Home and Community Care Program – Interprofessional Teams Meet Patients Where They Live and Connect Them with Local Resources to Improve Care
Healthcare profession curriculums provide limited opportunities for students to collaborate with each other across disciplines. If they learn about issues like underserved populations and social determinants of health (SDoH), which truly require team-based care, it is mainly from lectures and textbooks. To address these gaps, we developed the Home and Community Care (HCC) Project as an interprofessional clinical training program for health care students enrolled in the Urban Service Track/AHEC Scholars program (UST/AHEC) in collaboration with the Family Medicine Center at Asylum Hill in Hartford, CT. Now in its third year, HCC introduces students from medicine, dentistry, social work, nursing, pharmacy and physician assistants to concepts and practice of team-based care and identification of patient-specific needs and resources related to SDoH. The curriculum incorporates a community immersion experience, neighborhood survey, home visits and research with didactic sessions on community-based primary care. Our students consistently rate this experience as highly valuable on our Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale (ISVS-21).
This seminar weaves together the summit themes of interprofessional learning and collaborative practice and education. While our twp-year UST/AHEC program consists of a series of learning retreats in which multidisciplinary student teams tackle case studies, HCC provides a chance for our students to collaborate in the care of a real patient affected by complex socioeconomic factors. This seminar allows participants to experience that collaborative effort first-hand so they can transmit the experience to their students.
After attending this session, the participant will be able to:
- develop their own template for an interprofessional HCC program
- supervise students on formal neighborhood surveys and home visits to recognize and address SDoH using observing methods and checklists
- teach students to find community resources for patients using online tools and provide patients with actionable information.
In this seminar, participants will learn how to develop a HCC program for interprofessional students by reenacting the three phases of the project - a walking/windshield neighborhood survey, a home visit, and researching various kinds of community resources – via an actual case study.
Participants will go on a virtual walking tour and patient home visit through short videos produced by students. They will be invited to make their own observations and identify factors affecting the patient’s health. Participants will then be split into breakout groups, each focusing on a specific SDoH affecting the patient (transportation, recreation, housing, health literacy, etc) and discuss how it can be addressed by accessing community resources. Groups will locate resources using internet tools (e.g. policymap.com, 211) and share them at the report out, simulating the creation of a care plan.
In support of improving patient care, this activity is planned and implemented by The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education Office of Interprofessional Continuing Professional Development (OICPD). The OICPD is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
The National Center OICPD is approved by the Board of Certification, Inc. to provide continuing education to Athletic Trainers (ATs). This program is eligible for Category A hours/CEUs. ATs should claim only those hours actually spent in the educational program.
This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.
Physicians: The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education designates this live activity for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with their participation.
Physician Assistants: The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME.
Nurses: Participants will be awarded contact hours of credit for attendance at this workshop.
Nurse Practitioners: The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME and ANCC.
Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians: This activity is approved for contact hours.
Athletic Trainers: This program is eligible for Category A hours/CEUs. ATs should claim only those hours actually spent in the educational program.
Social Workers: As a Jointly Accredited Organization, the National Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The National Center maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive continuing education credits.
IPCE: This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.