Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: doi:10.22028/D291-40782
Title: Interprofessional education: a necessity in Alzheimer’s dementia care—a pilot study
Author(s): Dressel, Katharina
Ablinger, Irene
Lauer, Anna Andrea
Grimm, Heike Sabine
Hartmann, Tobias
Hermanns, Carina
Schwarz, Marcus
Taddey, Tim
Grimm, Marcus Otto Walter
Language: English
Title: Frontiers in Medicine
Volume: 10
Publisher/Platform: Frontiers
Year of Publication: 2023
Free key words: interprofessional education
therapy professions
dementia care
competency-based education
learning methods
interprofessional relations
DDC notations: 610 Medicine and health
Publikation type: Journal Article
Abstract: Introduction: Interprofessional collaboration is seen as an indispensable prerequisite for high-quality health services and patient care, especially for complex diseases such as dementia. Thus, the current project aimed to extend interprofessional and competency-based education in the field of dementia care to the previously understudied therapy professions of nutrition, speech-language pathology, and physiotherapy. Methods: A three-day workshop was designed to provide specific learning objectives related to patient-centered dementia care, as well as competences for interprofessional collaboration. Teaching and learning approaches included case-based learning in simulated interprofessional case-conferences and peerteaching. A total of 42 students (n  =  20 nutrition therapy and counseling, n  =  8 speech-language pathology, n  =  14 physiotherapy), ranging from first to seventh semester, finished the whole workshop and were considered in data analysis. Changes in self-perceived attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration and education were measured by the German version of the UWE-IP. An in-house questionnaire was developed to evaluate knowledge and skills in the field of dementia, dementia management and interprofessional collaboration. Results: Participation in the workshop led to significant improvements in the total scores of the UWE-IP-D and the in-house questionnaire, as well as their respective subscales. Moderate to large effect sizes were achieved. All professions improved significantly in both questionnaires with large effect sizes. Significant differences between professions were found in the UWE-IP-D total score between students of speech-language pathology and physiotherapy in the posttest. Students of nutrition therapy and counseling revealed a significant lower level of self-perceived knowledge and skills in the in-house questionnaire pre- and post-testing. Discussion: The pilot-study confirms the effectiveness of interprofessional education to promote generic and interprofessional dementia care competencies and to develop positive attitudes toward interprofessional learning and collaboration in the therapy professions, thus increasing professional diversity in interprofessional education research. Differences between professions were confounded by heterogenous semester numbers and participation conditions. To achieve a curricular implementation, interprofessional education should be expanded to include a larger group of participants belonging to different professions, start early in the study program, and be evaluated over the long term.
DOI of the first publication: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1235642
URL of the first publication: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2023.1235642
Link to this record: urn:nbn:de:bsz:291--ds-407824
hdl:20.500.11880/36652
http://dx.doi.org/10.22028/D291-40782
ISSN: 2296-858X
Date of registration: 23-Oct-2023
Faculty: M - Medizinische Fakultät
Department: M - Neurologie und Psychiatrie
Professorship: M - Prof. Dr. Tobias Hartmann
Collections:SciDok - Der Wissenschaftsserver der Universität des Saarlandes

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