PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN – Health Disparities Educational Initiative for Residents at Crittenton

Vision Statement	This project builds on residents’ existing knowledge of health disparities, meaningfully rectifies gaps in resident education about the CHNA and diabetes disparities/services, and triggers resident-driven community interventions and educational initiatives to help reduce healthcare disparities.
Team Objectives	The primary objectives of this project were to educate residents on how disparities manifest in the hospital community and how hospital and community resources can be used to address disparities. We planned to raise resident awareness of healthcare disparities in the community in a sustainable way through meaningful participation in educational initiatives, community health, and quality improvement projects. We began with a baseline assessment of resident knowledge about health disparities, the hospital’s CHNA, and diabetes treatment and services. We developed educational interventions including a problem-based learning (PBL) case focused on the hospital’s CHNA and diabetes disparities.
Success Factors	The most successful part of our work was the involvement of the residents in the PBL case and the sustainment of the initiative through the GME CLER Council and the Resident Task Force on Health Disparities. A resident suggested using PBL to bridge the gap in knowledge and use of the CHNA, another resident assisted in development of the case, and 9 residents served as small group preceptors for the case. We plan to use the case (or a modified version of it) at our resident orientation to highlight the CHNA and the health disparities in the local community that incoming residents are likely to encounter. We were inspired by the enthusiasm the case generated among the residents and the opportunities for using PBL for other topics.
Barriers	The largest barrier was obtaining a sufficient number of responses to voluntary surveys. We worked to overcome this challenge by using results from existing surveys and adding project-related questions to a mandatory survey. Another barrier was related to the continuity of the project because of changes in personnel.
Lessons Learned	The single most important piece of advice to provide another team embarking on a similar initiative is to get resident buy-in and keep them involved in the planning and execution of project activities. Also, it is a good idea to continuously think about and plan for scale, spread, replication, and sustainment of the initiative during all phases of the project, including at the outset.