Utilizing Service Learning to Advance Public Health Messaging in Oklahoma

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: 1) To identify the need for continued public health messaging to promote mask-wearing in the state of Oklahoma during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2) To value the importance of future health professionals embracing the role of promoting public health measures DESIGN: A service-learning project was instituted, including student-led research into health promotion measures to decrease the risk of viral spread, rates of spread in Oklahoma, and interactions with a physical therapist currently working with individuals with COVID 19 in the ICU to give students real-world examples of severity. Students took information garnered to educate their peers about the importance of mask-wearing. SETTING: University setting. PARTICIPANTS: First-year Physical Therapy students (N=14). INTERVENTIONS: Peer education in the importance of mask-wearing to decrease transmission of COVID-19. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Students submitted journals recounting their experience with the project and the challenges with educating a public that is resistant to mask-wearing. RESULTS: Students reported the interactions with the PT working with COVID-19 in the ICU improved their personal understanding of the severity of COVID-19 and increased their awareness of the potential sequella of the disease process. Students reported the activity enhanced their desire to promote public health as future physical therapists. CONCLUSIONS: Interactions with health professionals working on the front-lines of a pandemic may be beneficial to future health professionals in shaping their desire to promote public health measures. AUTHOR(S) DISCLOSURES: None.