Addressing Inequity in Health Care Access: Applying the Ecological Systems Theory and Trauma-informed Care to Catalyze Interprofessional Collaborations

Lack of or insufficient health insurance coverage affects access to care and contributes to health inequity. The impact can be traumatic for both patients and those providing services. Preparing health professions students to address this health inequity by applying ecological systems theory (EST) and trauma-informed care (TIC) offers a novel approach to catalyze interprofessional collaboration around this complex problem.Goals, objectives, and purpose: The objective is to develop a 3-hour interprofessional training that focuses on access to health care services and insurance coverage using the EST and TIC frameworks.Methods/Methodology: In interprofessional teams, students apply EST to explore the impact of a health insurance policy on a family given their medical and socioeconomic circumstances. The team is then introduced to TIC before this family experiences an unexpected life event. Teams apply both frameworks to discuss the life event’s social, emotional, behavioral, and financial impact and explore a collaborative approach to supporting this family. A baseline questionnaire assessed students’ familiarity with content. Post-training, students complete a self-assessment to reflect on changes in knowledge and skills and their interprofessional experience. Data were analyzed descriptively. A 6-item interprofessional education (IPE) composite score was generated (Cronbach’s alpha 0.94).Results/Findings: There were 46 interprofessional teams representing nine health professions (n=336). At baseline, only some students were extremely or very familiar with environmental factors that influence access to health care services (40%), TIC (23%), and interpreting insurance coverage (17%). Post-training, over 80% reported increased understanding in all three areas. Confidence in addressing health care coverage-related concerns increased from 10% to 83%. This was a well-received interprofessional training, indicated by an IPE composite score of 4.38 on a 5-point Likert scale.Conclusions, implications, and/or curiosities: Integrating EST with TIC into interprofessional training has the potential to increase the knowledge, skills, and confidence in future health care professionals to collaboratively address health care access issues.