 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Lydia Greiner, BSN, RN, School of Nursing, Fairfield University, North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824, 203-254-4000, lgreiner@mail.fairfield.edu and Iris Bork-Goldfield, PhD, Arts and Sciences, Fairfield University, North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824.
The Health Promotion Center, a nursing center of Fairfield University School of Nursing, has been providing screening, education and referral services to the underserved in Bridgeport, CT and surrounding communities since 1993. An average of 2,000 clients are served each year through the service learning efforts of undergraduate and graduate nursing students, faculty and Health Promotion Center staff. Inclusion of non-nursing students has resulted in expansion of services to the community, as well as enhancement of health-focused service learning opportunities for non-nursing students. Over the past two semesters, Spanish majors from Fairfield University with an interest in health have elected to complete internships at the Health Promotion Center, providing more than 200 hours of service to the community. Working with Health Promotion Center staff, university faculty and nursing students, interns developed and implemented two different programs. “Buena Salud”, a twelve-week program, was based on topics generated in a focus group conducted by an intern and covered issues such as nutrition, exercise, diabetes, and headaches. “Manejo del Estrés”, a six-week program, was based on requests from community agencies and focused on stress management techniques. These programs were presented at six different community agencies throughout Bridgeport, reaching nearly 100 Spanish-speaking individuals who attended regularly. Evaluation of the programs by participants and agency staff was consistently positive. Bi-lingual interns substantially expand our ability to serve the Spanish-speaking population of Bridgeport. We are currently working on additional ways to expand opportunities for non-nursing students to participate in Health Promotion Center activities.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.