Assessment of European health professionals' educational needs in basic principles of geriatric medicine: a focus...

In many countries, geriatrics is still emerging as a speciality, with limited training options for healthcare professionals (HCPs). This international qualitative study aimed to explore the geriatric educational needs of HCPs, focussing on countries where geriatric medicine (GM) is emerging or underdeveloped.

Fourteen focus groups (n = 125 participants, 82% female, mean age 41.6 years) were carried out representing ten European countries and a range of HCPs and settings. Focus group discussions were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and inductively coded in the original language. Codes were aggregated into a shared English codebook applied to all transcripts. Descriptive and subsequently analytical themes were then developed.

Three themes were identified. (1) Current experiences of geriatric care: participants described caring for older adults as medically and socially complex, requiring strong communication skills and interprofessional collaboration. (2) Structural and contextual challenges: limited staffing, fragmented care pathways, and GM's emerging status hindered effective care delivery. (3) Uncertainties and unmet training needs: key uncertainties included distinguishing ageing from disease, applying assessment tools, recognising red flags, and safe medication management. Participants emphasised the need for practical training during undergraduate studies, standardised interprofessional courses for non-specialists, and structural support (e.g. accessible programmes, protected time for training).

Currently, geriatrics training is limited and there are multiple contextual challenges, especially in countries with emerging GM. There is significant unmet need for HCP basic training in GM. Our study contributes to an empirical basis for developing relevant and feasible GM training for HCPs. Structural support is needed for these initiatives.