Interdisciplinary Peer Mentoring: A Model for Developing Culturally Competent Health Care Professionals

Abstract

Background and Purpose. This project had three purposes: 1) to document the experiences and reciprocal learning achieved by physical therapist students, nurse students, and high school seniors from culturally diverse backgrounds who participated in the peer-mentoring program; 2) to expand upon an existing model of mentor-mentee communication; 3) to generate case studies that are interdisciplinary, culturally competent, and informed by the life experiences of high school seniors from diverse minority groups. Case Description. Twelve students were placed into one of three interdisciplinary teams comprised of physical therapist upperclassmen, nurse graduate students, and high school seniors. Student teams worked collaboratively for 9 weeks to develop three case studies. The high school seniors shared real-life stories about their personal or family health concerns. The university-enrolled students transformed the high school seniors' stories into patient cases. All students were required to reflect upon and record in a journal their learning at two points during the project, Week 4 and Week 9. Reflective data was used to modify an existing mentor-mentee communication model and evaluate student experiences within the project. The cases will be used in an introductory course to train Northeastern University (NU) second-year physical therapist students. Outcomes. Three interdisciplinary case studies were developed, each portraying one of the following medical conditions: Sickle cell crisis, cerebral palsy with thoracic scoliosis, and hip fracture. Also, an existing peer-mentoring communication model was modified to include a description of the interdisciplinary, cross-cultural elements present within the student team interactions. Discussion. Upon reflection, the university-enrolled students indicated that participation in the project allowed them to practice the skills of: listening, facilitation and leadership, working as a team, cultural awareness, and appreciating the roles of different allied health providers and the need for diversity among providers. High school seniors gained awareness of allied health professional careers and validation of their career choice. In addition, they learned about medical terminology, expectations for college work, and the benefits of a college education. More research is indicated to devise educational models for developing cultural competence in allied health students and increasing minority representation in the allied health professions. Key Words: Physical therapist education, Peer mentoring, Reflection, Cultural competence. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE One goal of professional physical therapist preparation is to educate students to display sensitivity to individual and cultural differences in all professional interactions.1(p11) Professional interaction requires good patient-provider communication. An impediment to a successful patientprovider encounter may occur when the respective parties are from different ethnic or cultural (crosscultural) backgrounds,2,3 although research supporting this claim is limited.4 Providers without experience or training to work in cross-cultural situations may not be properly equipped to understand diseases or conditions characteristic of a particular population. As a consequence, the provider may not communicate effectively with either patients or family members.5 Inadequate communication can potentially undermine treatment outcomes.6 Our nation is becoming increasingly more racially and ethnically diverse with approximately 30% of the current population composed of minority groups-African American, 12.2%; Hispanic/ Latino, 11.9%; Asian, 3.8%; and Native American/ Alaskan 0.7%.7 This trend is projected to continue. By the year 2020, the population of minorities will increase to 37.8%.8 Individuals of diverse cultural/ ethnic backgrounds are in need of health care and preventative health services. Minority populations, such as African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Native Americans, are also disproportionately affected by chronic and preventable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. …