AN ACADEMIC-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP FOR IMPROVING ORAL HEALTH OF ADULTS 75-PLUS YEARS IN RURAL SOUTHEASTERN OREGON

This presentation describes a series of research projects undertaken by a school of nursing to develop and test a model for interprofessional (IPE) practice and education. A pilot study and two funded projects have been completed and one funded project is currently underway. A goal has been to build an academic-community partnership to address health disparities for people 75 years and older living in rural areas of the state. This population is growing and more apt to be living in poverty. Low oral health literacy and limited dental health services in rural areas contribute to the likelihood of oral health problems impacting overall health. IPE supports the development of teamwork to improve health outcomes for patients by raising awareness about the relationship of oral health to overall health. This evolving IPE model has joined baccalaureate nursing and dental hygiene students in shared learning and practice. After classroom and simulation-based learning, student teams provided screening and education in primary care settings. The current study has expanded team membership by adding medical, dental and/or nutrition students. They are training and practicing together to be a “mobile oral health team” for older adults living in a rural community 100 miles from campus. Community stakeholders are helping to organize a day-long oral health screening clinic. Looking forward, this IPE model supported by an academic-community partnership will routinely visit chronically underserved areas with a mobile oral health team. Funding for a fully-equipped mobile unit are being sought to sustain this effort.

STUDENTS’ AND ACADEMIC STAFFS’ PERSPECTIVES ON AN INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION MODEL

Background: Teamwork in health care is beneficial because it allows a holistic approach to patient care. Interprofessional education (IPE) provides students with an opportunity to develop their professional roles and their functions as team members. Understanding Interprofessional Collaboration (IPC) from the perspective of student and academic staff is an essential assessment for creating IPE model.Methods: This was a qualitative study with phenomenology approach. We explored students’and academic staff’s perspective of IPE by focus group discussions. We selected fifteen midwifery student, twenty medical students and twenty-two lecturers (midwifery and obstetrician gynecologist doctor) who were involved in IPE project. Data analysis used thematic analysis technique.Results: Findings showed four themes that presented the most common perspective in collaborative experience, (1) interprofessional communication, (2) the role each profession, (3) IPE learning model, and (4) suggested IPE model. The major obstacle was poor communication in daily practices. Developing an IPE model is important to improve patient care.Conclusion: The main common problem of IPC was interprofessional communication. That poor communication problem can be solved by developing intra-curricular and extra-curricular IPE model and train the effective interprofessional communication.

Modeling Characteristics of an Operational Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA)

Probabilistic Safety Assessments (PSAs) are increasingly being used as a tool for supporting the acceptabilty of design, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance activities at nuclear power plants. Since the issuance of Generic Letter 88-20 [1] and subsequent Individual Plant Examinations (IPEs)/Individual Plant Examinations for External Events (IPEEEs) [2], the NRC has issued several Regulatory Guides such as RG 1.182 [3] to describe the use of PSA in risk informed regulation activities. The PSA models developed for the IPEs were typically based on a “snapshot” of the the risk profile at the nuclear power plant. The IPE models contain implicit assumptions and simplifications that limit the ability to realistically assess current issues. For example, IPE modeling assumptions related to plant configuration limit the ability to perform online equipment out-of-service assessments. The lack of model symmetry results in skewed risk results. IPE model simplifications related to initiating events have resulted in non-conservative estimates of risk impacts when equipment is removed from service. The IPE models also do not explicitly address all external events that are potentially risk significant as equipment is removed from service.