Student-facilitated health promotion intervention for chronic disease self-management in at-risk elders reflections from the field.

A student-facilitated and faculty-supervised health promotion program for chronic disease management in at-risk elders was developed based on the belief that individual contact with high-risk elders will facilitate improved health behaviors while enhancing the real-life experiences of students through interdisciplinary collaboration and community-based learning. Subjects were seven students enrolled as health professions academic majors at the university who served as student health advocates in the Healthy Elder Living Program (HELP). The data collected included student reflection questionnaires, field notes from the HELP staff, and communication logs between the HELP coordinator and students. As student health advocates, the students made visits to at-risk elders to reinforce recommendations from health care providers, to review adherence to the Health Promotion Inventory (HPI), and to interact socially with the client through discussion of health- and non-health-related issues. A training model for health promotion was developed based on identification of four common themes of student performance as health advocates. Overall, students demonstrated a greater appreciation for the complexity of social, psychological, and physical aspects of chronic disease as a result of participation in this program for at-risk elders. They were able to apply professional skills learned in the classroom while providing a needed service to elders. At-risk clients also benefited from the HELP intervention, showing improved physical performance and less depression.