A Pro-Bono Student-Led Back-School for Uninsured Nevadans, a Service-Learning Project Described
Purpose:
The purpose of this project is to explore patient and facility perceptions about: • Program quality
• Program feasibility
Description:
The study used a mixed methods approach.
Literature review: Nevada ranks 8th highest in uninsured population in the United States. People who are uninsured may be more affected by low back pain (LBP) than their insured counterparts. Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada (VMSN), a non-profit organization, serves uninsured people in NV. VMSN partnered with UNLV Physical Therapy (UNLVPT) to provide a back-school for patients. UNLVPT proposed a service-learning model to provide both education and treatment for VMSN patients with LBP. Back-school programs that combine education and therapeutic interventions yield favorable outcomes. Student led pro-bono clinics have been shown to enhance student learning and altruism, as well as improve patient outcomes. Little evidence exists regarding the feasibility of a student-led, pro-bono back-school.
Back-School Program: An evidenced based back school was created by eight DPT students consisting of four 2-week sessions. Sessions included: an initial evaluation, education on: back pain, ergonomics, pain neuroscience, and pain management strategies, as well as an individualized home exercise program. Patient participants and VMSN personnel were asked to complete quality assurance surveys regarding perceived program value, quality, and feasibility. Surveys consisted of Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics were generated for Likert-scale responses while positive and negative themes were extracted from open-ended responses. These findings informed student recommendations to the academic program and community partner for future back-school programming.
Summary of Use:
Twenty-six patient participants completed sessions and twenty-three consented to surveys. Seven VMSN personnel consented to surveys. At least 85% of patient participants “agreed” with all questions asked, such as whether they would participate in the back-school program again, would recommend to a family member, and if they experienced reduced pain after the program. 100% of VMSN personnel agreed that the program met a major need of the facility and that the program was feasible to implement. Individualized care was a common theme among groups. Themes related to physical space limitations and recruitment challenges also emerged.
Importance to Members:
These findings support that quality assurance surveys are useful when developing new student service-learning programs. The overall positive results support the notion that a student led, pro-bono back-school can be well received by both patient participants and community healthcare partners. While these results are not generalizable, local programs might leverage these findings to better ensure quality and long term feasibility of this and similar service-learning projects.