The mixed-discipline aged-care student clinic: an authentic interprofessional learning initiative

This paper describes the development, methods and results of a novel interprofessional student-led aged care clinic. The clinic was established to facilitate the interprofessional education of students approaching graduation in dietetics, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry, social work, and speech pathology. Students worked together in a primary care clinic established to support patients >70 years old who had recently been discharged home from an acute hospital admission. The students completed a screening interview of patients in mixed-discipline teams, established health care needs, and wrote referrals for appropriate support services. A mixed-methods evaluation approach was taken; the effects of the clinic on students (n=70) and educators (n=14) were evaluated. A subgroup of students (n=42) and educators (n=12) participated in focus groups designed to enable evaluation of learning outcomes. Students reported developing an expanded perspective of issues that affect the health of older people, felt that they gained knowledge about the practical roles and referral pathways of other disciplines, and described enhanced interprofessional communication skills. Educators reported that they observed the students' development of communication and referral skills and expanded awareness of health domains that they would not previously have considered.