The interprofessional clinical experience: interprofessional education in the nursing home

Abstract

The interprofessional clinical experience (ICE) was designed to introduce trainees to the roles of different healthcare professionals, provide an opportunity to participate in an interprofessional team, and familiarize trainees with caring for older adults in the nursing home setting. Healthcare trainees from seven professions (dentistry, medicine, nursing, nutrition, occupational therapy, optometry and social work) participated in ICE. This program consisted of individual patient interviews followed by a team meeting to develop a comprehensive care plan. To evaluate the impact of ICE on attitudinal change, the UCLA Geriatric Attitudes Scale and a post-experience assessment were used. The post-experience assessment evaluated the trainees' perception of potential team members' roles and attitudes about interprofessional team care of the older adult. Attitudes toward interprofessional teamwork and the older adult were generally positive. ICE is a novel program that allows trainees across healthcare professions to experience interprofessional teamwork in the nursing home setting.