Over half of the global adult population aged 60 and above, including Canadians, experience multiple chronic health conditions. Multimorbidity also affects middle-aged people, with almost 30% of individuals between 45- and 49-year of age reporting living with multiple chronic health conditions. Multimorbidity is a phenomenon that affects all ages including children and adolescents.
In response, primary care reforms worldwide are shifting towards providing comprehensive interprofessional primary care. This innovative model, exemplified by the patient’s medical home model, brings together a diverse team of healthcare professionals to provide holistic patient care across the lifespan.
This presentation will discuss our work as part of a Canada-wide project called Team Primary Care: Training for Transformation, funded by the Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine. We aimed to increase awareness of the professions of audiology and speech-language pathology and develop training modules for team-based care.
The presentation aims to achieve three objectives for attendees: First, to understand the principles and importance of comprehensive interprofessional primary care. Secondly, to outline the role of audiologists in team-based primary care and specify necessary competencies. Finally, to present our research on factors influencing Canadian audiologists’ readiness for practicing in interprofessional primary care teams.
- Understand the principles and importance of comprehensive interprofessional primary care in addressing the needs of diverse patient populations.
- Outline the role of audiologists as integral members of team-based primary care and specify the competencies necessary for effective interprofessional collaboration.
- Consider the factors that influence audiologists’ readiness to participate in interprofessional primary care teams.
