Health Sciences Education Symposium
Presentation Format
Poster
Type of Activity
Research
Original Presentation Date
2024
Date of Submission
October 2025
Abstract/Short Description
Purpose and Background: Engaging health professional students in meaningful community-based care is an important step toward developing the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for addressing health inequity in our future workforce (Andermann, 2016). Serving clients that have high healthcare utilization and multiple barriers to care is one mechanism to teach students how to address critical social determinants of health needs. Oftentimes, students are not provided the opportunity to engage with clients across transitions in care or over a longitudinal period, but rather are tasked with addressing needs in an acute-based or clinic-based, single-encounter setting. Clinical experiences limited to discrete shifts in specific settings can be challenging to get a true appreciation of a client’s full ecosystem of care and what mechanisms support their overall health and wellbeing. These clinical experiences may also lack opportunities for collaboration with other professions. Multiple governing bodies have called on health professions to equip their students with the skills needed to address social determinants of health. Further, the newly revised IPEC Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice place a special emphasis on the health of persons and populations across the continuum of care, advocating for social justice and health equity (Interprofessional Education Collaborative, 2023).
Methods: Thirteen students, representing nursing, pharmacy, and master's of public health programs, enrolled in an elective course titled Interprofessional Complex Care Coordination in Fall 2023. Course content included information on transitions in care, cultural humility, trauma-informed care, medication adherence, motivational interviewing, root causes of high healthcare utilization, team well-being, and other connected content. Students were also assigned to complete field experiences that encouraged them to engage with community members for a more in-depth understanding of community needs and barriers when it comes to health and wellness. They worked in teams to develop concepts for programs that address the needs uncovered during their field experience work, and they completed reflection activities to encourage critical thinking. For evaluation purposes, students were asked to complete a pre-survey on Poverty Attitudes, Awareness and Understanding (PAAUS) before class content and again once the course was completed (Thompson, Boak, & Elias, 2020). Results were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test due to the small sample size.
Results: The interprofessional student teams developed innovative concepts for programs addressing health equity, social isolation, food insecurity and substance use disorders. Students’ reflections indicated new appreciation for how social determinants of health impact health outcomes. There was a significant (p< 0.05) difference between students’ pre-test and post-test scores of the PAAUS. Students scored higher on the post-test, indicating improvement in their awareness and understanding of how poverty impacts health outcomes. In course evaluations, students noted value in the course content and application to their future careers. Conclusions, including reflective critique and next steps for research
Analysis of course outcomes indicates that we were effective in teaching some core concepts related to complex care coordination to interprofessional students. A focused course in this content area helps provide necessary skills for not only understanding the impact that SDOH have on how individuals interact with the healthcare system but also how cross-sector collaboration is necessary for developing creative solutions. Students have the opportunity to learn how both micro and macro-level interventions contribute to improved population health. Future course iterations will try to create more opportunities for authentic community engagement over longer periods of time.
References
Andermann, A. (2016). Taking action on the social determinants of health in clinical practice: a framework for health professionals. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 188(17-18), E474-E483.
Interprofessional Education Collaborative. (2023). IPEC Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: Version 3. Washington, DC: Interprofessional Education Collaborative.
Thompson, J. R., Boak, B., & Elias, T. I. (2020). Health professional student awareness and attitudes toward poverty. Pedagogy in Health Promotion, 6(4), 257-265.
Rights
© The Author(s)
Is Part Of
VCU Medical Education Symposium
First Author Information
Genevieve Beaird, PhD, RNC-OB, CNE, VCU School of Nursing