Education in Advance Care Planning: A Novel Equity-Based, Interprofessional Service-Learning Approach

Introduction: Despite health sciences graduate schools emphasizing service-learning and interprofessionalism, they often struggle to integrate these values into the curricula effectively. Advance care planning is inherently interdisciplinary and presents an opportunity to address equity gaps through service-learning. This report describes a novel interdisciplinary service-learning initiative for graduate student trainees, focused on advance care planning in underserved communities. Methods: After targeted training, teams of medical, law, and social work students, and professionals from their respective fields, took part in two Life Planning Fairs in historically underserved neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Using a form developed by the Allegheny County Bar Association and the Allegheny County Medical Society, volunteers held value-based conversations about end-of-life care with patient-clients, followed by a reflection on the experience. Results: Thirty patient-clients and fifty-four volunteers participated in the events. All student volunteers provided positive feedback regarding the value of this opportunity. Exit surveys showed that all responding patient-clients felt very satisfied with the services provided, and the vast majority completed documents to assign powers of attorney. Student testimonials reinforced the value of the experience for their own learning and interprofessional growth.. Discussion: Experiential, community-based service-learning offers graduate students meaningful hands-on training and fosters interprofessional collaboration. Through working in teams on advance directives, students apply the principles of service-learning, interprofessionalism, and patient-centered care. This educational model provides a replicable framework for other institutions. We propose several strategies for future iterations to further support the mission of this educational opportunity.