and skills that have the potential to reduce the burden of care and improve the quality of life of skilled nursing facility (SNF) residents living with dementia. Despite this opportunity to impact the well-being of residents with dementia, many therapy practitioners lack specialized training on the management of dementia. Therapy practitioners (n=31) from 22 SNFs participated in eight weekly interdisciplinary educational sessions using the Project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) tele-mentoring model. An interdisciplinary team of therapy experts collaborated on the development of the curriculum, which included didactic content on dementia-care best practices as well as case-based learning. This presentation describes the process of developing an interprofessional tele-mentoring therapy education program, challenges encountered during implementation, and strategies to retain learners. Evaluation data from participants will be shared and implications for future tele-mentoring interprofessional educational offerings for therapists will be discussed

Interdisciplinary Community-Based Support for Caregivers of Individuals Living with Dementia

Evidence indicates family caregivers of individuals living with dementia (ILwD) are at risk for diminished physical and mental health; which may decrease their quality of life and directly impact their ability to provide care. An interdisciplinary approach to self-care and skill-building for caregivers is provided in a virtual support group offered by Council on Aging in Sonoma County, CA. As part of the nonprofit’s Adult Day Program, the group is offered to client caregivers and has two goals: First, creating a communitybased, long-term support system for ILwD who are agingin-place; second, fostering a safe and supportive community for family caregivers, by providing opportunities to collaborate with peers and an interdisciplinary team that includes a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), an Occupational Therapist (OT), and a Recreation Therapist (the day program manager). The closed group model established through eight weekly sessions builds trusting relationships in a frame that combines: the OT client-centered and collaborative approach to problem-solving everyday challenges of caregiving, the MFT skills of creating a safe space for discussion and deeper exploration, and program staff insights regarding the ILwD’s current interests and abilities exhibited during Day Program activities. Sessions include an emotional check-in by group members; a brief overview of best-practices and common caregiving concerns related to a weekly topic; and an opportunity for caregivers to explore the integration of best-practices into daily routines, while also attending to their well-being as caregivers. Program evaluation and results related to the program’s effectiveness and implications for scalability will be discussed

Promoting Health, Well Being and Quality of Life for Individuals with Dementia

Gina has worked in geriatric practice throughout her career, specializing in the occupational needs of individuals with neurocognitive impairment and their caregivers. Gina developed The Abilities Care Approach(TM), an abilities-based dementia program for inter-professional healthcare teams in skilled nursing facilities. The program promotes health, well-being, and quality of life for individuals with dementia. Gina provides education and consultation to healthcare practitioners and facilities on the implementation of evidence-based best practices for individuals with dementia and their caregivers. Gina has presented nationally on her work and the Abilities Care Approach has been implemented at facilities around the country

Applying the Age-Friendly Health Systems 4M Framework to Create Geriatric Education

Background: Through our four Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Programs (GWEP) and Geriatric Academic Career Awards (GACA), our universities have developed innovate ways to integrate Age-Friendly principles into our education. Additionally, our programs pivoted during COVID-19 to virtual and hybrid learning environments by grounding our work in age-friendly principles. Methods: Each of our programs have developed curriculum to align with the primary principles of the 4M Model which includes 1) What Matters Most, 2) Medications, 3) Mentation, and 4) Mobility. While the implementation varied among our GWEPs/GACAs, collectively, we have created geriatric training that has focused on the 4Ms. At Dominican University, learners were engaged in an intergenerational project that paired them with community dwelling older adults, where they focused on creating life profiles that highlighted key elements of the 4Ms in their own lives. At the Univ. of Illinois at Chicago and Univ. of Louisville, learners were trained specifically in how to align 4M content with annual wellness visits (AWVs) and screenings using multiple hybrid modalites. At the Univ. of North Texas, an online course was created to teach learners the principles of 4Ms and included a forum for discussing application and barriers for implementation in practice. Pre and post tests on knowledge and skill, chart reviews, and qualitative interviews were used to assess learning outcomes related to age-friendly content. Results: Across all of our GWEPs and GACAs, 500 learners have participated in our age-friendly clinical training. Our study found that using different methods to integrate age-friendly principles into our clinical curriculum has created positive learning experiences and shifted focused towards better patient care. Additionally, we have found that the infusion of age-friendly healthcare into our work has led to stronger patient outcomes including a focus on the priorities and goals of the patient. Conclusions: While COVID-19 has posed a challenge in delivering geriatric education, our programs have found innovative and meaningful ways to train learners in clinical work using the principles of age-friendly healthcare

Applying the Age-Friendly Health System Framework to Long Term Care Settings

Recognizing the growing need for geriatric expert health care, a collaborative of the John A. Hartford Foundation, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), American Hospital Association, and Catholic Health Association of the United States established the Age-Friendly Health System (AFHS) initiative to increase quality, effective person-centered healthcare for older adults (1-3). Age friendly care follows evidence-based practices, causes no harm and focuses on “what matters” to each older adult, their family and caregivers. The four core elements – the 4Ms framework – provide an evidence-based framework for age-friendly care (Table 1). The 4Ms include “what matters”, “mobility”, “mentation”, and “medications”. The 4Ms are not meant to be implemented individually but rather incorporated together to provide agefriendly care (4)