The Effects of an Experiential Learning and Mentorship Program Pairing Medical Students and Persons with Cognitive Impairment: a Qualitative Content Analysis
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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2013 The Effects of an Experiential Learning and Mentorship Program Pairing Medical Students and Persons with Cognitive Impairment: A Qualitative Content Analysis Darby J. Morhardt Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Morhardt, Darby J., "The Effects of an Experiential Learning and Mentorship Program Pairing Medical Students and Persons with Cognitive Impairment: A Qualitative Content Analysis" (2013). Dissertations. 727. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/727 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2013 Darby J. Morhardt LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO THE EFFECTS OF AN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND MENTORSHIP PROGRAM PAIRING MEDICAL STUDENTS AND PERSONS WITH COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT: A QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM IN SOCIAL WORK BY DARBY J. MORHARDT CHICAGO, IL DECEMBER 2013 Copyright by Darby J. Morhardt, 2013 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This is a path I have wanted to take for many years and I have many people to thank for their encouragement and support along the way. First of all I want to express my deepest appreciation to my committee chair, Dr. Marcia Spira, for enthusiastically supporting this endeavor from the beginning and her guidance over the course of the past four years. Her mentorship means the world to me. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Holly Nelson-Becker, Dr. Sandra Weintraub, and Dr. Madelyn (Micki) Iris for consistently communicating positive and high expectations and for their thoughtful and constructive feedback as I developed this work. Thank you to my colleague and friend, Mary O’Hara for her support and understanding over these past four years, for her assistance with data coding and for helping me to grow the buddy program. Thank you to Joyce Greening for her careful proofreading and her special friendship. A special thank you to all of the medical students who have participated in the buddy program, for their engaging and thoughtful reflections, and for their earnest desire to be good doctors. My gratitude also goes to the generosity of their mentors without whom this project would not be possible. All have enriched my world with what they have taught me. iii Dr. Marsel Mesulam, my deep appreciation for the inspiration for the buddy program, his clinical acumen and the challenging and rich environment in which I have flourished over the past many years. To Glen and Wendy Miller – for their support and humbling belief in me. And for my kindred intellectual community of colleagues and friends for whom I have profound respect and who have been so encouraging as I undertook this goal – Lisa Snyder, Lisa Gwyther, Phyllis (Penny) Harris, Rebecca Logsdon, Mary Mittelman, and Steven Sabat. I would also like to express my appreciation to my family who have been patiently waiting for me to reach this moment – my father – for keeping me grounded, my brothers, particularly Garland for helping me keep a sense of humor; my dear sister Amber who has always been an inspiration; for my wonderful nieces and nephews, particularly the newest – sweet Cal who came along in the midst of this endeavor. He helps keep my priorities straight. And, finally, for Steve – for nourishing and sustaining me with his love, commitment and delicious meals. I could not have accomplished this alone and am grateful for his unwavering support to help me realize my dream. iv For Joanna As you go into a (mentoring relationship) you must remember that you are not the giver and the other a receiver, but that this is about RECIPROCITY, where if you cannot grow and learn from each other, this relationship will not prosper! – Dr. Johnetta Cole, President, Spelman College TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ....................................................1 Significance and Background ...........................................................................................1 What is Dementia? ............................................................................................................2 Preparing Health Care Professionals ................................................................................4 Attitudes toward Aging and Dementia .............................................................................6 Education and Training in Aging and Dementia ..............................................................7 The Biopsychosocial Perspective ....................................................................................9 Significance for Social Work Education .........................................................................12 Medical Humanism .........................................................................................................12 Borderlands – The Challenge of Integrated Care ...........................................................13 Purpose and Research Question ......................................................................................15 CHAPTER TWO: THE BUDDY PROGRAM: HISTORY AND FINDINGS ................16 Buddy Program History ..................................................................................................16 Buddy Program Goals ..................................................................................................18 Buddy Program Core Elements ...................................................................................18 Buddy Program Preliminary Findings ............................................................................20 Initial Qualitative Analysis of Student Journals ..........................................................20 Qualitative Analysis of Mentor Experience .................................................................21 The Buddy Program – Publication and Replication .......................................................23 CHAPTER THREE: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..............................................................................................................26 Introduction .....................................................................................................................26 Attitudes Toward Aging .................................................................................................26 Attitudes About Dementia ..............................................................................................29 Education and Training in Aging ....................................................................................31 Expanding Geriatric Curricula .....................................................................................33 Senior Mentoring Programs .........................................................................................35 Education and Training in Dementia ..............................................................................38 The Healthcare Experience .............................................................................................41 Summary .........................................................................................................................42 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................................43 The Contact Hypothesis/Intergroup Contact Theory ...................................................44 Institutional support ..................................................................................................47 Common goals ..........................................................................................................47 Intergroup cooperation ..............................................................................................48 Equal status ...............................................................................................................48 vii Theory of Personhood ..................................................................................................49 The emergence of person-centered care ...................................................................53 Social constructionism ..............................................................................................55 Social Constructionism and Dementia ............................................................................56 Summary .........................................................................................................................59 CHAPTER FOUR: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................60 Research Question ..........................................................................................................60