Online Program

329451
Building Interprofessional Competence in Health Care Providers through a Poverty Simulation


Monday, November 2, 2015

Joanne Kouba, PhD, RD, School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL
Fran Vlasses, PhD, RN, School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL
Introduction:  The World Health Organization acknowledged interprofessional collaboration as necessary to strengthen health care.  Loyola University Chicago School of Nursing received a federal grant (HRSA #UD7HP26040) to improve health care through interprofessional collaboration. Patient-centered values and ethics are key. Healthy People 2020 identified elimination of health disparities as a goal. Economic disadvantage is a type of health disparity requiring interprofessional collaboration. To develop the Interprofessional Education Collaborative competencies, a patient-centered poverty simulation was developed to prepare health care providers to reduce health disparities through team work related to poverty.

Approach:  Four poverty simulation events were conducted between February 2014 and February 2015.  Each person was assigned to a role as a family member or community service provider.   Participants worked as teams to manage family resources, demands and events over a mock month (20 minutes/week).  The simulation included lunch that met the USDA Thrifty Food Plan ($1.43/person).  A discussion followed related to food security.

 Results:   Students (230) and faculty (64) have participated to date representing medical, nursing, dietetics, health systems management, public health and social work disciplines.  Participants completed a self-assessment of interprofessional competencies before and after the simulation. All participants engaged in debriefing Common themes were “survival”, “coping”, and “stress”.  Students gained appreciate for barriers to health care use and engagement.  Increased self-efficacy for inter-professional competence, based on data analysis, will be presented.

Discussion:  Interprofessional competence and functioning as team members can be developed using a poverty simulation for students and faculty in health professions education programs.

Learning Areas:

Diversity and culture
Ethics, professional and legal requirements
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related nursing
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Explain the value of interprofession education, collaboration and team work in public health practice. Describe a poverty simulation as a strategy to increase interprofessional competence.

Keyword(s): Underserved Populations, Public Health Curricula & Competencies

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to be the presenter of this abstract because I am a co-investigator on the I CARE PATH grant, an educator of dietetic practitioners and teach students in the nursing, dietetic, and public health programs at Loyola University Chicago.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.