Mr Kirby's Story - Case Study for Inter-Disciplinary Teaching

This is a short video that has been inspired by the case history of a real patient. The video is divided into a series of short scenes and highlights issues around caring for elderly patients who become too infirm to continue to cope with living independently at home. It focuses on the relationships between care professionals, the patient and the patients family. The following core themes run throughout all parts of the video:

1. Communication: is it clears, unclear, positive, negative etc.?

2. Family dynamics and pressures on family to become carers.

3. The 'unpopular patient' and how this perception impacts on care.

4. The discharge process - what should be happening at each point in time.

The video is used in inter-disciplinary teaching sessions involving mixed groups from different vocational programmes, such as social work, nursing, medical, physiotherapy and occupational therapy students.

The video is in seven sections which are as follows:

Part One
In the Acute Hospital

Part Two
Relatives Visit the Community Hospital

Part Three
Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) Case Conference

Part Four
Ward Round

Part Five
The Social Worker Meets Mr Kirbys Son

Part Six
The Social Worker Meets Mr Kirby

Part Seven
Conclusion: What Really Happened to Mr Kirby?

The script for the video was written by a team led by Sandy Goodyer. The project was joint funded by De Montfort University Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, University of Leicester Department of Medical & Social Care Education and the University of Northampton School of Health. The video was produced by University of Leicester ITS Multimedia Services with the generous help of volunteer actors from the Billesdon Drama Society.