New Hampshire-Maine LEND Program
Grant Status: Completed
Training Category: Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Other Related Disabilities (LEND)
Project Director(s):
Betsy Humphreys, PhD
Institute on Disability
University of New Hampshire
Pettee Hall Rm 103
Durham, NH 03756
Phone: 603-862-4124
Email: elizabeth.humphreys@unh.edu
Problem:
The purpose of NH LEND is to improve the health of children and youth who have neurodevelopmental disabilities by preparing trainees from a wide variety of disciplines to assume leadership roles; ensuring high levels of interdisciplinary clinical competence; and a culturally diverse workforce.
Goals and Objectives:
Goal 1: Ensure Highly Qualified and Diverse MCH Health Care Workforce. Objective 1: Recruit 16 long-term trainees from NH and 5 from ME, and 1 long-term trainee from Title V annually. Objective 2: Recruit 1 racially diverse and 1 ethnically diverse long-term trainee annually. Objective 3: Recruit 5 trainees from medically underserved areas in New England annually. Goal 2: Curriculum and Clinical Training Content are Successfully Developed, Sequenced and Implemented. Objective 1: 22 long-term trainees demonstrate improved leadership skills by increasing 50% from baseline their scores on the MCH Leadership Competencies Assessment. Objective 2: Trainees demonstrate content knowledge in MCHB areas of interest through a grade of B or above in didactic training. Objective 3: Trainees demonstrate high levels of interdisciplinary clinical competence with a score of 4 or 5 (5-point scale) on the Evaluation of Interdisciplinary Clinical Skills Assessment. Goal 3: NH LEND Faculty are Diverse, Productive Scholars. Objective 1: Long-term trainees partner with Faculty to present 10 workshops related to Title V, NDD/ASD annually. Objective 2: Faculty disseminate 18 publications annually. Objective 3: Post-graduate fellows disseminate 1 publication annually. Goal 4: Organizational and Administrative Structures are Developed and Successfully Implemented. Objective 1: NH LEND Program Evaluation plan is used to improve program performance on a quarterly basis as measured by Progress Evaluation Chart. Objective 2: Executive Committee meets annually to assure success and address barriers.Advisory Committee meets annually to address all aspects of training experience. Objective 3: Trainees, core faculty, and community clinic sites report > 90% satisfaction with participation in NH LEND and progress of NH LEND. Develop and implement communications plan, increasing utilization of the project website, and identifying new strategies for recruitment.
Methodology:
There are 4 goals and 14 time-framed, measurable objectives based on the SMART Goals Approach (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time bound (Doran, 1981)). Goal areas include: 1) Long Term Trainees, 2) Curriculum and Training Content, 3) Faculty, and 4) Organization and Administrative Structures. Specific program objectives, and the activities associated with them, are detailed in this section of the program narrative. Trainees will engage in 100 hours of Leadership training, 100 hours of Interdisciplinary Clinical Training, 100 hours of formal didactic training, 50 hours of research activity and 50 hours of policy and advocacy work. At least 60% of each cohort will be graduate trainees, 20% will be family trainees and 20% will be community fellows.
Coordination:
The NH LEND faculty and trainees are active partners in service delivery, policy development, and research through collaboration with national, regional, state and local health organizations. Partners and advisors include: Families & Consumers, Title V, NH Bureau of Developmental Services, NH Office of Minority Health.
Evaluation:
Process evaluation focuses on program monitoring, accountability, and quality assurance activities. NH LEND will also conduct utility (satisfaction) assessments with trainees, faculty and community clinical sites. Utility is a measure of perceived usefulness or user satisfaction with the products and services produced by a project. The second dimension of the Evaluation Plan is outcome evaluation that establishes whether an activity has produced its intended outcomes.