Video Teaching Tool and Provider Co-location Study Win Awards
More ACLP awards for 2021 are announced today
The Stoudemire Innovations in Education Award goes to Scott Simpson, MD, MPH, from Denver Health Medical Center.
From this year, the Academy is awarding the newly-configured prize to an individual or individuals who has/have developed/led a creative C-L Psychiatry educational program directed at any level, from medical students to board-certified physicians, that is outstanding by virtue of its innovation and impact.
Dr. Simpson, et al. developed and evaluated a video designed to teach medical students core principles in the management of agitation through verbal de-escalation.
“All health care professionals encounter and must be prepared to manage agitated patients,” say the presenters. “Agitation poses a safety risk for patients and professionals; health care workers experience 50% of all occupational assaults in the US, with younger clinicians and those in emergency, psychiatric, and geriatric care settings placed at higher risk. Repeated exposure to violence is a risk factor for burnout.
“Moreover, agitation is a clinical presentation with a broad differential diagnosis, including myriad life-threatening medical conditions. The presence of agitation may also complicate the diagnosis and treatment of concurrent conditions.
“Trainees must learn to manage agitated patients in order to feel safe at work, maintain the safety of their patients and colleagues, and appropriately treat severe medical and psychiatric illnesses.”
On completing the video series, learners learn to:
- Identify the agitated patient.
- Use a standardized scale to assess agitation.
- Assess a patient scene for safety.
- Use verbal de-escalation skills.
- Employ strategies for managing a team during de-escalation.
- Utilize the elements of a team de-briefing.
- Practice techniques for managing personal reactions to agitated patients.
- Use personal safety skills for dangerous situations.
- Feel safer when engaging agitated patients.
Chapter one of the video is here. From here you can navigate to chapters two to five.
The video was funded by a grant from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Academy of Medical Educators.
The Dlin/Fischer Clinical Research Award—presented for the best paper submitted for presentation at the ACLP annual meeting—goes to Vishal Ahuja, PhD, Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business.
Vishal’s research focuses on developing decision analytic tools that can be implemented easily by health care professionals and policymakers to improve patient health, advance the quality of care, and enhance the efficiency of delivery of care. A focus of Vishal’s research is chronic diseases, diabetes in particular, where he intends to implement analytical tools to improve patient outcomes.
To bring relevance to his research, Vishal draws from his diverse work experience in the corporate sector that includes engineering and managerial roles in the chemical, manufacturing, and consumer goods industry.
Vishal and colleagues examined how co-location of mental and behavioral (MBH) providers with physical health providers impacts four outcomes:
- Number of MBH hospitalizations.
- Average length of stay.
- 30-day readmissions.
- Number of suicide ideations/attempts.
They investigated how patient severity moderates the relationship between co-location and outcomes. “In other words, do sicker patients benefit more from co-location of their providers?”
And they explored the relationship between co-location and continuity of care “We ask: does co-location benefit patients more whose care is fragmented or continuous?”
Evidence had already supported that co-location improved health outcomes (Williams et al, 2006). However, a thorough investigation of the role of co-location and its impact on patient health was hitherto missing from literature.
The presenters’ findings indicate: “The more often the patient sees their MBH provider that is co-located with their treating PCP or specialist, the better their outcomes.”
The September issue of ACLP News announced further ACLP awards.
