Service Learning/Global Service Learning
Global and Service Learning
The Graduate Occupational Therapy program supports global and service learning. Each year, there are three global service learning trips during which students complete their Capstone project and several service learning assignments within specific courses. The overall purpose of these global and service learning experiences is to develop students’ understanding of cultural competence, and occupational and social justice. The global service learning trips add a unique dimension of interprofessional collaboration in real-life contexts with one or more professions including physical therapy, nursing, speech-language pathology, physician assistant studies, and social work.
American Veteran's Archeological Recovery
Sacred Heart University Occupational Therapy graduate students and two OT faculty members traveled to Saratoga, New York May 27-31, 2019 to participate in a four -day archaeological dig with military veterans. Supervised by two occupational therapy faculty members and coordinated in partnership with the American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR), a veteran-run charity, this clinical trip provided OT students with hands on learning experiences and provided therapeutic services for military veterans with emotional and physical challenges.
Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation, La Plant, South Dakota
Patterns of transgenerational trauma among the Lakota have resulted in persistent poverty, unemployment, and severe physical and mental health problems. Decades of subjugation to systematic killings, sterilization, starvation, relocation, internment, and the introduction of new diseases resulted in over 100 million Native American deaths, and the destruction of families and culture. A community with this history requires an integrated, interprofessional commitment. An interprofessional team of occupational therapy, nursing, and social work students and faculty travel and live on the reservation for a week each year. The IP team collaborated with Simply Smiles, a non-governmental partner who have an established and trusting presence on the reservation. The faculty team are working with Simply Smiles to move the trip to October to allow access to the public school and new integrated health clinic to work out actions plan to improve health education and access to existing health care resources on the reservation.
Guatemala
Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Speech and Language Pathology programs travel with faculty members to provide supervised healthcare to a select group of marginalized Guatemalan citizens. Principles of service-learning and interprofessional collaborative practice frame the objectives of the experience. Students are supervised by faculty to provide rehabilitation services in community based facilities, special needs schools, and the home. This innovative service learning and interprofessional experience provides a platform to illuminate the benefits derived for clients and for students who collaborate to provide care while also fulfilling the College of Healthcare Profession’s Mission Statement “to develop students who value compassionate service and who can further translate this service into a life-long responsibility to contribute to a more just society”.
Bridge House
Bridge House is Fairfield County’s Clubhouse Model site for individuals with mental health conditions. It provides various services aimed at promoting recovery and transitioning back to the community among its members. SHU Graduate Program in Occupational Therapy (OT) students completed a semester-long service learning project at Bridge House where students facilitated educational sessions and therapeutic activities focusing on different aspects of wellness. Topics covered included healthy eating, exercise, leisure and socialization habits. Bridge House experiences have fostered students’ engagement in activities that promote humanity, open mind and respect for diversity, as well as compassionate service to others.