From: Using simulation to explore medical students’ understanding of integrated care within geriatrics
Theme 1. Students reflected on the experiences of complex geriatric patients | |
1.1 Students reported an increased understanding of the challenges of co-occurring physical and mental health needs and how psychosocial issues can contribute to health, as well as one’s experience navigating the system | |
1.2 Students reported increased appreciation of individual patients’ values, culture and belief systems, autonomy, as well as patients’ understanding of their own physical and mental health | |
1.3 Students expressed frustrations when their views and needs as patients were dismissed | |
Theme 2. Students reflected on the system of care | |
2.1 Students expressed an understanding of the proposed value of an interprofessional support system | |
2.2 Students reported that the interprofessional system was overwhelming when not effectively coordinated | |
2.3 Students identified psychosocial factors, belief systems, and logistics of care as important barriers to accessing healthcare | |
2.4 Students reflected on the goals of the healthcare services provided by the HCPs and the healthcare system as a whole | |
Theme 3. Students increased their understanding of integrated care after struggling with care navigation | |
3.1 Students identified the act of managing extensive multi-source information and a cognitive overload of information as primary challenges to understanding patient conditions and the implementation of care plans | |
3.2 Students reported increased understanding of the challenges of navigating the healthcare system for patients with co-occurring physical and mental health needs with particular emphasis on the importance of catering to individualized psychosocial needs | |
Theme 4. Students aspired to facilitate care integration | |
4.1 A central aspiration among students was to adapt to and integrate the different physical, mental, and psychosocial needs of their patients to provide holistic patient care | |
4.2 Students discussed the need to spend more time building a therapeutic alliance with their patients where they respect patient autonomy, perspectives, and decision-making | |
4.3 Students identified learning more about community and government resources to better address psychosocial needs | |
4.4 Students described the importance of adopting communication skills that will allow them to achieve their proposed framework of care |