Gero-Ethics Educational Performance Outcome Measures (EPOMS)

Texas Woman’s University
Department of Health Care Administration
Dr. Kelley Moseley and Susan McPhail Wittjen

The gero-ethics component of the grant is directed towards students in the Health Care Administration program at Texas Woman’s University and also health care practitioners, especially those involved in long term care in the Houston area.

Several educational interventions have been proposed to enhance the students’ knowledge of ethical issues in the care of the geriatric patient. The following tasks will be performed:

  1. Expand the content of the current course HCA 5611 Ethical Analysis in Health Services
  2. Integrate ethics content into existing HCA courses
  3. Identify and develop case studies and projects to assist students in ethical analysis and decision making
  4. Design continuing education courses for geriatric practitioners, especially nursing home administrators
  5. Develop and expand opportunities for distance education, including use of a website and interactive capabilities

EPOMs will be developed based on a pre and post intervention self-assessment model as follows:

  1. During orientation to the HCA program, students will complete a self-assessment survey of their knowledge and experience involving ethical issues, especially with geriatric patients.
  2. During orientation students will be provided guidelines for writing their personal statement of philosophy. This will be completed before the completion of the first semester and placed in each student’s portfolio.
  3. The students will then receive ethical instruction which includes theoretical background, a decision making framework, and discussion of issues, with an emphasis on geriatrics, in both an ethics course and throughout the curriculum.
  4. Participants in the study (alumni) will be surveyed annually for three years to determine whether the educational interventions influenced their practices.

 

A sample of the type of information that will be sought in the follow-up is as follows:

  1. How has the personal philosophy evolved? Update the statement.
  2. Do you use the ethical decision making framework taught in HCA 5611?
    3.
  3. What has been the practitioner’s involvement in policy development and how has an ethical awareness influenced those policies? Do any policies relate specifically to the geriatric patient?
  4. What has been the involvement in ethical dilemmas? Has the practitioner been involved with institutional ethics committee or with personnel or business dilemmas.
  5. Has the practitioner worked to include ethical issues in institutional in-services or continuing education?
  6. What has been the overall impact of ethics education on the practitioner’s business or clinical practices?
  7. Has the practitioner been involved in any issues specific to the geriatric patient?