UNE delivers three presentations at Collaborating Across Borders conference

University of New England scholars were well represented at the fourth bi-annual Collaborating Across Borders (CAB IV) conference, which was held in Vancouver, Canada, June 12-14, 2013.  Center for Excellence in Interprofessional Education (CEIPE) Director Shelley Cohen Konrad was a member of the conference planning committee and moderated several of the presentations. In addition, three UNE presentations were delivered throughout the three-day event.

Over 800 educators, students, practitioners, health policymakers, and patient-advocates, among others, attended the conference, where they shared educational innovations and best practices and made connections with interprofessional advocates from around the world.

Jennifer Morton, DNP, MPH, APHN, interim nursing director; Kolawole Bankole, MD, MS, physician, Portland Public Health; Shelley Cohen Konrad, PhD, LCSW, CEIPE director; and Toho Soma, MPH, Health Equity and Research program manager, Health and Human Services Department, Portland Public Health, co-presented an oral presentation titled “Expanding Interprofessional Teams to Meet the Needs of Refugee and Immigrant Communities.”  They highlighted the critical role of community health outreach workers on the collaborative health team serving these populations. Morton is project director of the CHANNELS Project funded by a HRSA grant awarded earlier this year.

The conference marked the first public unveiling of Competencies for Collaborative Healthcare (COMPtime), an online learning tool being developed by an interprofessional UNE cohort and Add Verb Productions. Shelley Cohen Konrad, (CEIPE); Karen Pardue, MS, RN, CNE, ANEF, associate dean for the College of Health Professions; Kris Hall, MFA, CEIPE program coordinator; Cathy Plourde, MA, director of Add Verb; and Ryan Eling, MA, operations manager and simulation specialist, co-presented an interactive session illustrating the productive merger of the arts and IPE shared learning.

Cathy Plourde joined Nananda Col, MD, MPP, MPH, FACP, research professor of medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, to present a workshop on shared decision-making to the interprofessional audience. "Sharing the Stage: Shared Decision Making, Applied Theatre, and Patient Centeredness" introduced tools and skills for engaging patients in their healthcare process.

The Center for Excellence in Interprofessional Education seeks to transform healthcare education by fostering community-centered, collaborative learning and interprofessional practice across health practice environments.