Geriatric Mental Healthcare Training: A Mini-Fellowship Approach to Interprofessional Assessment and Management of...

The population in United States aged 65 and older has rapidly grown and is projected to grow faster than any other segment of the population. Despite this demographic shift, the nation's geriatric workforce is shrinking.

The primary goal of the fellowship was to form a learning collaborative that would help trainees in medicine, nursing, social work, pharmacy and occupational/physical therapy understand the roles of each discipline involved in the provision of geriatric mental healthcare and to enhance basic knowledge of common geriatric syndromes.

Faculty from the University of Pittsburgh developed a format for the mini-fellowship. Trainees from five disciplines were recruited for participation in the mini-fellowship. This was offered annually over four-year period, hosted by the John A. Hartford Foundation Centers of Excellence in Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and University of California at San Diego.

Eighty-one participants across five schools of the health sciences completed the mini-fellowship. Feedback was positive: most participants appreciated learning from other team members, endorsed appreciation of the contributions of other disciplines to patient care, and reported improved understanding of three major geriatric syndromes.

Conducting an interdisciplinary mini-fellowship in geriatric mental health was feasible and well received by trainees. The fellowship enabled better appreciation for the provision of geriatric mental health care within the context of an interprofessional team. However, decanal and faculty leadership across the schools needs to place greater emphasis on the importance of interprofessional team-based learning and to free up time for such activity.