In 2009, The University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) at Fort Worth, Texas, created the Seniors Assisting in Geriatric Education (SAGE) program. The goals of the program were to strengthen healthcare students’ skill in the care of older adults through experiential education, to increase interprofessional collaboration, and to engage with older adults in the community.
Program outcomes have included expansion to a partnering institution, Texas Christian University (TCU), with additional disciplines. To date, over 1,800 older adults and over 10,000 students have benefited from more than 24,000 educational visit hours through SAGE. In addition to initial external funding, the program has also garnered donor support to sustain operations over the years.
This lightning round will address how the SAGE committee, composed of interprofessional faculty, guides the curriculum development, growth, and direction of the SAGE program. In addition to forming interprofessional partnerships, taking ownership of the program and outcomes, and providing mentorship of new faculty who join the committee, members have found a commonality and shared vision in the care of older adults.
Among other strategies, they have used an evaluation process to improve the program over the years, have rotated committee membership to prevent burnout, and have found a champion for the program to support programmatic needs through funding, advocacy, and staffing. The result has been interprofessional collaboration, instructional scaffolding, intentional cross-discipline lines of communication, and an integrated curriculum that has brought growth, not just to individual students but also to program faculty and health professions as a whole.
The leadership and mentorship strategies mentioned in this talk benefit programs and faculty, and also help to advance health professions students in their future careers, improve interprofessional communication, and break down stereotypes about other disciplines, thereby resulting in better outcomes in their future practice settings.
HRSA Grant # U1QHP28735
Disclosures:
In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education’s Standards for Commercial Support, adopted by the Joint Accreditors for Interprofessional Continuing Education, the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education has a conflict of interest policy that requires that all individuals involved in the development of activity content disclose their relevant financial relationships with commercial interests. All potential conflicts of interest that arise based upon these financial relationships are resolved prior to the educational activity.
Sheryl Buckner, Alicia Williams, Traci Butler Carroll, D. Lynn Jackson, Janet Lieto, Brandy Schwarz, Jennifer Watson
declare no vested interest in or affiliation with any commercial interest offering financial support for this interprofessional continuing education activity, or any affiliation with a commercial interest whose philosophy could potentially bias their presentation.
