Nexus Innovation Network

Member Since: July 2016

Intervention: Community Health Mentor Program: A One-Year Interprofessional Mentorship

Partners:

• University of Arizona (U of A) College of Medicine - Phoenix
• Northern Arizona University (NAU) College of Health & Human Services

Occupations represented: Students and faculty from four programs: medicine, occupational therapy, physical therapy and physician assistant studies.

Overview: The “Community Health Mentor Program” (CHMP) reflects the alignment of health professions education where the students learn from their assigned community health mentor who has a chronic disease and/or disability about their experience as a patient within the healthcare system and their community, as well as their role within an interprofessional team. The students meet with their assigned mentor eight times over the course of the one year. This project collectively forms a ‘nexus’ partnership between two state academic institutions, interprofessional student teams, and a defined population of residential community-based consumers of healthcare.

Outcome measures for this project include scores on the Interprofessional Education Collaborative Competency Survey and the Community Health Mentor Survey. Qualitative analysis will be based on students’ written reflections to questions about the value of collaborative care, community needs and barriers to healthcare as well as advanced directives for patients.

Intervention Study Question:

• Among four health profession programs, what is the benefit of participation in the Community Health Mentor Program over a twelve-month period for both health professional students and community health mentors?