Six Small Grants Awarded for Interprofessional, Population Health Work

By Jon Parham

| Six projects recently received small grants for efforts including an interprofessional approach to address social determinants of health; improvements to population health; and reduction in opioid use for pain management following certain surgical procedures.

In the third year for the small grant program, the Office of Interprofessional Education teamed up with the Office of Population Health to seek small grant proposals that promoted interdisciplinary work focused on population health. Six projects totaling $73,805 — the highest total amount ever awarded in the program — constituted awards for the Interprofessional Education Small Grant Program that was created to promote interprofessional education and collaborative practice at UAMS.

The awards and investigators include:

  • “An Interprofessional Approach to Promoting Student Wellness on the Northwest Campus,” PIs: Angel Holland, PT, DPT, Linda Worley, M.D. ($11,550)
  • “Culinary Medicine, Mindfulness and Motivational Interviewing,” PIs: Josh Phelps, Ph.D., Tina Maddox, Ph.D., RD, LD, Tiffany Lepard ($7,855)
  • “IPE: Simulating Poverty to Accelerate Learning about Upstream Determinants of Health and Health Outcomes,” Leanne Lefler, Ph.D., APRN, Jennifer Stane ($12,900)
  • “Know Your Kidney Number: Building Statewide Chronic Kidney Disease Awareness Website and Education Materials,” Manisha Singh, M.D. ($15,000)
  • “Motherhood Together: A Shared Journey of Love,” Keneshia Bryant, Ph.D., RN, Leslie McCormack, APRN, Nicole Ward, Ph.D., BSN ($15,000)
  • “Opioid Reduction in Outpatient Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery,” PIs: Brendan Stack, M.D., Riley Carpenter Lide, M.D., Lindsey Dayer, Pharm.D. ($11,500)

“We were pleased by the response to our call for proposals — seeing a continued interest and commitment to collaborative practice and interprofessional education,” said Kathryn Neill, Pharm.D., director of interprofessional administrative and curricular affairs in the Office of Interprofessional Education.

Robin Reed, M.D., M.P.H.  director of the Office of Population Health, added, “These grants allow projects to move forward that could have a significant impact on improving the health of the population — whether that population is in our hospital, on our campuses or future patients cared for by our learners.”