Assessment of Interdisciplinary Service-learning in the Underserved Community

Service learning is becoming the backbone of higher education at Jesuit Universities (Flemming, 1999). The knowledge gained from service-learning events helps the individual grow professionally and encourages the learner's soul. There is a substantial need for services in underserved and marginalized communities. Service learning is ideal for interprofessional learning and collaboration.Implementation: A wellness event was created to bring students and faculty to serve the underserved. The event created a perfect opportunity for an interprofessional service-learning event. Multiple disciplines could come together to assess and educate individuals and families about wellness and the resources needed to live successfully in the community. To determine if it was a successful interprofessional event, the occupational therapy professor provided assessment tools to gauge student learning and the success of the event.Evaluation plan: After an interdisciplinary event in which medical, physician assistant, nursing, pharmacy, dental, occupational therapy, and physical therapy students and faculty provided evaluations and interventions to individuals experiencing homelessness. The SPICE-R2 Instrument (Dominquez et al, 2015) was used to assess attitudes regarding the interdisciplinary event. The We Learn Interprofessional Program Assessment Scale (MacDonald et al, 2010) was also used to assess the success of the interprofessional event.Outcome(s) and significance: Results had strong themes such as: learning more about holistic healthcare, the importance of the interdisciplinary team, improvement in the learner’s advocacy and communication skills, and improving their use of therapeutic use of self. The results of both assessments proved the success of the event and growth in working on an interprofessional team to meet the needs of the underserved in the community. The assessments proved that the skills learned in the classroom were translated into clinical practice, allowing the students to grow in their interpersonal skills.