Patient assessment of engagement with students in an interprofessional student-run free clinic for individuals experiencing homelessness

ABSTRACT

The development and validation of a patient exit interview tool, the Interprofessional Clinic Homeless Satisfaction with Student Engagement Survey (ICHSES), and its incorporation in the administration of an interprofessional, co-curricular program, the Community Homeless Interprofessional Program (CHIP) is described. Incorporation of patient satisfaction with student engagement during interprofessional training experiences serving individuals who are homeless has not been previously published. At CHIP, medical, pharmacy and social work students engage with individuals experiencing homelessness in a church and faculty-supervised environment. The students provide basic health assessment, education, and referrals to community resources. Once the interaction with the students is complete, patients are asked to participate in an exit-interview using the ICHSES. Questions in the ICHSES focus on engagement with the students and the patient’s perception of the assistance they received. Based on survey responses by 220 patients, the 5 question ICHSES showed high reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.77). The ICHSES survey could be utilized in similar clinics engaged in serving the homeless.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional education
• homeless
• student-run free clinic
• survey
• patient satisfaction
• student engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Justine Gortney, Pharm.D., is an Associate Professor (Clinical) in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wayne State University. E-mail: [email protected]

Jennifer Mendez, Ph.D, is an Assistant professor in Internal Medicine and the Director of the School of Medicine’s Co-Curricular Programs at Wayne State University. E-mail: [email protected]

Cassandra Bowers, Ph.D., LMSW, is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the B.S.W. Program at Wayne State University. E-mail: [email protected]

Joel Appel, D.O., is the Course Director for the Clinical Medicine Courses at the School of Medicine, Wayne State University. E-mail: [email protected]

Dominique Blanks, B.A., is a student in the Master’s of Public Administration Program at Wayne State University and a Project Manager at Meridian Health Plan. E-mail: [email protected]

Wing Lee Cheung, B.S. is a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Emergency Medicine at Henry Ford Health System. E-mail: [email protected]

ORCID

Justine Gortney http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3984-226X

Wing Lee Cheung http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8281-8903