The role of community and professional engagement in teaching allied health higher education: the academic perspective

This article has been reproduced in accordance with the publisher's copyright transfer policy. Copyright © 2018 Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions, Wash., DC This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (September 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyCommunity and professional engagement describes a collaborative model of interaction between institutions of higher education and the communities in which they operate. This qualitative study aimed to examine how professional and community engagement is understood and incorporated into the role of staff members within the School of Health Sciences of one university. Twenty-one academic and professional staff were interviewed. Participants identified a range of definitions for both 'community' and 'professional' engagement, as well as the benefits and limitations of such engagement. Ability to conduct engagement was limited by time capacity when competing with other role requirements. Integration of community engagement with research and teaching requires development of a framework that addresses both the common barriers and facilitators to engagement