Profiling perceived knowledge, relevance and interest across geriatric topics of health and social care professionals: multinational electronic cross-sectional survey
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Interprofessional training is essential for high-quality care of older adults. Despite widespread recognition of its importance, evidence on perceived geriatric competence remains limited to studies on single countries or professions. METHODS: Secondary analysis of a COST Action multinational multilingual web-based survey (PROmoting GeRiAtric Medicine in countries where it is still eMergING, PROGRAMMING) conducted across the 27 European Union Member States (EU-27) and non-EU-27 countries between 9 October 2023 and 5 June 2024. Four thousand seven hundred eighty-eight professionals from 10 core health and social care groups were included. We explored perceived Knowledge, Relevance and Interest across seven domains required for comprehensive geriatric assessment: frailty, falls and mobility, delirium, depression, mild cognitive impairment and dementia screening, nutritional assessment and malnutrition, polypharmacy and deprescribing. Student's t test; one-way analysis of variance, hierarchical clustering and latent class analysis were used to identify interprofessional differences and shared patterns across professions. RESULTS: Mean age was 42.4 years (SD 11.9); 3432 (71.7%) were women; 2893 (60.4%) worked in EU-27 countries. Interprofessional differences were observed across all topics. Physiotherapists led in falls and mobility (mean 4.21, SD 0.75), pharmacists in polypharmacy and deprescribing (mean 3.51, SD 1.07), and psychologists/psychotherapists in depression (mean 3.96, SD 0.82). A medical doctors-nurses-pharmacists cluster emerged for Knowledge and Interest; 34.4% pharmacists fell in the low relevance class. Social workers and speech and language therapists showed a low Knowledge-high Interest mismatch. EU-27 professionals reported higher scores than non-EU-27 professionals across most topics (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Perceived knowledge, relevance and interest showed substantial variation across professions and regions, while revealing shared professional profiles. This may inform team-based interprofessional education.
Source: Age and Ageing
Authors: Luca Soraci, Giulia Ogliari, Athanase Benetos, Nenad Bogdanovic, Sylvie Bonin-Guillaume, Sofia Duque, Anne Wissendorff Ekdahl, Klejda Harasani, Anna M Herghelegiu, Dimitrije Jakovljević, Anastassia Kossioni, Marina Kotsani, Evrydiki Kravvariti, Sonja Lindner-Rabl, Jūratė Macijauskienė, Nicolás Martínez-Velilla, Tahir Masud, Tajana Pavic, Mirko Petrovic, Karolina Piotrowicz, Roman Romero-Ortuno, Maria Cristina Polidori-Nelles, Carmelinda Ruggiero, Sumru Savas, George Soulis, Divya Tiwari, Lone Winther Lietzen, Regina Roller-Wirnsberger, Michael Vassallo
Institutions: Istituto Nazionale di Riposo e Cura per Anziani, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Leicestershire County Council, Inserm, Centre Hospitalier Régional et Universitaire de Nancy, Défaillance Cardiovasculaire Aiguë et Chronique, Université de Lorraine, Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Aix-Marseille Université, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Hospital do Desterro, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lund University, University of Medicine Tirana, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical University of Graz, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Servicio Navarro de Salud, Navarre Institute of Health Research, Navarrabiomed, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable, Universidad de Navarra, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Sisters of Charity Hospital, Ghent University, Jagiellonian University, Trinity College Dublin, St. James's Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging Associated Diseases, University Hospital Cologne, University of Perugia, Ege University, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, Bournemouth University, Aarhus University, Aarhus University Hospital
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,699
OpenAlex ID: W7225105270