Creating Interdisciplinary Training for Health Care Professionals: The Challenges and Opportunities for Home Health Care

Abstract

Training health care professionals to work together in managing the problems of elderly patients is an area where the home health care industry can make a crucialand substantial contribution. Since 1996, Rush Home Care Network, an affiliate agency of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, has served as a clinical training site for an interdisciplinary education program. This program, the Rush Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training Program, was initially funded in 1996 through a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation. Trainees from medicine, nursing, socialwork, pharmacy, occupationaltherapy, physicaltherapy, and clinical nutrition observe and work with Rush home care teams. They participate in team meetings, home visits, patient assessment and counseling, and in-service training. The Rush home care experience in interdisciplinary team training can be viewed as a modelfor other home health care organizations interested in becoming clinical training sites for team care.

‘That would have been beneficial’: LGBTQ education for home-care service providers

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Promoting interprofessional learning with medical students in home care settings

“…The management's willingness to provide staff time for training, to commit to strategies to facilitate organization of the experience and to encourage clinicians to participate ensured the success of this project. Others have noted the importance of a positive partnership between academic institutions and home care organizations to ensure successful interprofessional training in the home (Lapidos et al 2002). Developing placements in partnership with a private health care organization can present financial challenges.…”

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Management of complex chronic disease: facing the challenges in the Canadian health-care system

“…Home health-care agencies are hailed as an ideal environment for teaching interdisciplinary care. 40 This is because home care is an area where coordination and collaboration are particularly important for care quality and for producing positive outcomes for vulnerable and needy populations, including those with complex chronic disease.…”