title: The mixed-discipline aged-care student clinic: an authentic interprofessional learning initiative.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: HealthPEER, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Building 13C, Clayton Campus, Australia. Tel 613-99058169. fiona.kent@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.forename: Penni
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Drysdale
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Keating
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D058025:Interdisciplinary Studies / Q000592:standards*; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D017145:Models, Educational; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000592:standards; D018579:Patient Selection; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013336:Students, Health Occupations; D014739:Victoria; D000078329:Workforce