The Bridges Health-Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center Collaborative: Applying Health Promotion Methods Through Community Service
Abstract
This is a poster presentation describing a creative activity engaging advanced health promotion strategies through community service. Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center (HVMHC) is a mental health center that serves individuals and families in Winona County and the surrounding area. Bridges Health is a free, Winona State University student-led program and is funded through grants. Bridges partners with HVMHC to provide a location within HVMHC that offers preventative health, wellness, and social care to clients of HVMHC. Services are designed to meet the needs of the HVMHC client, which are those individuals with mental health diagnoses.
As graduate nursing students, we provide nursing leadership to interprofessional students, work with the individuals served, assess, and provide healthcare interventions and screening tools, and connect individuals to additional resources within the community as appropriate. Clients attending this clinic face many inequities, including hardships with mental, emotional, and economic disadvantages. Common financial barriers include being uninsured or underinsured for health, poor access to health education, food insecurity, lack of transportation, and housing complications.
The health, wellness, and preventative services commonly requested at this site include health screening and follow-up, seeking answers to health-related questions, foot and nail care, ear wash, massage, and engagement with socialization. Recommended screenings for adults include those focused on healthy lifestyle, preventing and/or managing chronic illness and mental health, and monitoring for symptoms affecting functioning and quality of life, such as cognitive impairment, vision loss, and safety (UpToDate, 2024). Interventions guided by lifestyle and disease screenings are shown to improve the quality of life for individuals with chronic disease and mental illness (UpToDate, 2024).
Students, under the supervision of licensed faculty, provide numerous evidence-based health promotion methods: Preventative foot and nail care: routine nail care decreases bacteria from under the nails, prevents scratching of the skin, and decreases the risk of infection (Chan et. al., 2018). Ear assessment and cleaning: Impacted ear wax can lead to hearing difficulties which can result in social isolation and increased risk of depression (Munro et. al., (2023). Oral Health Screening & Education: Individuals with poor oral health are at a greater risk of head and neck cancer. Routine oral health screening can significantly reduce the risk of head and neck cancers (Wee et. al., 2022). Fluoride Application: Fluoride application is shown to be a cost-effective method of preventing decayed, missing, and filled teeth. (Nguyen, et al., 2020) Chronic Illness Self-Care Guidance: The nursing act guiding patients to practice self-care is based on Dorothy Orem's long-standing Self-care deficit nursing theory. Self-care - "the practice of activities that individuals initiate and perform on their behalf in maintaining life, health, and well-being" (Orem, 1971) is highly correlated to enhancing the quality of life for people with chronic illness (White, 2013.) Social Interaction: Social interaction is important for many reasons, especially for overall mental health and well-being. It also helps individuals with disabilities avoid becoming isolated from the world and the people around them (Riches, 1996). Neck and Shoulder Massage: Massage is one of the most frequently requested services at Bridges and is an effective relief treatment for chronic neck pain in adults (Bronfort et al., 2010).
This semester, students completed three clinics at this site, delivering over 22.5 hours of health promotion directly to 22 unique individuals from a majority White Non-Hispanic background. Clients served reside and attend from several different home counties, n=5 Fillmore, n=16 Winona, n=1 Trempealeau. Clients report attending the clinic because of the ease of access, feeling welcomed, and the friendliness and great care delivered by the students. One client stated this is the highlight of my week. Individuals often return to the clinic monthly to maintain their care, while getting opportunities to socialize with students and faculty. Students experience interprofessional learning and learn how to care for at-risk communities outside the walls of the hospital.
College
College of Nursing & Health Sciences
Department
Nursing - Graduate
Campus
Winona
First Advisor/Mentor
Jennifer Timm and Amy Reitmaier
Second Advisor/Mentor
Ashley Busch and Amy Harter
Third Advisor/Mentor
Community partners: Bridges Health, Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center
Location
Ballroom - Kryzsko Commons
Start Date
April 2024
End Date
April 2024
Presentation Type
Poster Session
Format of Presentation or Performance
In-Person
Session
2a=1pm-2pm
Poster Number
1
The Bridges Health-Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center Collaborative: Applying Health Promotion Methods Through Community Service
Ballroom - Kryzsko Commons
This is a poster presentation describing a creative activity engaging advanced health promotion strategies through community service. Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center (HVMHC) is a mental health center that serves individuals and families in Winona County and the surrounding area. Bridges Health is a free, Winona State University student-led program and is funded through grants. Bridges partners with HVMHC to provide a location within HVMHC that offers preventative health, wellness, and social care to clients of HVMHC. Services are designed to meet the needs of the HVMHC client, which are those individuals with mental health diagnoses.
As graduate nursing students, we provide nursing leadership to interprofessional students, work with the individuals served, assess, and provide healthcare interventions and screening tools, and connect individuals to additional resources within the community as appropriate. Clients attending this clinic face many inequities, including hardships with mental, emotional, and economic disadvantages. Common financial barriers include being uninsured or underinsured for health, poor access to health education, food insecurity, lack of transportation, and housing complications.
The health, wellness, and preventative services commonly requested at this site include health screening and follow-up, seeking answers to health-related questions, foot and nail care, ear wash, massage, and engagement with socialization. Recommended screenings for adults include those focused on healthy lifestyle, preventing and/or managing chronic illness and mental health, and monitoring for symptoms affecting functioning and quality of life, such as cognitive impairment, vision loss, and safety (UpToDate, 2024). Interventions guided by lifestyle and disease screenings are shown to improve the quality of life for individuals with chronic disease and mental illness (UpToDate, 2024).
Students, under the supervision of licensed faculty, provide numerous evidence-based health promotion methods: Preventative foot and nail care: routine nail care decreases bacteria from under the nails, prevents scratching of the skin, and decreases the risk of infection (Chan et. al., 2018). Ear assessment and cleaning: Impacted ear wax can lead to hearing difficulties which can result in social isolation and increased risk of depression (Munro et. al., (2023). Oral Health Screening & Education: Individuals with poor oral health are at a greater risk of head and neck cancer. Routine oral health screening can significantly reduce the risk of head and neck cancers (Wee et. al., 2022). Fluoride Application: Fluoride application is shown to be a cost-effective method of preventing decayed, missing, and filled teeth. (Nguyen, et al., 2020) Chronic Illness Self-Care Guidance: The nursing act guiding patients to practice self-care is based on Dorothy Orem's long-standing Self-care deficit nursing theory. Self-care - "the practice of activities that individuals initiate and perform on their behalf in maintaining life, health, and well-being" (Orem, 1971) is highly correlated to enhancing the quality of life for people with chronic illness (White, 2013.) Social Interaction: Social interaction is important for many reasons, especially for overall mental health and well-being. It also helps individuals with disabilities avoid becoming isolated from the world and the people around them (Riches, 1996). Neck and Shoulder Massage: Massage is one of the most frequently requested services at Bridges and is an effective relief treatment for chronic neck pain in adults (Bronfort et al., 2010).
This semester, students completed three clinics at this site, delivering over 22.5 hours of health promotion directly to 22 unique individuals from a majority White Non-Hispanic background. Clients served reside and attend from several different home counties, n=5 Fillmore, n=16 Winona, n=1 Trempealeau. Clients report attending the clinic because of the ease of access, feeling welcomed, and the friendliness and great care delivered by the students. One client stated this is the highlight of my week. Individuals often return to the clinic monthly to maintain their care, while getting opportunities to socialize with students and faculty. Students experience interprofessional learning and learn how to care for at-risk communities outside the walls of the hospital.
