Un’esperienza di formazione alla ricerca: principi generali e risultati

Introduction: Education to research is a challenge as learning should be guided by practice and research problems. Aim: To briefly describe the experience of a research course for nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists and propose some reflections on the experience. Method: The course was aimed at producing research projects on the elderly population. It was attended by expert geriatric nurses and educators of health professions. After an initial course of 40 hours on the bases of research methodology and statistics, all the course was organized with workgroups supervised by experts. Results: Sixteen participants started the course and 11 completed it. Three research areas were identified: epidemiology and control of behavioral disturbances; the use of wii technologies with the elderly; and the care provided in special care units for dementia patients. After a literature review, two protocols were produced. Conclusions: An adult education to research should start from real problems, relevant for the patients but also for the local organization, and the education should be organized starting from the problems selected.