Altered Emotional Intelligence through a Health Disparity Curriculum: Early Results.

INTRODUCTION: Emotional intelligence (EI) interests medical schools as a predictive factor in their graduates' clinical success. Historically black college and university (HBCU) academic health centers produce professionals to address health disparities. This preliminary study evaluated a health disparity reduction curriculum's effect on EI. METHODS: Thirty-one undergraduates participating in a Meharry Medical College health disparity reduction program voluntarily self-reported demographic and EI data before and after service-learning training. RESULTS: Paired sample t-test results demonstrated significant improvement in EI subscales of total score (p = .004), self-awareness (p=.001), self-confidence (p=.007), self-control (p=.041), motivation (p=.020), and social competence (p=.036). Multiple linear analyses confirmed African American race significantly predicted EI-Motivation (F [1,29] = 5.858, p =.022). CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary data support a beneficial effect in African Americans of a health disparity curriculum to improve EI, particularly the relevance of race to motivation. Future research should examine EI in HBCU medical school students.

At-Risk Stakeholder Behavior Change with Community-Based Health Events.

Community-based interventions such as health fairs feature diagnostic and preventive services that are useful to address health disparities in underserved stakeholders. Quantitative evaluation of these events presents challenges. This study applied the contemplation stage of the Trans-Theoretical Model of Behavioral Change (TTM-C) to evaluate health disparity-focused community interventions. Most of the 412 event participants self-identified as lower socioeconomic status (54%), overweight (74%), female (74%), and African American (83%). After event participation, stakeholders demonstrated significant improvement in overall TTM-C scores based on a standard t-test, where pre-event scores (M=30.8, SD=7.0) and post-event scores (M=32.3, SD=6.9) conditions t(346)=5.167, p=.001. For health disparity-related community events, underserved African American women are most likely to recognize a specific health issue and seek ideas about how to address it during these events. This study validates TTM-C behavioral change as a novel means to evaluate community health events.

Health disparity intervention through minority collegiate service learning.

In Tennessee, African Americans suffer significantly from infant morbidity, sexually transmitted diseases, and deaths from vascular disease and cancer. The Meharry Medical College Wellness Project addresses these health disparities with a service learning curriculum focused on community-based research. Trained minority undergraduates have conducted 355 Institutional Review Board-approved community intervention projects statewide.