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Graduate Family Nurse Practitioner Program student, Jessica Farrone, performs blood pressure screenings at Mercy Learning Center |
St. Charles Health and Wellness Center
The Health and Wellness Center is a collaborative initiative between Sacred Heart University and Saint Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church. The Center is designed to assist the resolution of unmet health care needs of the parishioners and neighbors of Saint Charles while promoting the education, service and research goals of the University. The Center originated from a confluence of interests: the University's desire to become more actively involved in the day-to-day activities of the Bridgeport community and St. Charles parish's need to respond to the community health requirements of its parishioners.
Located in one of the most culturally diverse and impoverished areas of Bridgeport, Connecticut the Center melds the assets of contemporary health care practices with cultural and traditional health practices of the parishioners and neighbors. Faculty and students from Nursing, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and related disciplines work with and learn from the cultural communities of St. Charles and the surrounding neighborhood while engaging in clinical and service learning experiences that provide health education, screening and promotion programs.
The Center's four key goals are to: - Develop and implement community-based health education, promotion and screening programs
- Provide community-based clinical, service-learning and student internships that investigate the relationships among spirituality, social justice, diversity and well being.
- Foster faculty knowledge and skill in community-based Nursing, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and related health discipline practice.
- Create opportunities for research and scholarship by Sacred Heart University faculty, students and community partners.
To date, a variety of different projects and programs have addressed the key goals of the Center.
A sampling of these activities include:
- Heart and Minds: Identifying the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease in adult Hispanic men and women. This was a collaborative funded research project between the departments of Nursing, Physical Therapy and Bridgeport Community Health Center (Optimus, Inc). Using a retrospective chart audit over 300 records of adult Hispanic men and women who obtained care at BCHC were reviewed for evidence of primary diagnosis of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease or were at risk for development of these illness based on contributory diagnoses such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, or health behaviors such as smoking or inactivity
- Development of Diabetic Teaching materials for Haitian populations
- Health Education and Screening Fairs
- Screenings for Kidney Disease and Oral Health
- Wellness Programs by Occupational Therapy students for women with HIV/Aids or Hepatitis B diagnoses
- Senior Health Promotion Initiative: This is a federally funded project sponsored by the Southwestern Connecticut Agency on Aging and BCHC and Sacred Heart University. It is an interdisciplinary health promotion project designed to recruit community dwelling individuals, age 60 years or older to obtain health screening from Nurses, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and Nutritionists.
- Submission of articles or abstracts for publication and or presentation.
For additional information contact:
Susan DeNisco MS, FNP, APRN-BC
Executive Director Health and Wellness Center
Email: DeNiscoS@sacredheart.edu
Linda L. Strong, Ed.D., RN
Assistant Professor
Program Director, Aging with Grace Project
Email: StrongL@saceredheart.edu
Wendy Bjerke
Clinical Assistant Professor
Human Movement & Sports Science
Email: BjerkeW@sacredheart.edu
Donna Bowers, MPH, PT
Assistant Clinical Professor
Physical Therapy Coordinator at:
Email: BowersD@sacredheart.edu
Mary Ellen Johnson
Instructor
Occupational Therapy
Email: JohnsonM@sacredheart.edu