For my experiential learning, I attended 5 events to complete my 8 hours. The first event I attended was an orientation for the Milestone Recovery Clinic on September 20th from 5:30-6:30. The second event I attended was the Preble Street soup kitchen on November 4th from 10am-1pm. The next event was on November 5th from 12pm-1:30pm about Prejudiced Patients: Caring for Those Who Discriminate Against You. I then attended Restraints and Seclusion in Maine Schools: We Can Do Better on November 10 from 6-7:30pm. The last event I attended was Change Agents: Fostering Health Equity and Social Justice on November 17 from 6-7:30.
Each one of these events had a priority focus. The orientation for the Milestone Recovery Clinics priority focus was an introduction to what the clinic was about. The people from Milestone clinic talked about how they help many people with substance use disorders who are homeless and don’t have the money for healthcare. The Preble Street soup kitchen was a fun three hours spent chopping up vegetables and packing up food for different shelters. The priority focus of volunteering at Prebble Street is helping those who cannot afford food. The CECE event about Prejudiced Patients was a very interesting conversation about a topic that I often fail to think about. The priority focus of this event was how to deal with patients who are prejudiced towards you or your coworkers. For Restraints and Seclusions in Maine Schools, the priority focus was to highlight the number of restraints used in Maine schools, and better ways to interact with children. The event for Change Agents’ priority focus was considering your responsibility to be an agent of change in the promotion of social justice.
The event that talked about Prejudiced Patients had two clear social determinants of health. These two determinants were racism and language and literacy skills. Unfortunately, there are many people who are still racist and make fun of those who are not fluent in English. If I was to see a patient being prejudiced towards one of my coworkers, I would first assess the situation for safety and a possible reason the patient is acting that way. If the patient were stable, I would then speak up and defend my coworker and after, inform my supervisor.
During these events, I saw examples of where interprofessional collaboration could help facilitate better outcomes for patients. For the Preble Street soup kitchen, they could collaborate with dieticians to provide to most filling and nutritious foods for those they hand the food out to. The Prejudiced Patients event talked a little bit about having policies in hospitals on what to do if a patient is prejudiced towards you or a coworker. The hospitals can collaborate with ethics teams to create these policies and put them in place. The Restraints in Maine Schools event talked about how schools could use different ways to discipline students and the current stats on restraints being used. The schools could collaborate with social workers to help train teachers and staff to better interact with students. The Change Agents event could collaborate with legal teams to fight for more equitable policies and to make a change in the world.
