The Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service is pleased to announce that Dr. Erin Wentzell has been awarded the Community Engaged Scholar award for her work in PT 8481: Interprofessional Community Practicum.
PT 8481 is a community engaged service learning course within the doctorate of physical therapy program. Within this course, students work in small groups with a community partner from the Washington DC region who works with an under-represented population and addresses health and health equity. This course provides opportunities for the students to develop their communication skills and engage with others who may have a different life experience than their own. It provides opportunities for students to understand health equity concepts, the social determinants of health, and cultural humility in a real-life context.
The partnerships are true partnerships where there is shared decision-making and mutual collaboration. The students learn from the community partner, and they are the content-matter experts that the students engage with every step of the way. Community partners identify a need and then work together with the students to identify a meaningful and tangible project that the students can complete to help address the need. The goal is to build on the fantastic work the community partners are already doing to create better health outcomes for the populations they serve.
PT 8481 works with over 12 different partners every year, ranging from local non-profit organizations such as Community of Hope, to health care organizations like the Armed Forces Retirement Home, to nationwide organizations like Special Olympics. Students utilize their knowledge and skills to produce various products from educational materials, strategic planning materials, and conducting health classes, either virtually or in-person, to meet the community partner's needs. They work with the partner to get feedback and refine their project throughout the semester. The final project is determined through reciprocal partnership to support the community partners' goals and objectives.
As students noted in their end-of-the semester course feedback, this course allowed for a "different perspective on how PT and public good mesh" and that this course was "different compared to the rest of our classes, it provided a different perspective on what we as Physical Therapists can do in the community." Another student commented, "this course is wonderful and so necessary! I am so grateful to this course to have helped me see a clearer path as a future clinician. I loved working with a community partner to develop a sustainable program to benefit the DC community. This project was such a great experience and helped me see how we can benefit our communities in ways I had not considered previously."
In 2021, Dr. Wentzell's students worked with HSC Kids in Action, an adaptive sports and social activities program for children and young adults with disabilities and their siblings. Kids in Actions adapts sports, social, and health-based activities and focuses on each child's goals and strengths.
From Kids in Action: "Her commitment to our program has been proven year-after-year, in both an in-person setting and in a virtual capacity...These commitments include supporting HSC Kids in Action at in-person adaptive events such as: Adaptive Adventure Day, Adaptive Sports Camp, Adaptive Swimming Program, Horse Therapy, Bowling, Holiday events/activities, and more. In a virtual capacity, student’s support HSC Kids in Action by creating adaptive content/videos for our social platforms, participating in our one-on-one and group Buddy program via Microsoft Teams, and with the creation of our Board Membership outline, our Kids in Action at Home infographic, and more! Our partnership also helps to get the word out about our program and plants a seed for future advocates for adaptive activities in our community."
Congratulations to Dr. Erin Wentzell for the recognition of her commitment on developing, retaining, and growing community partnerships throughout the DMV area and her and her students' efforts to build long-term relationships with community organizations to address health and health equity.
