Addressing Cultural Practices in Delivering Healthcare
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About You
About You
About Your Organization
Organization Name
University of Pikeville
Organization Website
upike.edu
Organization Country
United States, KY, Pikeville
Country where this project is creating social impact
South Africa, KN, Durban-- Zulu Land, Umlazi
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
Determined site for new medical school 2001
References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each
Tokasani Xaxa - Chair of Community Devlopment
ClaCla Mkize - Dean of Arts and Sciences
UKZN 01127314652479
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)
How long have you been in operation?
Operating for 1‐5 years
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
Many medical schools across the globe are preparing students scientifically and clinically to be competent doctors. Very little, however is apparent in their preparation for work across many different cultures and social identity groups. Physicians, therefore, are underprepared to impact patient efficacy with orders and instructions given them because of the manner in which that information gets communicated and the maintenance systems that conflict with patients’ cultural or religious beliefs and values.
Additionally, US physicians and scientists preparing doctors can impact the quality of training for student across the globe and other regions of the world can impact us by the sharing of knowledge and experiences in a way that is relative and can also impact the quality of services
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
The Global Ed Consortium at KYCOM and a designated internal medical school partner provide both aspects of training to faculty and students. Exploration of inclusive communication styles and methodologies, and information about cultural and belief practices will lead to an understanding of other phenomena that will be evident in working across patient populations, especially underserved in both countries/environments.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
We provided classroom and experiential learning for faculty and medical students. Such is provided through Community and Behavioral Medicine and Community Health curriculum. This preparation connects in a number of ways, but in our view, primarily through standards for patient ethics. For example, how do you treat a patient whose belief system supports the first line of defense to a health condition as evaluation by a traditional healer from their ethnic group? Through our experience with working with a premiere research university in South Africa, we have learned that the route to Western medicine is through the adaptability of providing both where possible. The patient and patient’s family is much more likely to follow the “orders” of physicians when honoring beliefs and ideologies takes place in treatment and care across many differences. This is only one example. We, specifically, sit in Appalachia where there are different cultural and religious beliefs about healthcare. Better preparing doctors, particularly like those trained in Osteopathic Medicine who seek to work in regions underserved medically, to apply this model can be crucial to doctor-patient relations and overall quality of life and practice.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Others are not specifically engaging this particular outcome to our knowledge. There are many faculty and student exchange programs that primarily involve travel to other countries to tour facilities and to meet and greet. Very few, combine classroom curriculum with experiential learning including distance interactions and shared case studies. Addressing a multiplicity of dilemmas; becoming more culturally competent; and exchanging preventative and treatment ideas have not been part of medical school preparation.
While not viewed as competitors, there are student-generated programs that assist global partners through a church mission agenda and also emergency support programs to which doctors and doctors-in-training have access. These mission trips certainly provide community support,
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.
In recent years, I lead an effort to establish a course in Global Health in connection with my U.S. University and University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) in Durban, South Africa. After piloting the work, and holding a 6 credit hour course for undergraduate and graduates in South Africa, the realization of what I had included in the course under “community engagement and cultural exchange.” While these were ancillary to the course content and field assignments, it became apparent that an opportunity to impact learners, particularly those who are likely to address the needs of people nationally and internationally, by affording experiences and learning about various aspects of client values and beliefs, the efficacy of achieving the desired outcomes would be positively affectedI watched our U. S. students struggle in their attempts to perform well in communicating effectively with people, not because of language differences, but largely due to refusal to even acknowledge cultural mores and
Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve
My goal is to pilot an experience between students in medical school where I am a non-traditional faculty member (ethics and diversity), and students at the medical school in UKZN (or another identified non-U.S. medical school) to develop an open dialogue and case review process where they can discuss their different perceptions and strategies to address ways to communicate with prospective patients and adopt treatment plans that are inclusive of these practices earlier described.
I anticipate comparing these to a control group tasked with the same process without the benefit of the collaboration. By utilizing and a pre and posttest, I will contrast and compare the outcomes to determine whether there were differences. I will also review the outcome with a panel of experts and will deter
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
I have not attempted this solution in this environment. I do, however, have three years of experience with the global health project. My assessments for that project had to do with student outcomes relative to positive change in their cultural attitudes and student satisfaction with the experience. The assessment for this project will address impact on behavior. The former experience does serve as a guide for establishing the instrument(s).
What is your projected impact over the next five years?
This pilot will be a catalyst for continued work globally. To gather longitudinal data, it would great to continue with UKZN. We will evaluate the relationship relative to this work after the pilot. It could be a foundation for work with another non- U.S. organization or to expand to multiple relationships.
Within five years, content of this exchange will be updated based on learning from this pilot and preceding years. As we further evaluate the utility of this program, we may also consider collegial work with departments teaching science to undergraduate students. Allowing impact across the curricula would be great to chronicle.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
The project will be completely supported by both institutions, class syllabi and schedules developed, and exchange begun.
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
1) Implement an agreement between KYCOM – 6weeks – 8 weeks
Task 2
2) Enhance current technology to provide full support for project - 8 weeks
Task 3
3) Schedule class sessions and times with global partner 3 months
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
The pilot cultural exchange regarding health scenarios will have been completed and assessments completed.
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
1) Hold a minimum or ten (10) sessions between KYCOM and UKZN
Task 2
2) Collect and analyze data sets from pre and post tests (control and experimental groups)
Task 3
3) Conclude from data collected and feedback from expert panel a) differences between groups b) impact of difference (if any) on
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
We currently have no relevant partnerships. As we grown our program, beginning with a double class in the fall, we have an opportunity to impact our first year and second year medical students in this new class. While relationships are in tact from work at a former institution that, so far, is being discontinued, we can capitalize on the interest and impact for South Africa and the U.S.!
Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
The quality of teaching and learning at KYCOM is high and we are small enough to ensure the time commitment necessary to continue an already test idea in this new environment with new goals. We also have a president who was former governor of the state and interested in such enhancements and a dean of the medical school who will invest in programs and services that will ultimately impact the underserved individuals our medical school graduates, residents, and doctors target.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
 | 66 weeks ago renay scales updated this Competition Entry. |
| 66 weeks ago renay scales submitted this idea. |
