Reimagining healthcare: virtual and interprofessional access
This is a narrative about how a single innovation has the power to transform our access to healthcare
Author’s Note: My name is Nathan Wang. I’m in my fourth year of a Honors Specialization in Health Sciences at Western University. This story is inspired by a research article titled, Virtual interprofessional (VIP) Education, a family medicine-occupational therapy-physiotherapy collaborative experience: the perspective of patients, learners and providers on the opportunities and challenges. To share the results of this study to the provincial government, I chose to narrate this story from a second person perspective of a university student.
I want to begin by having you sit down and imagine that you are a university student. A student who is currently dealing with financial burden due to student debt. Along with your mother, the both of you have lived within a rural community your entire lives, and up until now it has been nothing but smooth sailing, free of diseases and mishaps. However, now all of a sudden you find yourself within a crossroad of desperation, feeling a sense of responsibility overcome you.
Your loving mother has been battling sickness for the past few years and the need for better care has become increasingly urgent. Along with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, her health has only worsened, leaving you feeling helpless and alone. In front of your very eyes, you watch as your mothers health begins to deteriorate and all efforts to find help have been nothing but a struggle.
You’ve spent hours researching different healthcare providers, making dozens of phone calls, and filling out endless forms, all in hope of a solution. But to no avail, each attempt has left you feeling more and more stuck within a never ending cycle of despair. The healthcare system seems like a never ending maze of long waiting lists, and medical professionals who seem unable to work together to address your mother’s unique needs. At this point, you feel hopeless and you even think about dropping out of school to take care of her full time. The idea of a collaborative and holistic care system where healthcare professionals work together to provide comprehensive care, seems like a distant dream. You’re tired, frustrated, and simply overwhelmed.
But one day, as you sit at your computer, on the verge of giving up, you stumble across a glimmer of hope. A new pilot project revolving around Academic Community Collaboratives catches your eye in an online article. It’s described as a revolutionary approach to not only develop competencies for healthcare learners and providers through Interprofessional (IP) learning, but to provide better access to care through a sustainable model that allows universities and communities to work together.
Intrigued by this, you begin to dive deeper into this program. You learn that the program’s aim is to increase access to care by providing Virtual Integrative Interprofessional Access (VIIA) to OT, PT, and FM services in suburban & rural areas. Essentially, you learn that this would allow you to virtually access care while at the convenience of your own home. This would reduce the risk of infection, maintain patient continuity, and provide access where in person care was no longer an option. This program offers an inclusive and comprehensive solution that accommodates your family’s unique needs and health journey
With a renewed determination, you reach out to the program’s organizers, expecting yet another rejection. Mixed with anxiety and doubt, you wonder to yourself if this would really work. The organizers, much to your delight, not only listens intently to your mother’s story but also takes the time to discuss your financial situation. They reassure you that your mother will receive the care she needs.
Over the next few weeks, your mother becomes a central figure within this transformative program. A team of OT, PT, and FM experts work together to create a personalized care plan that takes into account her unique needs. Gradually, you witness your mother’s health begin to stabilize and improve and the overall wellbeing of your family improves along with it.
However, you know that the road ahead is still long, and challenges remain, but the difference now is that you know that you are not alone. Reaching your full health potential is no longer a distant dream but a reality within your grasp.
As you go about your day, you can’t help but think about countless others who may also be suffering and could benefit from this sustainable model. You're inspired by the potential impact Academic Community Collaboratives can have on communities and families just like yours.
This was a narrative of hope and transformation, a narrative about how one single healthcare innovation has the power to change the outcome of lives, and to make a brighter & healthier future possible for everyone. So I ask you a single question for you to think about as you finish reading this narrative. Will you be known as someone who passed on the opportunity to implement revolutionary change in the healthcare system? Or will you be known as someone who decided to take the chance on this initiative in order to provide positive health outcomes for over a thousands of patients. The choice is in your hands.
Brilliant work.