Taking it to the streets: - Enhancing healthcare access for inner city populations through integrated curricular activities.
Purpose: The purpose of this educational session is to highlight advanced educational experiences integrated into the DPT curriculum at our institution designed to promote equity and access to healthcare within our surrounding underserved inner city community.Methods and/or Description of Project: In alignment with our institution’s goal of improving the well-being of the local community, our DPT program has developed unique ways to provide healthcare resources for the surrounding underserved population. In this session, we will review the varied, multi-year educational experiences used to not only augment the didactic curriculum but also promote equity of access to healthcare resources. We will describe how the experiences are woven into our institution’s didactic curriculum, describe the targeted community the events serve, define the population needs that are addressed, and review the analysis of our outcome assessments.Results/Outcomes: The development of these educational experiences has been beneficial for our students, the community and our institution. Our students have indicated the interactive patient experiences have helped them to gain insight into the challenges and needs of underserved healthcare populations. The community participants have reported a positive response to the interactions with our faculty and students. From one project, the elementary school children participants were reported to have a new-found appreciation for activity and fitness and several parents sought follow-up assessments for their children. In the adult population programs, individuals received important health screening and referral to appropriate specialists for follow-up. These diverse year long educational experiences enabled our department to meet the Universities mission to enhance services to the community in which our institution is located.Conclusions/Relevance to the conference theme: Our Leadership Landscape: Perspectives from the Ground Level to 30,000 Feet: Consistent with the conference theme, “Taking flight and advancing PT education to promote access and equity”, we believe these integrated educational training opportunities within the community epitomize how to facilitate training of entry-level physical therapy students while meeting community needs for improved healthcare access. The strategies incorporated in our institution could be implemented in other DPT programs with modifications made to meet the specific healthcare needs of one’s own local community and DPT program.References: Anne Dressel, Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu, Ann Dietrich, Ellen Chirwa, Florence Mgawadere, Sylvia Kambalametore & Peninnah Kako (2017) Local to global: Working together to meet the needs of vulnerable communities, Journal of Interprofessional Care, 31:5, 667-669, DOI: 10.1080/13561820.2017.1329717 O’Mara-Eves, A,, Brunton, G., Oliver, S., Kavanaugh, J., Jamal F., and Thomas, J. (2015) BMC Public Health 15:129 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1352-y Cyril, S., Smith, B. J., Possamai-Inesedy, A., & Renzaho, A. M. N. (2015). Exploring the role of community engagement in improving the health of disadvantaged populations: a systematic review. Global Health Action, 8, 10.3402/gha.v8.29842. http://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v8.29842 Davidson, E. M., Liu, J. J., BhopL, R., White, M., Johnson, M. R.D., Netto, G., Wabnitz, C. and Sheikh, A. (2013), Behavior Change Interventions to Improve the Health of Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations: A Tool Kit of Adaptation Approaches. Milbank Quarterly, 91: 811–851. doi:10.1111/1468-0009.12034 Liu J, Davidson E, Bhopal R, White M, Johnson M. Adapting health promotion interventions to meet the needs of ethnic minority groups: mixed-methods evidence synthesis. Health Technol Assess 2012;16(44)Course Objectives: 1. Identify a minimum of 2 mechanisms to conduct a healthcare needs assessment of local communities 2. Identify a minimum of 2 educational experiences that can be implemented in a community setting 3. Describe the benefits of integrating community engagement programs into DPT didactic educationInstructional Methods: Lecture with Question and AnswerTentative Outline/Schedule: Overview of curriculum (10 mins) Needs assessment of community (10 mins) Reviewing educational experiences integrated into community (40 mins) Analysis of experiences (15 mins) Questions and Answers (15 mins)