Story submitted by Marie-Line Jobin, M.A., C. Psyc. Assoc., Coordinator and Professor, Years 3-4, Honours Bachelor of Behavioural Psychology
Students from the Police Foundations program (PFP) and the Honours Bachelor of Behavioural Psychology program (BPSYC) are currently learning and collaborating together to target and solve a community problem in the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (KFL&A) area as part of an Interprofessional Education Community Project.
Faculty members Laura Norman, Robert Besselink, and Marie-Line Jobin have joined forces to develop this highly engaging and innovative project. The students have begun their work together on the community project and are learning about interprofessional relationships and interprofessional collaboration.
The aim of the project is multifaceted. The main goal is to understand the many service delivery models in the community setting and the complexity of solving a community problem. The learning experience specifically explores community partnerships, limits and gap areas encountered in the community, and the potential areas for future growth within the KFL&A area to make the community a better place to live. Through an assessment, analysis, and intervention process, student groups are taking in the available information and creating solutions to these real-world problems.
The project is also supported by Mike Williams and Alex Glecoff from the A. Britton Smith Centre for Behavioural Studies (CBS). CBS staff have facilitated this project in partnership with SLC faculty to connect students with providers in the community and act as an ongoing resource for student groups throughout the phases of this project, meeting with all groups weekly to bi-weekly.
So far, the teams have contacted and met their stakeholders from the community, met weekly to research and plan effective interventions for their community problem, submitted their proposal, and begun planning the implementation to bring their interventions to life!