The Community Health Outreach and Family Study Programme

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The Community Health Outreach and Family Study
Programme

• Dr.Joan Rawlins
• Senior Lecturer/Outreach Coordinator
• Public Health and Primary Care Unit
• Dept of Paraclinical Sciences
• FMS, UWI. St Augustine

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Rationale

• Evidence from recent research in medical
  education indicates that students should be
  trained early in their education programmes in
  aspects of
• critical thinking
• reflection and
• empathy, by allowing them the opportunity of
  going through an experience and thinking
  carefully about the outcomes.

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Rationale contd

• This enables them not only to narrate what has
  happened, but to
• encourage an analysis of the events and
• identify how these events have contributed to
  the outcomes
• and how this experience can be applied to solve
  similar problems in the other situations.
• The Community Health Outreach and Family study
  proposes to achieve this type of analysis

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Family Study

•  
• The Family Study is an educational experience
  that has been successfully applied in a number of
  medical schools, one being The Faculty of
  Medicine, University of New Castle on Tyne, UK.

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The Family Study

• Through this process the student should learn
  about the socio-cultural effects of childbirth in
  the family and how these interactions can affect
  the child.
• The student will also have the opportunity to
  study at first hand the various biological and
  developmental events that occur during pregnancy
  and early childhood.

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Learning Outcomes (Summarized)

• By the end of the project, the students should
  have studied at first hand over a period of
  time, social, biological and health events
  related to childbirth in a small group of
  families in a real-life situation
• studied the psychosocial impact on the family on
  having a baby and the possible effects of these
  on the baby.

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Learning Outcomes Summarized (Contd)

• experienced group interactions by working with a
  number of his/hercolleagues
• practised some of the communication skills
  introduced and discussed during the preclinical
  courses
• been involved in some ethical considerations
  relevant to the type of data he/she collects
  during the study

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Programme

• Students attend 6 hours of Lectures (over a two
  (2) week period) as they prepare for the Health
  Centre and ( Family Study) Exercise.
•  

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Lectures

• Introduction to the Outreach and Family Study
• Introduction to Community Health Services
• Caribbean Family Health and Social Concerns
• Family Dynamics
• HIV and the community
• Gender and Health The public Health Perspective

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Health Centre visits

• Thereafter students are rotated in groups of four
  (4) through the Health Centres (Arima, Arouca
  and Maloney)
• Each week 28 students (7 groups) attend the
  Health Centres for their Family Study Visit
• Each group of four students interviews and
  studies two (2) antenatal clients

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Deliverables in semester one

• Students complete a questionnaire in relation
  to the health and family situation of the two
  (2) mothers interviewed at the (HC) and
• They write a reflection page about their
  experience of that first visit
• The reflection page aims at developing critical
  thinking attitude by analyzing, discussing and
  reflecting on this experience in this Programme

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Semester 2

• Students again attend 3 hours of lectures at the
  beginning of the semester. The lectures include
  issues of
• Domestic Violence
• Introduction to The Cancer Registry
• Breast Feeeding
• Sexual and Reproductive Health
• The Rape Crisis Society
• Introduction to the older person in the family

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Health Centre Visit

• Thereafter the students are rotated again in
  groups of
• (4 ) through the Health Centres.
• During this visit they interview the antenatal
  mother (one mother this time) and examine the
  baby.
• A schedule pertaining to Early Child Development
  is completed.
• N.B. (A power point presentation of work sheet A
  is available and is shown and discussed with the
  students before they go to the community)

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Reflection page

• Students again complete a reflection page based
  on their expectations and the outcome of their
  meeting with the mother and new baby.

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Assessment of Students Performance

• The reflection pages are graded.
• Previously the Family study was included and
  represented a significant part of the grading.