Working Group > Health and Mental Health


 

 


Member Campuses  |  Resources  |  Organizations  |  Issue Briefs


Foundation Staff:  Annie Pasqua

 

Member Campuses link to campus issue profile and lead contact name with email address


 

Resources  training & educational resources  |  readings  |  websites, blogs, etc.


 

Regional & National Organizations  current or potential partner organizations


 

PolicyOptions.org Issue Briefs


 


 Summary of Campus Issue Profiles 

 Types of Service  |  Academic Work  |  Education & Training  |  Capacity Building  |  Deliberative Democracy 


 

Specific Issue Areas


  • Access to care
  • Age related
  • Caregivers
  • Childhood obesity
  • Clean living environments
  • Cultural awareness
  • Disabilities and differently abled
  • Food security
  • Health education
  • Healthcare policy
  • Nutrition
  • Public/community health
  • Reproductive rights
  • Self-sufficiency and wellness
  • Stress reduction
  • Veterans' issues
  • Violence prevention 

 

Types of Service   short-term  |  ongoing school year  |  summer


One-time and short-term

  • Community service fairs
  • Fundraising events like Relay for Life, Memory AIDS, Buddy Walk, Think Pink
  • Welcome/incoming student service projects

 

Ongoing school year and site-based teams

  • Family/counseling center (college sponsored)
  • Bonner Wellness Program for students (Maryville College)
  • Special Olympics (ongoing at Johnson State)
  • School-based Sports Mentoring
  • Assisting/translation for people with ASL, immigrants, etc.
  • Food Literacy Projects
  • Alternative schools an dschools
  • Veteran's Outreach Centers 

 

Summer

  • Farmer's Markets and Community Garden Internships (nutrition)
  • Department-sponsored internships with agencies in communities (such as for Psychology, Biology)

 

Academic Work   courses  |  service-learning  |  CBR and policy research   |  departments and institutes


Courses & Programs of Study 

  • Health Services Major
  • Related Majors such as Nursing, Biology
  • Variety of relevant coursework across many disciplines (see departments below)
  • Variety of community-based research projects across several disciplines
  • Human Behavior and Social Environment
  • Civic Engagement Minor
  • Social Entrepreneurship coursework and internships
  • Assessment centers like CARA (Center for Applied Research Analysis at Mars Hill College)

 

Departments & Institutes

  • American Cultural Studies
  • Anthropology (e.g., Encountering Community)
  • Art Therapy
  • Biology (e.g., Epidemiology, Virology, etc.)
  • Chemistry
  • Education (e.g., Special Populations course, Mental Health courses)
  • Economics (Poverty and Health courses)
  • Environmental Studies (e.g., Green Partnership programs)
  • Gender & Women's Studies (e.g., Gender Issues in Health)
  • Marriage and Family Studies
  • Nursing & Public Health
  • Politics (e.g., Special Education policy)
  • Psychology (e.g., Action Research)
  • Sociology (e.g., Race, Class, and Equity courses; Human Services)

 

 

Specific Examples of Service-Learning, CBR, and Policy Research

  •  Autism Research (Maryville)

  • Biochemistry Research for Hospitals

  •  Business Ethical Leadership awards for health care providers

  • Gender Studies Research on poor women's access to contraception

  •  Jail Diversion Alliance policy briefs on alternative courts for people with mental illness (Lynchburg)

  •  Lead Studies (Lynchburg)

  • Meals on Wheels (Lynchburg)

  •  Mental Health Consortium Studies (Lynchburg)

  •  Migrant Health Access studies (Bates)

  •  Nutrition and food production research for farmers, Healthy Eating, Growing Locally (Lynchburg, Bates)

  •  Nutrition and menu reviews for schools and organizations (Bates)

  •  Organics (Lynchburg)

  •  Population Studies on the Aging

  •  Pregnant Women and HIV studies (Lynchburg)

  •  Water Quality Assessments and county waterway studies (Lynchburg, Maryville)

  • Public Health students assist with research (clinics, programs)

 

Education & Training   forums  |  workshops  |  reflection activities


  • CCPH offers an extensive curriculum on setting up and carrying out CBR projects 
  • American Red Cross and Special Olympics offer volunteer training programs
  • Local agencies often offer Youth Leadership and Substance Abuse Prevention trainings
  • Campus Health Centers have workshops
  • Relevant departments and courses may offer health care forums
  • Campuses often have specialized groups like Men's Projects, Women's Centers, Physical Education series, etc.
  • Find other resources at U.S. Administration on Aging
  • "Mountains Beyond Mountains"
  • National Associations such as Kitchen Gardeners International and Vermont Earth Institute offer educational materials on food, nutrition, gardening and other topics

 

Campus and Organizational Capacity-Building   training  |  fundraising  |  resource development


  • Some campuses have worked with local/county health departments and clinics, providing volunteers as well as other infrastructure
  • Some campuses have partnered with local non-profit organizations to provide enhanced capacity for health care delivery to under-insured through work of nursing (or related) students and faculty
  • Some campuses have partners with hospitals (non-profit) to promote and conduct health related research
  • Some campuses are also trying to expand adult or continuing education options for community residents, such as by creating a nursing degree program for working adults
  • Some campuses are joining or creating coalitions or consortia on health issues, such as Substance Abuse Prevention, which lead to new resource development opportunities or the Downtown Education Collaborative
  • Some campuses offer workshops for community partners on how to identify, frame, and develop research questions
  • Some campuses have tried to link the work of the college on these (or other) issues with the Quality Enhancement Projects (QEPs) or accreditation efforts (SACs)

 

Research, Policy Analysis, Deliberative Democracy   evaluations  |  policy research  | issue forums  |  advocacy


Evaluations & Studies

  • A CBR project is testing water quality
  • One Humanities program is starting a local schools initiative on nutrition
  • One campus is conducting an analysis of access to care and gaps along the continuum (Mars Hill)
  • Specific program evaluations have been conducted (Meals on Wheels, Environmental Healthy Eating programs)

     

Issue Forums

  • Virginia - Healthcare Forums and Organizing Project
  • Presidential Forums - health issues
  • Civic Forums engage panelists/speakers on specific health topics or policies
 

Contacts   staff  |  faculty  |  students  |  community partners (local, regional, national)


  • Please add specific names (emails)