We Care: Learning Together to Support Family Caregivers

The aims of the project were to examine the feasibility of integrating students from three disciplines in a semester long experience of providing skills training education to family caregivers, recognizing the family caregivers as an integral part of the care team, measure achievement of the four IPE competencies through the skills training workshop, and describe changes in student attitudes toward dementia and family caregivers before and after participation in the skills training workshop.

Twenty-seven students from nursing, speech language pathology and occupational therapy participated over three semesters (with dental hygiene students also participating in the last cohort). Students completed a two-page self-reflection on the program and how it addressed the four IPE competencies around dementia care.

The following seven themes emerged that were categorized under four domains: immersive learning, collaboration, planning for the future and reflecting on the past. The themes were: (1) stepping into someone else’s shoes with subthemes of discomfort during simulation experience, gaining empathy and seeing the personhood of the individual living with dementia; (2) interprofessional comradery; (3) mutual respect of roles; (4) paying it forward; (5) addressing gap in knowledge; (6) addressing gap in experience; and (7) reflecting on family members.