A New Interprofessional Community-Service Learning Program, HATS (Health Ambassador Teams for Seniors) to Improve Older Adults Attitudes about Telehealth and Functionality

Donald Jurivich, Carter Schimke, Dakota Snustad, Mitchell Floura, Casey Morton, Marsha Waind, Jeremy Holloway, Sclinda Janssen, Meridee Danks, Karen Semmens and Gunjan Dhawan Manocha
Additional contact information
Donald Jurivich: Department of Geriatrics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Carter Schimke: Department of Geriatrics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Dakota Snustad: Department of Geriatrics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Mitchell Floura: Department of Geriatrics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Casey Morton: Department of Geriatrics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Marsha Waind: Department of Geriatrics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Jeremy Holloway: Department of Geriatrics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Sclinda Janssen: Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Meridee Danks: Department of Physical Therapy, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Karen Semmens: Department of Nursing, College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA
Gunjan Dhawan Manocha: Department of Geriatrics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-10

Abstract: Senior population health often is underrepresented in curricula for medical and allied health students. Furthermore, entrenched and dense curricular schedules preclude interprofessional teams from clinical experiences related to senior population health. Community service learning potentially offers the opportunity to engage interprofessional students with a panel of older adults to assess health promotion metrics over time. To test this educational concept, we created Health Ambassador Teams for Seniors, also known as HATS. Utilizing a telehealth platform, interprofessional student teams were tasked with older adult wellness promotion. The annual Medicare wellness exam served as a template for patient encounters which was enhanced with key elements of geriatric assessment such as gait and balance, cognition, and functional evaluations. The objective was to have dyads of interprofessional students conduct telehealth visits and gather healthcare data to be used for serial patient encounters and track functional trajectories over time. As a proof of concept, pilot telehealth encounters with medical, physical therapy, nursing and occupational therapy students revealed that data on older adult functional performances such as gait speed, Timed Up and Go test (TUG), and Mini-Cog test could be acquired through telehealth. Equally importantly, trainees received diverse feedback from faculty, peers and volunteer patients. A Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) data repository allows trainees to track patient trends relative to their health promotion recommendations as well as handoff their patient panel to the next set of trainees. The HATS program promises to strengthen the Geriatric Workforce, especially with senior population health.

Keywords: community service learning; older adult population health; telehealth; geriatric assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10082/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10082/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10082-:d:643033

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().