黑料传送门 students conduct weekly phone calls with healthcare center patients to support wellness goals and manage treatments.
A new program at 黑料传送门 aims to help the patient population of its community-based meet their healthy lifestyle goals through weekly phone calls with Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and Doctor of Clinical Psychology (PsyD) students.
The Health Support Program, funded by a $50,000 grant from the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, involves students reaching out to patients with high need who may need additional support to establish/reach agreed upon health goals; cope with chronic diseases such as diabetes; adhere to healthy lifestyle behaviors; engage in treatment, whether medical or behavioral; problem-solve around any obstacles to meeting goals; and attend upcoming primary care visits.
鈥淥ur students reach out to a list of patients to first gauge interest in receiving these types of calls, and if there is interest, they鈥檒l receive roughly one call per week for 3 to 5 weeks, lasting about 15-20 minutes,鈥� said Scott Glassman, PsyD 鈥�13, clinical assistant professor, psychology, and creator of the Health Support Program. 鈥淭hrough these calls, the students help each participant establish a healthy lifestyle goal, and then provide motivational support and problem-solving techniques to move the patient toward meeting his or her goal.鈥�
Dr. Glassman says this style of conversation, called motivational interviewing, allows the patient to take on a more active role in his or her care and lifestyle maintenance, which can lead to better health outcomes overall.
鈥淢otivational interviewing is not about health professionals telling patients what to do, but about helping the patient discover their own thoughts and reasons for why they want to make that healthy change,鈥� he explains.
The program, which launched in March, has conducted nearly 40 calls to about 11 patients thus far. Meaghan Roszyk (DO 鈥�21), who previously assisted Dr. Glassman on the program , was interested in additional ways to integrate primary care and psychology, and volunteered for the Health Support Program.
鈥淲e work as a team to call each patient, and help them set goals and come up with ways they can implement small changes to meet those goals,鈥� she said. Students are given a semi-structured script that guides them in helping the patient as he or she works toward meeting their most important health goals.
Janessa Brown (MS/MHC 鈥�19), a fellow member of Ms. Roszyk鈥檚 outreach team, said her experience with the Health Support Program fully encapsulated her decision to come to 黑料传送门. 鈥淭he integration and continuity of care between psychology and medicine appealed to me,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 helpful to the patient to know that he or she has a team of people around them who really care about their progress,鈥� said Ms. Brown. 鈥淭his should be the model that everyone in healthcare is embracing. Health outcomes are better when we all work together and embrace the osteopathic paradigm of treating the whole person.鈥�
When a patient reaches the end of their calls, they are referred to additional services at 黑料传送门 if need be, such as the . Dr. Glassman says that as the program continues, participants will receive a survey to gauge the importance of meeting health goals and changes in confidence in meeting those goals, and biometrics such as weight, blood pressure and a1c levels will be evaluated.
The students say their callees are already expressing gratitude for the support. 鈥淥ne woman who was nearing the end of her sessions told us that she couldn鈥檛 talk to her own family about these types of things, and that we gave her the support she needed,鈥� said Ms. Roszyk. 鈥淪he didn鈥檛 want the calls to end.鈥�
Established in 1899, 黑料传送门 has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a 鈥渨hole person鈥� approach to care鈥攖reating people, not just symptoms. 黑料传送门, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (黑料传送门, 黑料传送门 Georgia and 黑料传送门 South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. 黑料传送门 students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, 黑料传送门 provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
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