Outcomes From an Interprofessional Geriatric Outreach and Training Program

Interprofessional education (IPE) is necessary to train health care professionals to work collaboratively for the care of older adults. Geriatric Outreach and Training with Care! (GOT Care!) was an innovative academic training program designed to provide an IPE opportunity for health care students and faculty while providing care to community-dwelling older adults. The objectives of this program evaluation were to: (a) examine students', older adult participants', and primary care providers' (PCPs) perceptions toward their participation GOT Care! and (b) examine patient outcomes to identify program strengths and areas for improvement.

Formative and summative program evaluation methods were utilized to evaluate student, older adult participant, and provider perceptions of participating in GOT Care!. A total of 221 pharmacy, physical therapy, nursing, social work, medicine, and public health students from a single public university in northeastern United States, 38 community-dwelling older adults, and 33 PCPs were included. Means, standard deviations, and percentages were computed for survey data. The contextual data gathered from interviews and open-ended questions were analyzed using Borkan's immersion-crystallization approach to generate themes.

Overall, the students, older adults, and PCPs appreciated GOT Care!. Students reported learning about the unique challenges to geriatric care and how to communicate with other professionals. The older adults appreciated the thorough interprofessional assessment and that the students could learn from them. The PCPs noted the unique insights into their patients' health that would not present at a typical office visit.

GOT Care! leveraged academic and community partnerships to provide an IPE opportunity and care to vulnerable older adults. Positive outcomes such as older adult, student, and PCP satisfaction, and a reduction in emergency department visits support ongoing utilization and evaluation of these IPE programs.