The Link: A Collective, Place-Based Approach to Inspiring Missoula's Next-Generation Healthcare Work Force

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The Link: A Collective-Impact, Place-Based Approach to Inspiring Montana’s Next-Generation Healthcare Work Force Project Summary/Abstract This project will take a community-based, collective-impact approach to co-creating health- science and healthy living experiences that are culturally relevant and meet the unique economic and workforce needs of Missoula and its neighboring rural and tribal communities. Led by PI Holly Truitt (City of Missoula) and co-I Dr. Rachel Severson (University of Montana), the project will position the Link, Missoula’s new library-museum complex opening in 2020, as a vibrant Third Place as a hub for health-science learning, healthy living, and STEM role-model engagement. The project’s cross-sector advisory group—with representatives from P-12 education, the health sciences and public health, Montana tribal communities, the social sector, city and county government, and design thinking—will co-create an array of health learning experiences, including:  A Community Lab that will embed University of Montana research in the heart of the community. Emulating best practices developed by the Living Lab (Science World and the University of British Columbia) and led by co-I Dr. Severson, the Community Lab will: 1) engage high-school students in independent, mentored research projects; as research assistants in UM behavioral research conducted at the Community Lab; and as docents and near-peer mentors at the project’s exhibits and 2) engage early learners as participants in UM behavioral research while providing positive experiences for children and caregivers with STEM research and role models.  A DNA Climber exhibit, a health- and genetics-themed climbing structure and interactive exhibit that responds to community demand for indoor recreation opportunities for children, especially during Montana’s cold winters and increasingly severe wildfire seasons. The DNA Climber will provide a space where preschool and elementary learners can move their bodies while learning about healthy living and genetics.  Complementary learning tables and pop-up experiences that link UM health-science research to the DNA Climber exhibit and Community Lab programming.  Mobile programming to engage P-12 students from rural Missoula County and the neighboring Flathead Indian Reservation and Bitterroot Valley with the project. The project aims in particular to reach traditionally underrepresented and underserved groups, including Native Americans, potential first-generation college students, and children from low-income backgrounds. External evaluation conducted Inverness Research will assess the impact of the project’s collective-impact, co-creative design process on STEM and career pathways engagement at the Link.