teaching students about disabilities and teamwork
TRANSCRIPT
Teaching Students About Disabilities and Teamwork:Interprofessional Education
Lynne Tomasa PhD, Leslie Cohen JD, Jim Kerwin MD, Cathleen Michaels PhD RN, John Murphy PharmD, Nancy Coleman BS, Andreas Theodorou MD
WHAT WE LEARNED
Learning together, students reported increased awareness of the complexity of the lives
of persons with disabilities
Professional students found that learning directly from persons with disabilities had significant impact on their understanding of their lives.
Students appreciated engaging in discussions with other The Disabilities exercise made a positive impact on
CLASS EVALUATION RESULTSBACKGROUND
Students appreciated engaging in discussions with other professionals “about important disability
issues that are often ignored.”
The new medical school curriculum, called ArizonaMed, was
The Disabilities exercise made a positive impact on students’ attitudes about the value of interprofessional education.
(2007) How much NEW information I learned about:implemented in 2006 . It integrated several large-group interprofessional (IP) class activities into years 1 and 2. The Disabilities activity, first held in 2007, was updated and offered again in 2008. Faculty from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, and law designed and implemented the activity. Participating students included:
COLLEGE STUDENTS2007
STUDENTS 2008
Law 53 0Medicine 109 114Nursing 79 96
(2007) How much NEW information I learned about:
LEARNING OBJECTIVESDefine disability as a personal, legal, medical, and social construct. Di th d i f l ith di biliti t li d k i d d tl
Nursing 79 96Pharmacy 87 1Public Health 3 0Social Work 12 18TOTAL 343 230
(2008) My understanding of the barriers to healthcare for persons with disabilities BEFORE and AFTER attending this class:
METHODSSTUDENT COMMENTS: “What I Liked…”
L di d ll i d t d t ti iti
Discuss the desire of people with disabilities to live and work independently.Collaborate respectfully with other professionals as an interdisciplinary team.Describe issues associated with disabilities that can be barriers to health care.
Law ‘07… It was good to do fact analysis and engage with helping real people.
This class should be required for all professionals in health care settings:
Large-audience and small mixed-student group activities were conducted in a 3-hour exercise, and included:• Lecture presentation: models of disabilities, health disparities• Life stories and discussion with persons living with disabilities:
-William, child with spina bifida (2007)-Laura, woman with spinal muscle atrophy (2007)-Nancy, woman with multiple sclerosis (2008)
• Case scenarios highlighting transitional care, family support, it i ti b i & t t i
Medicine ’07… It makes us think about issues we would not necessarily have thought of previously.
Pharmacy’ 07… Helped me gain a larger understanding, big picture view of how health care is delivered and where it falls short.
Social Work ’07… Working through a case with people who have different perspectives.
community resources, communication barriers & strategies
Enhancements in 2008:•Autism video•Poetry written by 14-year-old boy with cerebral palsy
After the activity, students completed online evaluations.
Medicine ’08… This session gave us a chance to analyze a sensitive topic alongside multiple professions that we will be dealing with in the future.
Nursing ’08… It opened up my mind to what can be understood by people with mental and physical disabilities.
For more information, contact Leslie Cohen – [email protected]