Advocacy in community-based service learning: perspectives of community partner organizations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36834/cmej.74887Abstract
Background: Health advocacy is a core competency for physicians, which can be developed through community-based service-learning (CBSL). This exploratory study investigated the experiences of community partner organizations (CPOs) participating in CBSL in the context of health advocacy.
Methods: A qualitative study was conducted. Nine CPOs at a medical school participated in interviews on topics pertaining to CBSL and health advocacy. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded. Major themes were identified.
Results: CPOs perceived a positive impact from CBSL through student activities and connecting with the medical community. There was no unifying definition of health advocacy. Advocacy activities varied depending on the individual’s role (i.e., CPO, physician, and student), which encompassed providing patient care or services, raising awareness of healthcare issues, and influencing policy changes. CPOs had different perceptions of their role in CBSL from facilitating service-learning opportunities to teaching students in CBSL, while a few desired to be involved in curriculum development.
Conclusion: This study provides further insight into health advocacy from the lens of CPOs, which may inform changes to health advocacy training and the CanMEDS Health Advocate Role to better align with the values of community organizations. Engaging CPOs in the broader medical education system may improve health advocacy training and ensure a positive bidirectional impact.
Metrics
References
Earnest MA, Wong SL, Federico SG. Perspective: physician advocacy: what is it and how do we do it? Acad Med 2010;85(1):63-67. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181c40d40
Buchman S, Woollard R, Meili R, Goel R. Practising social accountability: from theory to action. Can Fam Physician. 2016;62(1):15-18.
Frank JR, Snell L, J S. CanMEDS 2015 physician competency framework Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Published 2015. [Accessed 2022].
Bhate TD, Loh LC. Building a generation of physician advocates: the case for including mandatory training in advocacy in Canadian medical school curricula. Acad Med 2015;90(12):1602-1606. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000841
Howell BA, Kristal RB, Whitmire LR, Gentry M, Rabin TL, Rosenbaum J. A systematic review of advocacy curricula in graduate medical education. J Gen Intern Med. 2019;34(11):2592-2601. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05184-3
TD, Plinke W, Arora VM, Zhu JM. Prevalence and characteristics of advocacy curricula in US medical schools. Acad Med. 2021;96(11):1586-1591. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000004173
Bringle RG, Hatcher JA. A service-learning curriculum for faculty. 1995.
McIntosh S, Block RC, Kapsak G, Pearson TA. Training medical students in community health: a novel required fourth-year clerkship at the University of Rochester. Acad Med. 2008;83(4):357-364. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181668410
Belkowitz J, Sanders LM, Zhang C, et al. Teaching health advocacy to medical students. J Public Health Management Pract.. 2014;20(6):E10-E19. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000000031
Brush DR, Markert RJ, Lazarus CJ. The relationship between service learning and medical student academic and professional outcomes. Teach Learn Med. 2006;18(1):9-13. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328015tlm1801_3
Long JA, Lee RS, Federico S, Battaglia C, Wong S, Earnest M. Developing leadership and advocacy skills in medical students through service learning. J Public Health Management Pract. 2011;17(4):369-372. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0b013e3182140c47
Chamberlain LJ, Wu S, Lewis G, et al. A multi-institutional medical educational collaborative: advocacy training in California pediatric residency programs. Acad Med. 2013;88(3):314-321. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3182806291
Ferrari JR, Worral L. Assessments by community agencies: how "the other side" sees service-learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. . 2000;7(1):35-40.
Blouin DD, Perry EM. Whom does service learning really serve? Community-based organizations' perspectives on service learning. Teaching Sociology. 2009;37(2):120-135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055X0903700201
Hammersley L. Community-Based Service-Learning: Partnerships of Reciprocal Exchange? APJCE. 2012;14(3):171-184.
Hunt JB, Bonham C, Jones L. Understanding the goals of service learning and community-based medical education: a systematic review. Acad Med. 2011;86(2):246-251. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3182046481
Olmos-Vega FM, Stalmeijer RE, Varpio L, Kahlke R. A practical guide to reflexivity in qualitative research: AMEE Guide No. 149. Med Teach. 2022:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2022.2057287
Cresswell JW. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. In: Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1998.
JM. Designing qualitative research. In: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS, editors. Handbook of qualitative inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1994.
Nastasi BK, Schensul SL. Contributions of qualitative research to the validity of intervention research. J school psychol. 2005;43(3):177-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2005.04.003
Clark J. How to peer review a qualitative manuscript In: Godlee F, Jefferson T. Peer review in health sciences. In: London: Elsevier; 2003.
Wallerstein N, Duran B. Community-based participatory research contributions to intervention research: the intersection of science and practice to improve health equity. AJPH. 2010;100(S1):S40-S46. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.184036
Schmittdiel JA, Grumbach K, Selby JV. System-based participatory research in health care: an approach for sustainable translational research and quality improvement. AFM. 2010;8(3):256-259. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.1117
Dankwa-Mullan I, Rhee KB, Stoff DM, et al. Moving toward paradigm-shifting research in health disparities through translational, transformational, and transdisciplinary approaches. AJPH. 2010;100(S1):S19-S24. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.189167
Jagosh J, Macaulay AC, Pluye P, et al. Uncovering the benefits of participatory research: implications of a realist review for health research and practice. The Milbank Quarterly. 2012;90(2):311-346. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2012.00665.x
Cohen L, Leung F-H, Oriuwa C, Wright R. Service-learning curriculum design and implementation at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. MedEdPublish. 2019;8(141):141. https://doi.org/10.15694/mep.2019.000141.1
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Judy Truong, Priya Sandhu, Vanessa Sheng, Yasamin Sadeghi , Fokhan Leung, Roxanne Wright, Shazeen Suleman
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Submission of an original manuscript to the Canadian Medical Education Journal will be taken to mean that it represents original work not previously published, that it is not being considered elsewhere for publication. If accepted for publication, it will be published online and it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, for commercial purposes, in any language, without the consent of the publisher.
Authors who publish in the Canadian Medical Education Journal agree to release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 Canada Licence. This licence allows anyone to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given. For details of the rights an author grants users of their work, please see the licence summary and the full licence.