Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2020

Document Type

Problem/Project Report

Degree Type

DNP

College

School of Nursing

Committee Chair

Kendra Barker

Committee Member

Toni DiChiacchio

Abstract

Background

The largest increase in preventable overdose deaths from 1999-2017 occurred among adults 50 and older, yet substance misuse among older adults is often not screened for or recognized in primary care settings. This oversight has been attributed to many factors, including age-related biases, unrecognized psychosocial and physiological differences, stigmatization, and a rapidly growing geriatric population.

Objectives

A quality improvement program using evidence-based educational training was implemented in a primary care setting with the intention to expand care knowledge and ultimately improve screening practices of older adults, especially those suffering from substance misuse.

Design

This quality improvement (QI) project used a pre-test and post-test to evaluate the effectiveness of an evidence-based educational intervention designed by the DNP student.

Subjects

Participants were recruited from a large community health center in West Virginia and invited to an educational session.

Results

A statistical significant improvement in post-test scores (p

Conclusion

The evidence-based training program used for this QI project is an effective, feasible, and cost efficient training tool to improve knowledge of the care of older adults in a primary care setting.

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