Attitudes toward chronic illness: Outcomes of a 2-year interprofessional curriculum

Interprofessional education has been recognized as an important strategy to improve care of the rising epidemic of chronic illness (Institute of Medicine, 2001). The purpose of this study was to assess attitudes toward chronic illness care prior to and after one year of an interprofessional curriculum. The Jefferson Health Mentors Program (JHMP) is a 2-year longitudinal required curriculum for all entering medical, BSN nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, and family and couples therapy students matriculating at Thomas Jefferson University. Begun in 2007, JHMP creates teams of 4-5 students from 3-4 disciplines, partnered with volunteer adult Health Mentors, primarily older adults living with one or more chronic conditions. Teams and Health Mentors complete a series of activities with the goals of preparing students to work in highly functioning teams and understanding patients' perspectives of chronic illness care. Activities include the patient/client as individual; obtaining an interdisciplinary health history; access to care; professionalism; medication usage; patient safety; and wellness planning. An interprofessional team of nearly 30 faculty and students are implementing and evaluating JHMP. Qualitative and quantitative analyses examined attitudes and understanding of chronic illness prior to as compared to after one year of the program, as well as differences among the students' attitudes compared by professions.