The Pulse
“ You can sit and listen to how great public health is in the classroom, but it’s not until you actually go out into the community and interact with people that it really becomes eye opening.” LAURA ALLEN
Engaging Baltimore’s Youth
On a sunny Monday morning in late April, a group of excited 2- and 3-year-olds donned mini gardening gloves as they worked to plant a community garden filled with flowers, fruits, and vegetables beside their playground at Waverly Early Head Start in Baltimore. The community garden was made possible through UMSON’s Community and Public Health Environmental Initiative (CPHEI), which provides health oversight for children from birth through age 5 and their families who are served by Baltimore City Early Head Start (EHS) and Head Start (HS) centers. Led by Laura Allen, MA, MS, RN, CPHEI program manager; Morgan Garett, MS ’17, RN, CPHEI program coordinator; and U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps Capt. Emily Yates, BSN, RN-BC, a Community/Public Health Nursing master’s student, the activity taught the children and their families about the value of growing their own fruits and vegetables and encouraged the children to try new foods – potentially providing them with a more diverse and nutritious diet. CPHEI, a collaborative effort with the Maryland Family Network, was established in early 2016 with an initial gift of $750,000 from Mary Catherine Bunting, MS ’72, CRNP, RN. Each semester, more than 25 students from UMSON’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and RN-to-BSN programs, entry-into-practice Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) master’s option, and Community/Public Health Nursing master’s specialty participate in CPHEI under Allen’s guidance. During the last academic year, CPHEI also began facilitating health screenings and well-child exams for children in EHS and HS centers by
CHRIS HARTLOVE
BY LAURA HAGER AND MARY PHELAN
more than 100 UMSON advanced practice nursing students and clinical faculty. CPHEI is continuing to expand its reach and impact, thanks in part to an additional $500,000 gift from Bunting made last spring. Now serving nearly 1,000 children per semester, CPHEI offers programs that support mental, social, and emotional development and delivers health services to all eight of Baltimore’s EHS centers and seven of Baltimore’s 47 HS centers; to date, these efforts have benefited more than 2,600 children and their families. “Health, well-being, and school readiness are related; if children are unhealthy, they won’t be able to learn,” Allen explains. “This initiative has brought much needed nursing services and environmental health oversight to a highly vulnerable population. If we weren’t there, there wouldn’t be as strong an emphasis on health, well-being, and how they relate to education. These families would be missing out on health screenings, health education, and general health literacy.”
above: Yates plants seeds with Waverly Early Head Start children in the community garden.
NURSING FOR/UM • FALL 2019 • 3