An academic-community interprofessional telehealth online training partnership: Impact on students and providers

ABSTRACT

Telehealth can be used to improve rural communities’ access to specialized healthcare services and ameliorate rural care barriers. Use of telehealth quickly increased with the COVID-19 pandemic, and universities shifted to online instruction for the safety of students and faculty. This rapid uptake of telehealth and online instruction has created an urgent need for examples of online training for health professional students in telehealth. Participants for this study included 44 students enrolled in an interprofessional online mental health telehealth course and four health care professionals from rural clinics. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed from students and providers. Four primary themes were identified: student benefits from the IPE telehealth course, patient benefits, clinic benefits, and technological challenges. Student subthemes included learning skills needed for telehealth, improving team skills, learning about professional roles and responsibilities, and understanding rural health needs. Clinic benefits included improving telehealth readiness. This study presents an early example of online interprofessional mental health telehealth training using an academic-community partnership. Our pilot findings suggest that this course experience resulted in positive benefits for students and rural clinic providers.

KEYWORDS:

• Telehealth
• interprofessional education
• distance education
• online education
• rural health
• academic-community partnership

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all of the students, patients, clinical faculty, and providers involved in this project. This study was supported by the Duke Endowment under grant agreement #6631-SP.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Duke Endowment [6631-SP].

Notes on contributors

Teri Browne

Teri Browne, PhD, MSW is the Interim Dean and Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina College of Social Work and the Co-Director of Interprofessional Education for the Health Sciences at the University of South Carolina; Columbia, SC.

Selina Hunt McKinney

Selina Hunt McKinney, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC is a Nurse Practitioner at Future Psych Solutions; Columbia, SC.

Lauren Duck

Lauren Duck, MPH, BA is the Team Lead, Sponsored Programs Administrator at the University of South Carolina Sponsored Awards Management; Columbia, SC.

Beverly Baliko

Beverly Baliko, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC is an Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina College of Nursing; Columbia, SC.

Elizabeth W. Blake

Elizabeth W. Blake, PharmD, BCPS, FNAP is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Interprofessional Education at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy and the Co-Director of Interprofessional Education for the Health Sciences at the University of South Carolina; Columbia, SC.

Samuel R. Bethel

Samuel R. Bethel, MSW LCSW LISW-CP is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of South Carolina College of Social Work; Columbia, SC.

Rebecca Christopher

Rebecca Christopher, LMSW, MSW is the Field Education Coordinator and Field Educator Series Coordinator at the University of South Carolina College of Social Work and Interprofessional Education Course Administrator for the Health Sciences at the University of South Carolina; Columbia, SC.