Cellular phone supported experiential learning activity designed to increase interprofessional provider capacity to assist parents in establishing a pediatric dental home

Healthcare providers are in a unique position to identify barriers to healthcare for socioeconomically disadvantaged families, provide patient navigation for reducing disparities, and implement system changes for alleviating these barriers. Significant barriers to obtaining pediatric dental care exist for families with young children. This curricular resource describes an interprofessional education program that was conducted with small teams of health science students (nursing, pediatric medicine, dental medicine) at a suburban university. Five objectives were identified to assist students in realizing the barriers faced by socioeconomically disadvantaged families when seeking dental care for their young children. Students were assigned simulated child-patients, along with relevant health, demographic and insurance information and asked to use their cellular smartphones to identify timely and logistically compatible dental care for these simulated patients. Debriefing revealed that students had difficulty identifying appropriate pediatric dental care providers within a wide urban and suburban region. Post-workshop student surveys identified increased awareness of income, care access, and health literacy as factors contributing to health disparities.