Biomedical subjects

Judith L Howe

Publications and source records attributed to Judith L Howe.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Interdisciplinary educational approaches to promote team-based geriatrics and palliative care.

Despite the increasing public demand for enhanced care of older patients and those with life-threatening illness, health professionals have had limited formal education in geriatrics and palliative care. Furthermore, formal education in interdisciplinary team training is limited. In order to remedy this situation, proactive interventions are being undertaken so that education and training in palliative care is being embedded within the training of physicians, nurses, social workers, as well as other associated health team members. This article discusses various educational approaches to interdisciplinary team-based geriatric and palliative care, highlighting the interdisciplinary didactic and clinical educational opportunities offered by an Interprofessional Palliative Care Fellowship Program, as well as an Associated Health Training Program at the Geriatrics Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Bronx Veteran's Medical Center. The article further describes the educational initiatives in palliative care offered through the Veteran's Integrated Service Network (VISN). Innovative educational strategies are discussed within the context of the existing literature on interdisciplinary health care team training.

Education, Professional↗

PubMed2006

Bioterrorism and Emergency Preparedness in Aging (BTEPA): HRSA-funded GEC collaboration for curricula and training.

Frail elders living alone or in long-term care settings are particularly vulnerable to bioterrorism and other emergencies due to their complex physical, social and psychological needs. This paper provides an overview of the recent literature on bioterrorism and emergency preparedness in aging (BTEPA); discusses federal initiatives by the health resources and services administration (HRSA) to address BTEPA; describes the collaborative efforts of six HRSA-funded geriatric education centers (GECS) to develop BTEPA geriatric curricula and training; and offers recommendations for BTEPA education and training, clinical practices, policy, and research. The GEC/BTEPA collaboration has produced model curricula, including emergency planning for diverse groups of older persons; enhanced networking among stakeholders in a fast paced environment of information sharing and changing policies; and developed interdisciplinary educational resources and approaches to address emergency preparedness for various settings in the elder care continuum.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

Mentoring new social work faculty:a gerontological perspective.

The John A. Hartford Foundation, in collaboration with the Gerontological Society of America, has developed new models to create geriatric faculty capacity within social work. The Faculty Scholars Program is building faculty leadership in academic geriatric social work through a strategic approach that includes long-distance national and institution- based mentoring. While mentoring models have proven to be effective means of career development, this is relatively new in academic social work and little is known about the impact of long-distance mentoring in association with sponsorship from a mentor at the scholar's home institution. This paper describes the mentoring model and its conceptual underpinnings. Evaluation data from an ongoing evaluation is presented in discussion of the strengths and limitations of the mentoring model.

Aged↗

PubMed2003

Social networks and use of social supports of minority elders in East Harlem.

Considerable empirical research substantiates the importance of social networks on health and well-being in later life. A study of ethnic minority elders living in two low income public housing buildings in East Harlem was undertaken to gain an understanding of the relationship between their health status and social networks. Findings demonstrate that elders with supportive housing had better psychological outcomes and used significantly more informal supports when in need. However, elders with serious health problems had poorer outcomes regardless of their level of social support. This study highlights the potential of supportive living environments to foster social integration and to optimise formal and informal networks.

Black or African American↗

PubMed2003

Using scripted video to assess interdisciplinary team effectiveness training outcomes.

As part of the Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) Program funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, the authors of this article worked to create an instrument, the Trainee Test of Team Dynamics, to assess health care trainees' understanding of team dynamics. The Trainee Test of Team Dynamics is a five-question written test designed to capture GITT trainees' knowledge of team process and skills in addressing conflict that is administered after watching a five-minute videotape of a simulated interdisciplinary health care team meeting. The test was created to measure health professions students' abilities to recognize effective geriatric health care teams, to respond to effective and ineffective team behaviors, and to determine whether or not the team meeting achieved its purpose: to meet the patient's needs for an interdisciplinary care plan. Scripts and test items developed and tested by practitioners in social work, medicine, public health, nursing and others assured a product that compensated for differences in educational level and occupation, yet captured accurate and appropriate responses. The results reported here include an analysis of 740 trainees' baseline responses from the multi-site educational programs to determine the construct validity of the new measure.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Attitudes toward working on interdisciplinary healthcare teams: a comparison by discipline.

Interdisciplinary teams are important in providing care for older patients, but interdisciplinary teamwork is rarely a teaching focus, and little is known about trainees' attitudes towards it. To determine the attitudes of second-year post-graduate (PGY-2) internal medicine or family practice residents, advanced practice nursing (NP), and masters-level social work (MSW) students toward the value and efficiency of interdisciplinary teamwork and the physician's role on the team, a baseline survey was administered to 591 Geriatrics Interdisciplinary Team Training participants at eight U.S. academic medical centers from January 1997 to July 1999. Most students in each profession agreed that the interdisciplinary team approach benefits patients and is a productive use of time, but PGY-2s consistently rated their agreement lower than NP or MSW students. Interprofessional differences were greatest for beliefs about the physician's role; 73% of PGY-2s but only 44% to 47% of MSW and NP trainees agreed that a team's primary purpose was to assist physicians in achieving treatment goals for patients. Approximately 80% of PGY-2s but only 35% to 40% of MSW or NP trainees agreed that physicians have the right to alter patient care plans developed by the team. Although students from all three disciplines were positively inclined toward medical interdisciplinary teamwork, medical residents were the least so. Exposure to interdisciplinary teamwork may need to occur at an earlier point in medical training than residency. The question of who is ultimately responsible for the decisions of the team may be an "Achilles heel," interfering with shared decision-making.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗