Introduction to the Project
The Preservice Health Training Project was developed out of a need to
train healthcare workers to be responsive to the needs of persons with
developmental disabilities. In designing the project, a team consisting
of nurse practitioners and a physician assistant, experts in disabilities,
parents, individuals with disabilities, and technical experts identified
a series of core objectives, which based on both the clinical education
literature and personal experience, seemed to be those things that clinicians
most needed to know about such patients. Our project has been designed
around two main goals:
- First, to impart substantive knowledge to students regarding developmental
disabilities, common characteristics and secondary conditions of persons
with developmental disabilities, and ways in which to most professionally
treat such individuals in a clinical setting.
- Second, and perhaps more importantly, to allow students to become
familiar with interacting with persons with developmental disabilities
and at-risk conditions in a simulated, though realistic, format.
Module Components
Several items are included with the modules. First is a section of supplemental
material. This includes general background material on developmental
disabilities (e.g., types of developmental disabilities, person-first
language, etc.). The supplemental material also includes specific information
for each of the two virtual patient cases (an adolescent with Down syndrome;
an infant born with extreme prematurity) that are presented. Multiple
choice questions are also included as a pre and post test format to test
students' knowledge.
The video section (virtual patient interview) represents
the core of the module. Each virtual patient interview includes a series
of video clips; at the end of each video clip, the student is asked to
respond to a "decision point" about how best to proceed with
the interview. Interspersed with the videotaped interactions of patient
and clinician are additional information points. In addition, at the conclusion
of the "Julia" module (the module on the well-adolescent visit
for the young person with Down syndrome), the mother talks about her own
personal experiences and offers advice to clinicians about the care of
individuals with developmental disabilities.
The modules include a diagnostic tool, which we refer to as
the Disability Situations Inventory for Clinicians (DSI-C).
The purpose of the DSI-C is to gauge the degree to which the clinician
feels comfortable in performing routine examination procedures for patients
with a variety of developmental disabilities. The DSI-C should be given
as both a pre-test and a post-test in order to gauge the effectiveness
of our modules in familiarizing student clinicians with persons with disabilities.
The modules also contain an Instructor's Manual with
several suggestions for further activities. Among these activities are
two additional case studies with discussion questions. Two contemporary
issues also are included to generate further classroom discussion. A series
of possible paper topics are suggested, as well as the framework for suggested
additional interviews.