Community action projects: community-engaged quality improvement for medical students

Figures & data

Table 1. Examples of QI projects conducted across 2019–21.

GPCAP	Digi-CAP
Development of portable Diabetes Card with ideal values for diabetic patients to help with patient engagement in diabetes management	Creating and delivering well-being packs of art supplies, nutrition and exercise information for vulnerable families to support young people’s health during the COVID-19 pandemic
Collaborating with commissioning group (CCG) and patient groups to develop an online website where patient condition leaflets were translated into variety of languages for better access.	Assessing local community information needs around COVID-19 and developing an evidence-based Frequently Answered Questions resource for community partners to use when engaging with the public.
Encouraging uptake of the cervical smear screening program by organising a patient event, in partnership with charity and local hospitals, to support peoples’ understanding of gynaecological malignancies.	Creating accessible guides on how to use digital platforms e.g. zoom, aimed at supporting socially isolated older persons.

Box 1 Improving the quality of community-based QI courses.

Key ingredient for QI projects
Help to ensure that the QI project is valued by students (Theme: finding a sense of purpose and meaning in QI projects.)	Support students to collaborate with stakeholders to create a project that they are personally invested in. Assist students by offering community priority projects to adapt and incorporate their own interests.
Supporting student readiness for responsibility in service learning (Theme: preparedness for responsibility and service-driven learning)	Ensure students are adequately prepared through faculty training and support for the opportunities and challenges of implementing QI projects. Consider the timing of the QI projects in medical training and ensure adequate space and that it is integrated into existing curriculum. Promote the unique benefits of this type of service-learning to students’ wider professional development. Give students space to reflect and share their experiences of QI to highlight the value added to the community, and their personal and professional learning.
Ensuring an effective partnership and supervision (Theme: The importance of having supportive partnerships)	Actively support students to foster positive working relationships with clinical staff and the community. Ensure that clinical staff, patients, and community organisations are also adequately supported to work effectively with students Engage practice and community organisations which have a positive attitude to QI and who value student contributions
Ensuring projects have a sustainable, measurable impact (Theme: Making a sustainable difference)	Develop clear and realistic expectations with students about what can be achieved within the constraints of the programme. Show students how to develop meaningful and measurable outcomes to evaluate the short-term impact of projects. Encourage students to work on longitudinal QI projects where outcomes are more significant. Allow students to revisit their projects to ascertain longer term impact.