3671 ‘Shaping ageing education together’: community and stakeholder engagement to improve geriatric medicine education

Abstract Introduction Improving ageing education for health professionals requires meaningful involvement of those with lived experience. Giving older adults a voice in curriculum design and delivery helps shape education to be inclusive, authentic, and relevant, preparing students for person-centred care. Methods We hosted a community engagement outreach workshop, bringing together multidisciplinary health professions students (n = 7: medicine; pharmacy) and educators (n = 26), with older members of the public (n = 8) and other key stakeholders in older peoples’ care (n = 12: care home staff; charity representatives; researchers). The workshop began using a creative focus to stimulate reflection, followed by mixed small group discussions exploring participants’ lived experiences of ageing, caring for older people, and/or ageing education. Groups identified opportunities for innovation where there was mismatch between current teaching and lived experience of ageing, with particular focus on opportunities that would involve older people, multiple professions, and community settings. Discussion points were noted and have been grouped into broad themes. Results Participants emphasised the value of early and repeated engagement with community-dwelling older people to build empathy and skills beyond clinical settings. The arts were identified as a powerful means to deepen understanding and challenge ageism. Involving older adults as co-educators emerged as essential for humanising ageing education. Additionally, interprofessional education was recognised as crucial to preparing students to work effectively within multidisciplinary teams. Conclusions Our workshop identified practical strategies to transform undergraduate ageing education by connecting multidisciplinary students with older people in the community and those involved in the care of older people, giving them a meaningful voice in curriculum design and delivery. Incorporating these diverse insights will help us to innovate geriatric medicine teaching in a manner that meaningfully prepares students to care for our ageing population.