Pilot of a community-based interprofessional "student-infused" pulmonary rehabilitation program in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Background: With the increasing prevalence of chronic pulmonary conditions in New Brunswick and Canada it is necessary to consider innovative interventions to improve access to rehabilitation and supportive care for affected clients. In Fall 2018 we piloted a pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program for persons with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to demonstrate a novel approach of bridging interprofessional education of students in health care fields with provision of care in a community setting. Methods: An 8-week PR program was implemented and evaluated using a quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-testing to measure the effects of the program's exercise and educational interventions on persons with COPD. Participants were assessed using the 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and a custom questionnaire that rated the participants' activities of daily living and the PR program. Results: Seven participants completed our PR program. Following the intervention, participants' self-reported health demonstrated a statistically significant improvement. Even though changes on the 6MWT and SGRQ were not shown to be statistically significant, there was evidence of clinically meaningful improvements in those measures. On average, participants walked 25 m further postintervention and showed clinically meaningful improvements on the SGRQ. Conclusions: This pilot project demonstrated that a community-based PR program with active involvement of students from multiple health care programs can have positive outcomes for clients with COPD. It also illustrated how educational programs can provide an innovative means for increasing access to rehabilitation and supportive care for clients in the community.

What is the mindful personality? Implications for physical and psychological health.

Given the paucity of research examining relationships between mindfulness and specific facets of personality, we conducted detailed analyses to explore associations between personality facets, dispositional mindfulness, and health. Overall, 781 participants completed the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2) to measure personality factors and facets, and the RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0 (RAND-36). As expected, BFI-2 factors and facets and FFMQ subscales, except Observing, were consistently correlated. Canonical correlations of BFI-2 facets and FFMQ subscales provided two statistically significant functions. Function 1, Self-Regulation, included FFMQ Acting with Awareness, Non-Judging, and Non-Reacting, as well as BFI-2 Negative Emotionality (Anxiety, Depression, Emotional Volatility), Conscientiousness (Productiveness, Responsibility), and Extraversion (Assertiveness, Energy). Function 2, Self-Awareness, comprised of FFMQ Describing and Observing, and all facets of Open-Mindedness. A latent profile analysis produced three latent profiles: Self-Regulation was defined by higher FFMQ subscales as well as higher Extraversion (all facets), Agreeableness (all facets), Conscientiousness (all facets), and lower Negative Emotionality (all facets); Self-Dysregulation was defined by lower scores on most FFMQ subscales, BFI-2 Extraversion facet scores, Agreeableness (Trust), Conscientiousness (Productiveness), and higher Negative Emotionality facets; and, an Average profile included midrange levels of mindfulness and personality facets. Further, there were statistically significant differences in RAND-36 physical and psychological health based on the latent profiles. The novel findings examining the facet-level relationship between personality and mindfulness contribute to prior inconclusive literature. These results presenting a nuanced understanding of the association between dispositional mindfulness and personality provide preliminary information suggesting that self-regulation can affect health.

Exploring the Efficacy of a Virtual First Year Interprofessional Education Event.

Interprofessional education (IPE) activities are utilized in health education programs to develop interprofessional collaboration (IPC) competencies. All first-year healthcare students at three postsecondary learning institutions attend a mandatory introductory IPE event annually. During the 2020/2021 academic year, the event was moved from a face-to-face activity to a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. This study examined whether the virtual IPE activity was effective in supporting the development of interprofessional competencies for first-year healthcare students. Two hundred and six students attended a synchronous didactic presentation on IPE competencies and discussed a simulated case in interprofessional groups of eight students and two faculty facilitators. The Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) was used to measure the students' opinions on interprofessional competencies. Paired t-tests were used to compare the pre- and post-scores. One hundred and nine (52.9% response rate) students completed the survey. Surveys from 99 students with matched pre- and post-scores were included in the study. The ICCAS competencies showed improvements (p < 0.05) in all of the students' self-reported IPE competencies following the activity compared to before the training. Our findings indicate that the virtual IPE activity is effective in facilitating the development of IPC for first-year healthcare students.