A Preliminary Qualitative Evaluation of an In-home Geriatric Care Elective Experience for Third-year Medical Students

Abstract

Introduction: The aging population is growing quickly and has a higher prevalence of comorbid and chronic diseases. A majority of this group resides in the home setting. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of third-year medical students following a pilot component of an internal medicine clerkship, consisting of four in-home visits with geriatric patients.Methods: A qualitative study design, utilizing focus groups, was used to assess general themes in students’ responses regarding their attitudes to geriatrics, the field of geriatrics and the in-home care pilot program.Results: Twelve students participated in three focus group sessions. Six themes were identified across all focus group sessions. These included 1) distinct advantages to the home setting, 2) more time for relationship building, 3) increased insight to the aging process, 4) increased compassion, 5) suggestions for program improvement, and 6) future quality of care.Conclusion: The results demonstrate that students found the program to be of value to their medical education. Students developed positive attitudes and compassion for the elderly community. The insight they gained during this program may allow them to understand their role in caring for increasing numbers of aging patients in future populations. Suggestions made by the students showed their perceived value of the program and desire for it to continue for future students. Future studies should utilize validated tools and more longitudinal study designs to assess temporal changes in attitudes.

What Is the State of Compassion Education? A Systematic Review of Compassion Training in Health Care

“…Service learning programs designed to enhance learners’ competence in caring for older adults included an in-home care component of an internal medicine clerkship for medical students 55 and a practicum in caring for vulnerable elderly patients with dementia, an older adult partnership program, and a course focused on older adults for nursing students. 54 , 56 , 57 During these interventions, learners developed relationships with older adults by visiting elderly patients with dementia or physical limitations in continuing-care retirement communities 54 or higher-functioning older adults in a local long-term care facility, 56 their homes, 55 or in a community setting. 57 Some learners reported that these experiences engendered a greater appreciation for elderly persons and enhanced their compassion, especially in the areas of listening, empathy, patience, and spending time with patients.…”

“…After duplicates were removed, the titles and abstracts of 5,275 records were screened using the inclusion criteria, and 1,002 full-text articles of potential relevance were retrieved. Of these, 838 articles were excluded and 164 were retained, including 108 peer-reviewed publications, 41–148 describing 103 education interventions (Table 1 and Supplemental Digital Appendix 3 at http://links.lww.com/ACADMED/B91), and 56 abstracts reported as conference proceedings (see Supplemental Digital Appendix 4 at http://links.lww.com/ACADMED/B91). This systematic review focused on the education interventions described in the 108 peer-reviewed publications.…”

Lehrfilm über das geriatrische Basisassessment in der hausärztlichen Versorgung – Methoden filmischer Authentizität

“…Der Hausbesuch bei geriatrischen Patientinnen und Patienten als Teil der curricularen Lehre [ 13 , 21 ] bietet sicherlich den unmittelbarsten und authentischsten Einblick, um eine bessere Vorstellung der Lebensrealität Älterer zu erlangen, wie Weltermann et al. [ 22 ] fordern.…”

Geriatrics Education: Phone Calls With Older Adults and Medical Students

“…6 Other studies have demonstrated that interest in geriatrics increased following a home visit. 7 However, little data examine the role of longitudinal, preclinical exposure to older adults using phone calls. Thus, our medical school developed a geriatric servicelearning project that paired medical students with older adults via weekly phone calls for 6 weeks.…”