Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #116381

Anna K. Falkenstern, MSW/MPH, Michelle G. Clark, MSW/MPH, Kate A. Gardes, MSW, Melissa A. Kline, MSW, Mary E. LaBella, MSW, and Amani Ahmed, MSW. School of Social Work, University of Maryland, 525 West Redwood St., Baltimore, MD 21201, 410-706-7922, afalkens@jhsph.edu

Interdisciplinary education and training are essential for professional development and providing comprehensive, coordinated health care to women, children, and families. Evidence shows the increased use of interprofessional teams is a key stragety for to combat fragmentation of health services. University of Maryland's Interdisciplinary Framework for Prevention and Intervention in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) is an innovative model that addressed both the training needs of health professionals and the service needs of the local community. The program bridged the gap between academia and clinical practice by integrating an interdisciplinary educational course and a community service project, bringing together students from the schools of law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work. Organized and implemented by graduate students, this program provided extensive leadership development for future MCH professionals. Featuring faculty from each school, the course focused on interdisciplinary collaboration and family-centered, culturally competent care using the rising epidemic of childhood overweight and obesity as a case study. Community service projects gave students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in the course to interventions combating childhood overweight and obesity in an underserved community of Southwest Baltimore. Aligned with the goals of Healthy People 2010 and priorities of federal and state MCH programs, the community projects aimed to improve nutrition, increase physical exercise, and reduce obesity. Measures using evidence based evaluation included: 1) student competencies; 2) course evaluation; 3) community intervention effectiveness; and 4) feasibility of an integrated educational course and community project framework within a university and local community.

Learning Objectives:

• To apply an integrated framework combining an educational course and community service project to any MCH problem or issue;
• To recognize the evidence-based support of interdisciplinary collaboration and student leadership in graduate training of health professionals;
• To understand the strengths and challenges of forming partnerships between the university and local community.

Keywords: Training, Collaboration

Related Web page: cmchswe.umaryland.edu/index.htm

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commertial supporters WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A training grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration that funded the student leaders of this program.