Virtual research conference on interprofessional education to advance care for older adults
Interprofessional education plays an important role in preparing the health workforce to deliver quality integrated care that meets the needs of older people. On 17 September 2021, researchers from the WHO Kobe Centre, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, the University of the Philippines, Manila, and Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Viet Nam, gathered virtually to present their research findings to an international audience. The online conference was hosted by Dr Keiko Nakamura, Co-Principal Investigator of the research project and Professor of Tokyo Medical and Dental University’s Global Health Entrepreneurship Programme. Over forty participants from nine countries participated in the event.
The presentations highlighted key findings from different phases of the multi-year and multi-country research project. Dr Megumi Rosenberg, Technical Officer of the WHO Kobe Centre, gave an overview of global population aging trends and the WHO Kobe Centre’s research programme on advancing universal health coverage in the context of global population aging. In 2018-20, the WHO Kobe Centre carried out this research project that aimed to develop and evaluate a competency-based interprofessional education programme for health and social care workers in the Philippines, which can be adapted for use in Viet Nam and other low- and middle-income countries.
Responding to a question from the audience about how to get aging and health on the agenda of low- and middle-income countries, Dr Rosenberg emphasized the importance of research evidence that can convince policy makers of the urgent need to invest in strengthening health systems in light of rapid population aging and of the return on those investments to people and society.