Supporting healthy ageing: Training multi-disciplinary healthcare students

Abstract

IntroductionLife expectancy in the UK is increasing at a rate of two years per decade and the need to maintain health in older age is a key challenge facing governments across the world. Health systems based on the biomedical model that focuses on cure of specific conditions is ill-suited to the complex needs of older people, and can often fail to be person-centred. An interprofessional education (IPE) approach may offer benefits in undergraduate training. MethodsTo engage with some of these challenges, an educational event was held at the University of Birmingham and University Hospital Birmingham. ResultsThe event focused on the roles that multi-disciplinary health and social care teams can play in supporting healthy ageing, using an IPE approach, and by involving patients and the public. Experts from a range of research disciplines and older members of the local community worked collaboratively with healthcare students to explore strategies and priorities for supporting older people to age healthily. ConclusionsAn event that brings healthcare students together to learn from both experts in the field and older people provides a rich learning environment. Further work could be done to improve links to social care.