Team‐Based Interprofessional Competency Training for Dementia Screening and Management |
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| Authors: | Zaldy S. Tan MD MPH JoAnn Damron‐Rodriguez PhD LCSW Mary Cadogan DrPH RN GNP‐BC Daphna Gans PhD Rachel M. Price MSG Sharon S. Merkin PhD Lee Jennings MD MSHS Heather Schickedanz MD Sam Shimomura PharmD Dan Osterweil MD CMD Joshua Chodosh MD MSHS |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California;2. University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California;3. Health Services Advisory Group, Glendale, California;4. Los Angeles County—Olive View—University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, Sylmar, California;5. Western University of Health Sciences , Pomona, California;6. California Association of Long Term Care Medicine, Los Angeles, California;7. Division of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care, School of Medicine, New York University, New York, New York |
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| Abstract: | As many as 50% of people satisfying diagnostic criteria for dementia are undiagnosed. A team‐based training program for dementia screening and management was developed targeting four professions (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work) whose scope of practice involves dementia care. An interprofessional group of 10 faculty members was trained to facilitate four interactive competency stations on dementia screening, differential diagnoses, dementia management and team care planning, and screening for and managing caregiver stress. Registrants were organized into teams of five members, with at least one member of each profession per team. The teams rotated through all stations, completing assigned tasks through interprofessional collaboration. A total of 117 professionals (51 physicians, 11 nurses, 20 pharmacists, 24 social workers, 11 others) successfully completed the program. Change scores showed significant improvements in overall competence in dementia assessment and intervention (very low = 1; very high = 5; average change 1.12, P < .001), awareness of importance of dementia screening (average change 0.85, P < .001), and confidence in managing medication (average change 0.86, P < .001). Eighty‐seven participants (82.9%) reported feeling confident or very confident using the dementia toolkit at their home institution. In a survey administered 3 months after the session, 48 respondents reported that they had changed their approach to administering the Mini‐Cog test (78%), differential diagnosis (49%), assessment of caregiver stress (74%), and accessing community support and services (69%). In conclusion, team‐based interprofessional competency training is a team teaching model that can be used to enhance competency in dementia screening and management in medical, nursing, pharmacy, and social work practitioners. |
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| Keywords: | dementia interprofessional education team |
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