Involving Students in an Interprofessional Community Engaged Learning Approach to Population Health and Primary Prevention

With the shift in healthcare to primary care, health promotion and population health, it is important for nursing students to engage in a variety of learning venues with a variety of community professionals. Historically, interprofessional education was not included in the curricula for healthcare professionals. Instead, students preparing for each discipline were educated in isolation from students and professionals of other disciplines, and there was little knowledge of the educational requirements or scopes of practice of other health professions. Today, students are being prepared to be members of an interdisciplinary healthcare team and are learning to focus on each patient as an individual, rather than a treatment or diagnosis. The need for collaborative practices in the community is an ever increasing necessity. Community Engagement is a signature experience for the students at The College of New Jersey. This opportunity allows students to apply additional knowledge and skills to address a community need through an experiential learning opportunity. Course learning objectives and community needs guided projects. Sophomore students participated in a variety of community engaged settings building on their core content in health assessment, nutrition and lifespan classes. Students cared for populations in the community setting that they would typically see in the outpatient settings with chronic conditions. This community based learning allowed students to develop patient communication skills throughout the lifespan, practice health promotion/disease prevention and increase their awareness of relevant health issues of rural and under served communities and collaborate and interact with individuals in various healthcare and community positions. Student project varied depending on their interests. Some students organized a healthy walking club for students with differing abilities on campus. Students went to TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) to serve meals, teach health lessons, perform screenings, and tutor students seeking their GED. Students provided breastfeeding/parenting classes to teen mothers at Project Teach, a high school program for pregnant/parenting adolescents. Lastly, students provided instruction to girls in critical areas of character development, self-esteem, embracing identity, life skills, health and wellness in the Dawn of Hope program. Students benefit by developing social responsibility and leadership skills, professional and community relationships, and opportunities to improve assessment, clinical skills and an opportunity to collaborate interprofessionally.