Lauren
El-Assad,
LCSW
Assistant Director
The University of Texas at Austin Center for Health Interprofessional Practice and Education
Lauren El-Assad, LCSW, serves as assistant director of the Center for Health Interprofessional Practice and Education where she works with the director to operationalize its strategic plan and mission to advance collaborative, person-centered health care. She is also a psychotherapist in private practice who provides therapy to adults in Austin, Texas. Ms. El-Assad earned her MSW at The University of Texas at Austin’s Steve Hicks School of Social Work and became a licensed clinical social worker in 2016.
Presenting at the Nexus Summit:
The pandemic highlighted the need for a team-based approach to address social determinants of health (SDOH) to improve health outcomes. Addressing upstream factors requires constructive dialogue with community stakeholders, an important skill that most health professions learners do not receive formal training on. Virtual simulations can be used to train learners to plan and execute interprofessional, team-based community interventions. Simulation design must target skills development and change management processes. This is a description of the implementation and program evaluation of an…