Understanding Mental Health and Aging: Interprofessional Curriculum Development and Evaluation

Background: This session will describe the development of an interprofessional curriculum focused on mental health among older adults created by social work faculty for medical students. We will present results from an interactive online module that explores the attitudes toward and treatment of mental health among older adults. Screening older adults for depression is important considering mental health's connection to physical health for individuals of all ages. Often, certain health professionals, such as doctors, are reluctant to discuss mental health with their patients for several reasons, including a foundational gap in their educational experience. The purpose of this study was to provide an educational intervention for medical students during their geriatric clerkship to enhance attention to depression and the treatment of mental health among older adults.

Methods: An online module on mental health and older adults was created for 4th-year medical students. Data were collected over 3 years; beginning in June 2020 using a pre-post survey design distributed before the online module and at the time of completion. A total of 156 students completed the pre-post assessments. Most students plan to pursue internal medicine (22%) with a mean age of 27.45, 47% identified as male, 51% female, and transgender male and genderqueer individuals make up 2% of the cohort. Most students were Asian (32%) or White (52%). The pre-post-tests included questions on the frequency and comfort level of administering the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), self-rated competency assessments related to the module, and a subset of the Clinicians’ Attitudes and Beliefs Scale. Paired samples t-tests were used to analyze the relationship between pre and post-test answers across the matched sample.

Results: Students showed significant increases (P<.001) in all learning competencies (e.g., knowing common mental health assessments for depression screening in older adults) from the pre-post-course self-assessments. Findings show significant differences in pre and post-test answers to several questions, e.g., comfort level in asking GDS (P<.001, d=1.909), perceptions that they are intruding when asking depression questions (P=.014, d=.898), and feeling equally comfortable screening for depression as for physical health (P<.001, d=1.019).

Conclusions: The inclusion of an online module created by social workers for medical students rotating through their geriatric clerkship led to significant changes in knowledge, skills, and attitudes around depression screening for older adults. A large body of evidence shows that the majority of older adults who have mental health challenges do not get the necessary services and treatment, and one of the greatest barriers to the provision of behavioral health services is the lack of a trained workforce. This educational intervention highlights the importance of training in this topic area to improve outcomes for older adults and strengthen interprofessional partnerships centered on promoting mental wellness. Doctors play a critical role in collaborative care with other health professionals and have the authority to make referrals to supportive services; this training creates opportunities for them to be stronger advocates for older adults and more informed care team players.