A Healthy Partnership
Student and Faculty in Community Service
Davorka, Luanne and Nancy at Knox Healthy Start Program
The nursing program and Community Clinical Course for Perinatal & Growing Family Health, has been in partnership with Healthy Start for Mom and Me for the past several years. Knox Church Healthy Start is run by Healthy Child Manitoba and has been a clinical site for 3rd year students. The Healthy Start Program is geared towards Health Promotion of new immigrant women and babies. Participants meet each week and attendance is approximately 70-90 adults at a time. They have over 17 translators on site for each of their language groups to provide interpretation of the health messages provided. The site sets up a table of give-away items including warm clothing, children’s books and toys, which is very popular.
In the spirit of community service, the RRC Nursing faculty conducted a warm clothing drive to support the participants of the Knox Church Healthy Start program. The faculty and staff brought forward an amazing collection of cozy items to donate. The generosity of the nursing department overwhelmed the staff at the program. The faculty received a lovely thank you note from Know HealthyStart in response to the generous donations.
Dianne Brown with donations
The faculty hope to have a second drive in February when the students return again. The plan is to support “I Love to Read Month”. We will be collecting new and used children’s books. Anyone with a book they would like to donate contact Dianne Brown and/or Luanne Hill. A third drive in April will be to collect clothing that is for warmer weather.
As part of their clinical experience, nursing students attend Knox Church Healthy Start for a experiential day each term and they will plan for a second occasion for a student led Health Fair a month later. On the first visit, students focus on assessing the learning needs and conversing with participants and staff. The second visit is a Health Fair Day where the students hold presentations focusing on a Health topic chosen by agency staff. Door prizes are drawn at the end to provide added incentive for participating at the Health Fair.