Raising the bar - Empowering students to provide altruistic and compassionate care in a pro-bono, neuromuscular, mentored integrated clinical experience.
Purpose
Describe the development and implementation of a pro bono integrated clinical experience (ICE) that holistically prepares students for altruistic and compassionate practice.
Methods and/or Description of Project
Physical Therapy Core Values describe altruism as “providing pro-bono services to underserved and under-represented populations that go beyond expected standards of practice” and compassion as “understanding the socio-cultural, economic and psychological influences by demonstrating respect and empathy without bias”. While these characteristics are clearly defined, the process by which we promote the development of altruistic, compassionate practitioners has not been adequately elucidated. The challenge in PT education is not merely to describe and define these core values but to engage students in active learning experiences.
A pro-bono ICE was developed to address the following objectives:
-Value patient differences and challenges
-Empathize with patient’s emotional responses
-Practice active listening
-Advocate for patients needs in an underserved neuromuscular population
-Provide continuity of care
-Challenge the clinical culture by providing mentorship amongst and between students, patients, faculty and clinicians
This pro-bono ICE served community dwelling individuals with neuromuscular diagnoses. Two students examined and treated a patient over the course of two semesters. The structure of this clinic gave students the opportunity to not only develop their clinical reasoning and psychomotor skills but also develop strong interpersonal relationships with their patient as well as faculty and clinical mentors. The clinic experientially raised student awareness of the interpersonal core values of altruism and compassion.
Results/Outcomes
All constituents benefited in the following areas.
Students actively engaged in all aspects of compassionate patient care in a low stakes, mentored setting.
Patients benefited from individualized care (beyond typical standards of care) from students and clinicians.
Patients had the opportunity to mentor the students as they developed their interpersonal and psychomotor skills.
Clinicians and faculty acted as role models of the core values.
The local community benefited with free healthcare and equipment.
Conclusions/Relevance to the conference theme: Through the Looking Glass: Transforming Physical Therapy Education
How do you change the educational culture so that students understand the intrinsic value of altruism and compassion in physical therapy practice? This session will highlight the relevance and need for experiential training of the core values. Students, educators and clinicians can contribute to a cultural shift that emphasizes compassionate care. The benefit of this modified ICE model is the direct integration of core values in the examination and treatment of individuals with neuromuscular diagnoses in preparation of the next generation of autonomous, compassionate practitioners.
References
1. American Physical Therapy Association. A Normative Model of Physical Therapist Professional Education: Version 2000. American Physical Therapy Association, Alexandria, VA;2000.
2. Lown B, Rosen J, Marttila J. An Agenda For Improving Compassionate Care: A Survey Shows About Half of Patients Say Such Care is Missing. Health Affairs. 2011;30(9):1772-1778.
3. Kneafsey R, Brown S, Sein K, Chamley C, Parsons J. A qualitative study of key stakeholders’ perspectives on compassion in healthcare and the development of a framework for compassionate interpersonal relations. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2015;25:70-79.
4. Crawford P, Brown B, Kvangarsnes M, Gilbert P. The design of compassionate care. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2014;23:3589-3599.
Sinclair S, Norris JM, McConnell J, et al. Compassion: a scoping review of the healthcare literature. BMC Palliative Care. 2016;15(6).
5. Standards and Required Elements for Accreditation of Physical Therapist Education Programs. CAPTEPortal_PTStandardsEvidence. Professional Ethics, Values and Responsibilities. http://www.capteonline.org/AccreditationHandbook/. Accessed April 7, 2017.
6. Mai J, Thiele A, O'Dell B, Kruse B, Vaassen M, Priest A. Utilization of an Integrated Clinical Experience in a Physical Therapist Education Program. Journal of Physical Therapy Education. 2003;27(2):25-32.
7. Mai J, Stern D, Hollman J, Melzer B, Thiele A, Rosenthal R. Cool as ICE: Examining the Impact of an Integrated Clinical Education Experience on Interpersonal Skills Prior to the First, Full-time Clinical Internship. Journal of Physical Therapy Education. 2014;28(3):81-97.
8. Professionalism in Physical Therapy: Core Values. American Physical Therapy Association website. https://www.apta.org/uploadedFiles/APTAorg/About_Us/Policies/BOD/Judicial/ProfessionalisminPT.pdf. Updated December 14, 2009. Accessed March 11, 2017.
9. Wilson AM. Integrated Clinical Experiences in a Campus Onsite Clinic: A Self-Contained Model of Physical Therapy Clinical Education. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice. 2014;12(3), Article 8.
10. Danlolovich M, Healey B, Huber G. Community-Academic Partnerships: Impact on Community Health and Student Learning. Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences. Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. APTA Combined Sections Meeting. San Antonio, Texas. February 2017.
11. Ruiping X, Stone JR, Hoffman JE, Klappa SG. Promoting community health and eliminating health disparities through community-based participatory research. Physical Therapy. 2016;96(3):410-417.
Course Objectives
Participants will:
-Understand the core values of altruism and compassion in physical therapy education.
-Formulate specific strategies to support the development of altruism and compassionate care within a modified ICE experience.
-Appreciate the benefits of student and patient interpersonal experiences within a mentored setting.
-Push the boundaries of typical ICEs to formally promote PT Core Values and healthcare equity.
Instructional Methods
Lecture, discussion, video presentation
Tentative Outline/Schedule
10 minutes: Define PT Core Values
15 minutes: Identify the challenges in the specific promotion of PT Core Values in PT education
20 minutes: Describe the development and implementation of a pro-bono, mentored, neuromuscular ICE with experiential emphasis of PT Core Values
15 minutes: Patient, student and clinician video examples
15 minutes: Benefits and outcomes
15 minutes: Q&A