Presentation highlights Maine Geriatric Education Center study with MDI Island Hospital
On April 6, 2016, at the 2016 Conference "Taking it to the Streets: Building Clinical & Community Connections" at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, Judith A. Metcalf, A.N.P.-B.C., M.S., F.M.G.S., director of the Maine Geriatric Education Center (GEC) at the , (MDIH), presented a poster titled, “Building Academic and Community Partnerships: 91AV-Maine Geriatric Education Center & Mount Desert Island Hospital Emergency Department: A 5-Year Evidence-Based Practice Program to Improve Falls and Quality of Falls Care Applying Lewin’s 3-Stage Model of Change.” Metcalf gave the presentation with Ida Batista, M.P.P.M., data analyst at the and Christina Costello R.N., B.S., C.E.N., director of Emergency Services at the .
This poster focused on the collaborative partnership between the GEC and MDIH Emergency Department (ED) in implementing an evidence-based practice fall risk assessment tool to improve the quality of falls care for older adults. The historical evolution of all phases of the five-year, HRSA-funded training program for MDIH ED staff (2010 - 2015) was highlighted. The GEC trained rural ED health professionals and teams on improving the quality of care for older adults utilizing 12 valid quality indicators ("Assessing Care of Vulnerable Elders", Chang JT, Ganz DA, 2007) incorporated into a Multifactorial Fall Risk Assessment tool. Kurt Lewin’s three-stage model of organizational change, "Unfreezing, Movement, and Refreezing" provided the holistic overview of project development, implementation and evaluation.
