ID-5184 Wonca Abstracts supplement A-K 13-10-23 - Flipbook - Page 163
WONCA 2023 Supplement 1: WONCA 2023 abstracts (A–K)
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Connecting students and primary healthcare providers
to improve quality of RACF care in Tasmania: A mixedmethods study of stakeholder engagement
A/Prof Anthea Dallas, Emily Mackrill, Dominic van Winden, Mikah Olive Walker, Damaris Green,
Jake Sheng Loong Ong, Tung Yu Lau
University of Tasmania
Background
Enabling medical student contribution during primary care clinical placements can enhance student
learning and quality of care for elderly patients in residential aged care facilities (RACF). This medical
student RACF placement includes a learning task where students recommend improvements to
resident care. The study aimed to identify these recommendations, measure their adoption and
explore stakeholders’ perspectives on the program.
Methods
A mixed-methods approach was adopted to audit student recommendations and their adoption into
resident care, followed by semistructured interviews with stakeholders in the educational program to
determine attitudes, barriers and enablers to use of student recommendations.
Students completed a medical assessment of a resident during their RACF placement, summarising
their recommendations in a letter to the resident’s general practitioner (GP). Three months after the
time of recommendation, residents’ files were audited.
Semistructured interviews with RACF staff and GPs were transcribed, coded using an inductive
and iterative process of constant comparison and thematically analysed to identify stakeholder
perspectives.
Results
Forty residents and 43 students had recommendations audited. In total, 391 recommendations were
made, and 77 recommendations were adopted. Medication recommendations were most common
(47%), followed by allied health referrals (12%), lifestyle changes (10%) and GP review (10%).
Themes from the interview data included: benefits for residents and facility life; quality improvement
from student involvement; barriers to stakeholder engagement; and identified opportunities for
improvement to the program.
Discussion
Primary care placements in RACFs provide a unique opportunity to use an existing student learning
task to feed into genuine quality improvements for care, and connecting the students with primary
healthcare partners in a meaningful way enhances learning. This study gives insight into types of
recommendations students make, and suggests strategies to maximise the benefits of student
contributions.
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