Bridging the Gap: Research
To
Practice
Serving as the ‘To’ was the focus of many ISCOPES teams this year. Students and faculty brought their understanding of latest best practices and classroom knowledge to the table while community preceptors and clients offered up their experience and real world circumstances. Both camps taught and both camps learned, creating a middle ground of reciprocity and reflection. Coalition for the Homeless –Emery House Department of Mental Health – Primary Project The Emery House team made visits every other week to talk The Primary Project team spent their first semester training in with the residents and offer preventive screenings. A needs this early mental health intervention program for elementary survey prompted discussions pertaining to diabetes, nutrition, aged children. Circumstances warranted a switch in project sexually transmitted diseases, prostate health, and health focus at midyear toward project implementation advocacy. The insurance. The team implemented an incentive program to team promoted coordination and cooperation between the DC encourage attendance. Additionally, each man was given a Department of Mental Health and DC Public Schools. Their notebook to record his blood pressure and weight, taken at each efforts included emails, letters, and phone calls to council visit. The experience gave the team members and men ongoing members as well as leaders in the school system. Their efforts opportunities to work one-on-one while learning about each were successful and rewarded by a two year implementation other and various perspectives in health care. The success of the agreement. They finished their year by hosting an orientation project was measured by attendance and self-reported impact lunch with the team that will implement Primary Project next as summarized in a series of videotaped interviews. year with the help of future ISCOPES participants. Community of Hope – Marie Reed (COH-MR) GW Veterans Collaborative The COH-MR team helped begin a school basketball team, Throughout the year, this team was able to work with the developed and delivered health-related workshops, and Student Veterans Organization at GW. They planned and collected recipes for a future community cookbook. During the conducted focus groups with these student veterans, and their basketball season, team members supported school coaching findings resulted in a list of recommendations for the University. staff and demonstrated how fun exercise could be. Post season, Additionally, this team found little to no information about the the team developed, implemented, and evaluated two military and current issues facing service members available for workshops: the first was a healthy heart workshop for parents the greater university population. They decided to educate that included a presentation and cooking demonstration of a students, faculty, and staff by showing a screening of the movie meal based on local recipes while the second was a kid-friendly Alive Day and hosting military-associated guest lecturers. workshop on exercise and healthy eating that included exercise Health Information Partners(HIPS) – Academy of Hope practice and preparing healthy pizzas. The HIPS team targeted adult students at Academy of Hope Community of Hope – Transitional Housing (COH-TH) with curricula that would boost GED prep, health knowledge, The COH-TH team started the semester by evaluating the needs and understanding of health resources. Sub-teams of 2-3 of COH clients. After conducting literature reviews and students developed class objectives, lessons, and evaluations, shadowing their community preceptor, they chose to integrate and presented them at team meetings. Adjustments were into the established LifeSkills program at Girard Street. Topics made through team input and then sub-teams presented the were selected and prioritized based on client polls. Classes lessons to AOH students at weekly classes. Team members focused on hand washing for flu prevention, exercise, and the reported on and evaluated lessons at the next team meetings. epidemiology and prevention of HIV. AOH student learning was evaluated through pre- and post-tests and games. AOH students also filled out evaluations to provide Department of Health – DC Healthy Start feedback for next year. Student feedback from the first term This team focused on DC Healthy Start’s mission by tapping into was also implemented in the second term. a newly developing best practice: expectant father education. St. Mary’s Court With the help of their community preceptor, they determined This team addressed this senior community’s need for health that there was an unmet need among these men for widely disseminated, comprehensive, user-friendly, medically accurate, education and companionship. They visited with the residents health education print materials as last year’s team focused only during meals and distributed a survey to determine their health on expectant mothers in their own materials development. education needs. Subsequent classes on hypertension, diabetes, Following in similar footsteps to last year’s team, this team first cholesterol, and osteoporosis were prioritized, prepared, and created and implemented a needs and assets survey to presented. The year culminated with a health fair that featured determine what resources would be most valuable for their information and activities centered on the aforementioned plus target audience. Subsequently, they created a guide that helps skin care, sleep, sex, arthritis, blood pressure checks, and direct fathers to these local, often untapped resources. personal well-being.