Investigating dietetics students knowledge and understanding of interdisciplinary roles in the care of the older adult

Care of the older adult is particularly complex, and therefore, inter‐professional healthcare education specific to the care of the older adult is needed. Traditionally, a single healthcare discipline approach is taken by higher education institutions for pre‐clinical training in the care of the older adult. Inter‐professional learning (IPL) in general is not integrated well into the health professional curricula of Australian Universities. This project used Mask‐EdTM, an innovative simulation technique, to present an older adult with multiple care needs to the students. The aim of this project was to improve the care of the older adult by enhancing student learning through inter‐professional education and knowledge of the different roles of the multi‐disciplinary team. Sixteen first‐year postgraduate nutrition and dietetics students participated in the online survey (57% response rate). Participants were able to recognise the health professionals that would be important in the care of the older person depicted and were also able to accurately describe the role of each health professional. Dietetics students indicated that the following three statements related strongly to IPL: ‘Patients would ultimately benefit if health‐care professionals worked together to solve patient problems’, ‘Shared learning with other health‐care professionals will increase my ability to understand clinical problems’, and ‘Learning with health‐care students before qualifications would improve relationships after qualifications’. The results of this project will pave the way for comprehensive simulation techniques to be integrated into health curricula.