Program to address barriers limiting access to critical health information and services
Vermont Business Magazine Faculty from the University of Vermont (UVM) College of Nursing and Health Sciences (CNHS) and State University of New York (SUNY) Plattsburgh are training a team of students to help New Americans and refugees with chronic health conditions access critical healthcare services.
UVM Exercise Science Program Director Susan Kasser, Ph.D., and Julie Richards, Ph.D., of SUNY Plattsburgh, an advisory board member for the Association of Africans Living in Vermont (AALV), developed the Interprofessional Collaborative Health Access and Care Management Pilot Project to support immigrants and refugees facing barriers to the U.S. healthcare system.
“Without meaningful access to trusted and culturally appropriate information, these new community members face sociocultural, educational, and structural barriers with long-term impact on their health and well-being,” Kasser said.
Five students majoring in exercise science and physical therapy at UVM and five social work students from SUNY Plattsburgh will create and implement the culturally-responsive educational workshop. The program’s goal is to prepare Congolese refugees in Vermont to access the healthcare system and maximize the care available to manage their conditions. Within the African diaspora in Vermont, the Congolese are a rapidly growing community that experiences elevated rates of hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
The project will introduce the health professions students to the importance of interprofessional practice - a collaborative approach where healthcare providers work with each other - and promote understanding of the need for community building and cultural humility in healthcare practice.
The students will attend training in intercultural practice at the Association of Africans Living in Vermont (AALV) in Burlington on April 15 to prepare for the workshop, which is planned for May.
The Interprofessional Collaborative Health Access and Care Management Pilot Project is supported by the UVM College of Nursing and Health Science’s Dean’s Fund and the UVM Office of Community Engagement.
About the College of Nursing & Health Sciences
Part of an academic health sciences hub that includes the UVM Health Network and Larner College of Medicine, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences enrolls about 300 graduate students and 1000 undergraduates across four academic departments: Biomedical and Health Sciences, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Nursing, and Rehabilitation and Movement Science. CNHS calls students to a higher standard of care and teaches them to reach across divides for the benefit of patients, to become leaders among the next generation of culturally competent health professionals. Rigorously trained to collaborate with colleagues across the health fields, graduates join the workforce prepared to bring value to the work of their team members, champion the voice of a struggling patient, and to foster exemplary interprofessional, compassionate, and family-centered services. In this tight-knit ecosystem of health care education, research, and practice, students train to serve society and their patients, with better outcomes for all.
About the University of Vermont
Since 1791, the University of Vermont has worked to move humankind forward. UVM’s strengths align with the most pressing needs of our time: the health of our societies and the health of our environment. Our size—large enough to offer a breadth of ideas, resources, and opportunities, yet intimate enough to enable close faculty-student mentorship across all levels of study—allows us to pursue these interconnected issues through cross-disciplinary research and collaboration. Providing an unparalleled educational experience for our students, and ensuring their success, are at the core of what we do. As one of the nation’s first land grant universities, UVM advances Vermont and the broader society through the discovery and application of new knowledge.
Source: 4.14.2023. BURLINGTON, Vt. — University of Vermont