Developing Compassionate Self Care Skills in Persons Living with HIV: a Pilot Study to Examine Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy Feasibility and Acceptability

Background: Self-care skills for persons living with HIV (PLWH) are needed to better cope with the common symptoms and emotional challenges of living with this chronic illness. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT) for individuals receiving medical management for HIV at an outpatient program. Setting: A nonprofit outpatient day program that provided medical management to low-income individuals with HIV. Research Design: A one group pre–post study design, nine participants were recruited to receive eight weekly MABT sessions of 1.25 hours each. Intervention: MABT is designed to facilitate emotion regulation through teaching somaticallybased self-care skills to respond to daily stressors. Main Outcome Measures: To assess participant characteristics and study feasibility, a battery of health questionnaires and one week of wrist actigraphy was administered pre- and postintervention. A satisfaction survey and written questionnaire was administered postintervention to assess MABT acceptability. Results: The results demonstrated recruitment and retention feasibility. The sample had psychological and physical health symptoms that are characteristic of PLWH. MABT acceptability was high, and participants perceived that they learned new mind-body self-care skills that improved HIV symptoms and their ability to manage symptoms. Conclusion: The positive findings support a larger future study to examine MABT efficacy to improve coping with HIV symptoms among PLWH

The Teaching Leader Series: Interprofessional Faculty Development Update

Seminar (24 PowerPoint slides) Purpose: The mission of the Teaching Leader Series is to strengthen teaching, learning and assessment skills by providing opportunities and support for faculty to achieve educational excellence, promote interdisciplinary collaboration and encourage instructional innovation. Background: The Series is based on the assumption that an inclusive strategy would help ensure sustainability and that unique learning experiences occur when two or more professions together learned with, from, and about each other’s teaching practice. Since the Series began in 2008 over 20 different topics have been presented including Adult Learning, Curriculum Development, Narrative Medicine, and Teaching with Simulation and Standardized Patients. Description of Intervention or Program: We recognize individuals who have made the Series a part of their educational process and their development as teaching leaders with a pin. In order to receive a pin, participants must attend at least 6 workshops, prepare a report describing how they have applied information from the workshop and must agree to participate in a best practice focus group. Our goal is to have these individuals team teach a workshop with a current presenter who serves as their mentor. Results: The Series demographics are 50% nurses, 25% physicians, and 25% other educators. At the conclusion of each workshop, participants are asked to complete a self-retrospective evaluation. During AY 2011 92% of participants agreed that they would be able to apply what they learned to their job. Pin recipients (physician, pharmacists, nurse) have presented Teaching at the Bedside and Small Group Teaching with a PhD medical educator mentor. Relevance to interprofessional education or practice: Healthcare is practiced in teams and the Series models the importance and effectiveness of interprofessional learning and teaching. Not only are the participants from different disciplines, we also pair presenters from different disciplines. Learning Objectives: Upon completion of this session the participants will be able to Identify the effectiveness of providing interprofessional faculty development. Identify how interprofessional faculty development facilitates collaboration of clinical educators across traditional boundaries. Identify strategies used to integrate interprofessional education into faculty development