Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia

Interprofessional Education for Delirium Care – Protocol for Systematic Review

by Sudha Bhat on Jun 22 2015 2:58 PM
Listen to this article
0:00/0:00

Researchers have drawn out a protocol to study the role of interprofessional education (IPE) in dementia patients.   The study results will hopefully help in improving the care of dementia patients.

For a patient with dementia, life’s journey could be challenging. The diagnosis itself could come as a shock for the patient as well as their family members. Persons suffering from dementia often feel vulnerable and this is the time when they look forward to the support and reassurance of friends and family the most.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia; other types of dementia include vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, fronto-temporal dementia etc. A variety of tests and diagnostic procedures are used to diagnose the cause of dementia such as CT scans, MRI scans, blood tests as well as mental state examinations of the patient using different questionnaires. 

Interprofessional Education (IPE) is defined as an activity that occurs when members of two or more professions (which include health care providers and social care providers,) learn with, from and about one another to improve collaboration and the quality of care.  For example, a dementia patient will require treatment from a neurologist, neuropsychologist, physical/occupational therapists, nurses, social workers etc.  Thus, if all these members who participate in the care of the dementia patient interact with and learn from each other, the patient is likely to benefit from the successful teamwork.

There is limited literature currently providing information on effectiveness of IPE in dementia care. Hence, a protocol has been designed and published which will be used to study the influence of IPE on collaborative knowledge and skills as well as on interprofessional practice and care for people with dementia. The study will cover health care providers, regulated and unregulated social care providers working with dementia patients, as well as students.

The following electronic databases will be searched for pertinent information: PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, PsycINFO CINAHL, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), ERIC British Education Index (BEI) and the Healthcare Management Information Consortium (HMIC).

A manual search of 3 relevant journals will be undertaken with the aim of finding and collecting additional studies. In addition, the reference lists of included and pertinent studies would also be checked. Duplicate studies will be removed from the list.

Advertisement
The studies included in the final review would most likely include: randomized studies, non-randomized controlled studies, cohort studies, and qualitative as well as mixed method studies.

Analysis of data will be done via a narrative synthesis method initially. If a subset of data analyzed appears comparable, then it may be pooled through formal meta-analysis analytical techniques.

Advertisement
The findings of this systematic review will hopefully identify how IPE programs can possibly influence and even improve patient outcomes in delirium patients. It may also identify specific gaps in the current information which could be later addressed through research, policy and practice.

The findings of this review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Source-Medindia


Advertisement