title: Sensitizing Future Health Professionals to Determinants of Childhood Obesity.
abstract: Long-term solutions to the childhood obesity epidemic will require concerted interdisciplinary efforts that are sensitive to both individual and social determinants of health. The Junior Doctors of Health© (JDOH) program involves interprofessional education (IPE) with university students from health science fields (e.g., medicine, pharmacy, social work, public health) who deliver an interactive program in teams to at-risk school-aged youth. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of participation in the JDOH IPE program on university students' beliefs about childhood obesity. Fifty-three of the 71 health sciences students enrolled in the JDOH IPE program between 2011 and 2013 participated in this study. Pre- and post-surveys assessed students' beliefs about the importance, causes of, and responsibility for reducing childhood obesity with both closed- and open-ended questions. In 2013, quantitative data were analyzed using Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank tests and qualitative data were analyzed through open coding to identify emergent themes. Results indicate that after participation in the JDOH IPE program, students' identification of social and environmental causes of childhood obesity increased significantly. Further, students' ranking of the importance of obesity was initially higher than those of different issues typically portrayed as social or environmental (e.g., youth violence) but it was similarly ranked after participation in JDOH. This suggests a greater sensitivity to social and environmental challenges faced by youth. Findings suggest that IPE experiences that bring clinical and community-oriented health professions together to engage with disadvantaged youth foster sensitivity to the complexities of childhood obesity in low-income settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina. Electronic address: rosemont@mailbox.sc.edu.
authors.forename: Tiara N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Rosemond
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Christine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.affiliation: College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Scotty M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Buff
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences, South Carolina College of Pharmacy, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Elizabeth W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences, South Carolina College of Pharmacy, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Brianne L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Teri
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Browne
authors.affiliation: College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Bethany A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Aidyn L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Iachini
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006281:Health Occupations / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult