Interprofessional health care students' confidence toward addressing the social determinants of health for older adults through telehealth.

Abstract

There has been a call to action to integrate the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) into health care education including interprofessional education. This brief describes a large-scale online interprofessional educational curriculum where students focus on SDoH of older adults through patient-centered, collaborative telehealth experiences. The curriculum was delivered to students (n = 417) from 17 programs within the Colleges of Health Sciences, Medicine, and Nursing at a large Midwestern academic medical center. Students completed all curricular activities in interprofessional teams, composed of five-six students with at least four professions. Student teams completed a series of three telehealth sessions over a 12-week period with 73 older adults living in communities (i.e. Community Health Mentors [CHMs]). CHMs' average age was 71.2 years and all were living with at least one or more chronic conditions. Students completed the Self-Reported Competence Identifying and Addressing SDoH before telehealth training and upon completion of the telehealth sessions. Students demonstrated significant increases in perceived confidence within the four SDoH competency domains: 1) identifying, 2) addressing, and referral to both 3) internal and 4) external resources. Reflection, faculty, and client feedback enhanced the student learning experience and outcomes.