Arany S, Eliav E, Medina-Walpole A, Caprio TV. Postgraduate dental resident education: A pilot in age-friendly "mentation" training.
Spec Care Dentist 2023;
43:765-771. [PMID:
37147183 DOI:
10.1111/scd.12871]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2022] [Revised: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Postdoctoral dental education in caring for older adults lacks didactic and clinical training in mentation topics, one of the core elements of the Age-Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) framework. Our primary goal was to launch a pilot project in clinical geriatrics focusing on older adults' mentation concerns, with a secondary goal to improve dental residents' confidence and competence in dental care and oral health.
BACKGROUND
Age-friendly care elements are not routinely incorporated into the dental education of residents caring for older adults with cognitive impairment or dementia. Therefore, we implemented a pilot educational project, providing the missing educational opportunity for residents in geriatric training covering cognitive impairment and focusing on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We designed educational sessions through a needs assessment, focus group discussions, and expert validation. We developed three e-Learning modules covering mentation concerns and dementia screening. We tested the modules in a pilot study of 15 dental postdoctoral residents as an essential part of their clinical practice.
RESULTS
The dementia dental learning module increased the residents' satisfaction with didactic preparedness (4.45 ± $ \pm \ $ 0.97) and knowledge acquisition (4.36 ± $ \pm \ $ 0.84). Residents strongly believed that learning about the AFHS-mentation topic would improve patient care.
CONCLUSION
Our pilot study is a pioneer project in support of a new AFHS-themed dental curriculum for clinical education. Further expansion of the age-friendly principles to include mobility, medications, and what matters to older adults will establish a model framework of redesigned geriatric dental education for academic centers.
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