ixteen Utah Valley University (UVU) Master of Social Work (MSW) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students returned this August from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where they provided health evaluations and interventions to elderly residents. The three-week interprofessional, intercultural course was developed through UVU’s UNESCO Chair on AI and Environmental Stewardship for Sustainable Futures, the only UNESCO Chair in Utah.
For the first two weeks, students completed online coursework alongside peers from different disciplines and countries, attending lectures and participating in group discussions built around real patient cases. The third week took the course on the ground in Yogyakarta, a region with one of the highest concentrations of elderly residents in Indonesia.
“This interdisciplinary course provided an extraordinary opportunity for students to learn alongside faculty and peers from multiple disciplines, universities, and countries,” said Kristen Lambert, associate professor in UVU’s Master of Social Work program. “It is the kind of global, collaborative learning experience I wish I had had in graduate school.”
In Yogyakarta, students first worked through standardized patient cases as a team, then went into the community to visit elderly residents in their homes. OTA students looked at fall risk, mobility, cognition, and daily living. MSW students focused on psychosocial factors and depression. Medical students handled overall health management and medications. Nutrition students screened for sarcopenia and diabetes risk, and pharmacy students addressed medication management. Each team combined those perspectives into a shared treatment plan, which they then carried out together in the home.
“Watching our students work together across disciplines and cultures was incredibly meaningful,” Lambert said. “Students from three countries brought distinct perspectives to complex challenges, and I saw tremendous growth in both their understanding of their professional roles and their confidence in taking on difficult work.”
The experience challenged students to develop practical adaptability. Working in community homes, they encountered settings without the equipment or resources available in a typical clinic, such as weights or adaptive equipment, and no budget to purchase them. Rather than treating those limitations as obstacles, students were expected to assess what was available and find ways to deliver quality, evidence-based care with what was on hand.
“There are certain lessons that you can’t learn until you are immersed in it,” said Lynn Farley, assistant professor of occupational therapy at UVU and project lead. “It is a different experience to go to a country where you don’t speak the language, you don’t know the culture, and you’re learning to work alongside professionals from different disciplines who may approach health care in ways that are different from what you’re used to. It puts you in the position of being the outsider, of having to listen, observe, ask questions, and rely on others to understand what’s happening.”
That kind of immersive, real-world experience is central to how UVU prepares students for professional practice.
“When a client walks into your clinic who doesn’t speak the language, comes from a different cultural background, or has difficulty communicating, you remember what it felt like to be in that position,” Farley said. “When you work with professionals from other disciplines, you have a greater appreciation for the different perspectives and expertise they bring to the team. That experience builds cultural responsiveness, empathy, and collaboration in a way that’s difficult to teach in a classroom. Ultimately, it makes you a better clinician.”
Lambert echoed that the program deepened her own understanding of culturally responsive care. “Although the screening tool we used had been validated for use in Indonesia, meaningful implementation required more than simply administering an instrument,” she said. “By engaging Indonesian students in conversations about how to introduce the screening sensitively, and by teaching students to recognize concerns that may not be reflected fully in a person’s responses, we gained a deeper understanding of the role culture plays in care. This was especially important given the stigma that can surround discussions of mental health among older adults in Indonesia.”
The course brought together students and faculty from medicine, pharmacy, nutrition, nursing, social work, and occupational therapy across partner institutions in Indonesia and Hong Kong, including Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana (UKDW) in Yogyakarta, Stikes Bethesda Yakkum (Indonesia), Universitas Sanata Dharma (Indonesia), Stikes Panti Rapih (Indonesia), and Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
The program aligns with five United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: good health and well-being, quality education, reducing inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, and partnerships for the goals.
In addition to their clinical work, students visited UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Yogyakarta region, including a Buddhist temple, a pottery museum, and a batik textile workshop, engaging directly with the culture and traditions of the communities they served.
The course marks the beginning of a longer partnership between UVU and UKDW. Farley plans to return to Indonesia to observe and contribute to a problem-based learning program for medical students at the university, with the goal of expanding the collaboration the following year.
The UNESCO Chair at UVU on AI and Environmental Stewardship for Sustainable Futures advances the integration of artificial intelligence and sustainability in education to improve learning, empower faculty, and support student-led initiatives. Through collaboration with Global South partners and K-12 institutions, the Chair promotes environmental stewardship, intercultural dialogue, and the development of resilient, inclusive education systems that prepare learners for a sustainable future.
