Assessing Emotional Well-Being: Applying Health Promotion Methods Through Community Service
Presenter(s)
Kenzie Jirousek and Chelsey L. Hagedorn
Abstract
This is a poster presentation describing a creative activity engaging advanced health promotion strategies through community service. Bridges Health is a free student-led, faculty-guided clinic that offers a variety of health services. One location is in rural Blair, Wisconsin where 12 to 16 patients are seen each day and receive a variety of services, including health screening and assessment, foot and nail care, massage, vision checks, ear wash, and vital monitoring. The Bridges Health-Blair site is located within a church that the rural community utilizes for a wide variety of community events. The town has an estimated population of 1,305 citizens, according to the U.S. Census (2020). An intake form is completed with each client and a trend found within this population is that many of the clients score 3 or higher within the mental health section. This subsequently initiates the completion of a PHQ-9 screening, which also trends high. The goal at the Bridges Health-Blair site is to provide excellent and compassionate care within the team's scope of practice and promote psycho-social health and wellness to those in the community. This includes engaging the client in discussions in the 8 dimensions of wellness. The older adult population has complex perceptions toward depression and treatments, with self-management being a main theme (Nair, et al., 2019). This creative health promotion strategy consists of the transition from the PHQ-9 screening tool to the GDS-15 screening tool at the Bridges Health-Blair site. While the PHQ-9 is a standard screening tool and widely utilized, it may not be the best for older adults as they may score higher due to co-existing health issues that impact their appetite and sleeping patterns. Health issues or normal aging changes may interfere with accurate screening of depression. The GDS-15 questions only require a "yes" or "no" answer, unlike the PHQ-9. This may be more understandable for older adults, especially those with decreased cognition. The questions focus on emotional changes, rather than physical changes like fatigue, that would be anticipated in an aging older adult, but abnormal for a younger adult. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) focuses fully on the individual's emotions and does not include the physical aspects (Smith, 2019). To date, most clients who completed a GDS-15 screening expressed the tool was appropriate, understandable, and easy to answer the questions. There has been minimal negative impact from switching screening tools to the interprofessional team and operations of the clinic. Future training of the Bridges Health-Blair students will include the GDS-15 and evaluation is underway for the adoption at other clinic sites. This community service experience shed light to how protective the older adult population can be when it comes to expressing their mental health needs. Symptoms are often minimized and self-management of symptoms in the older adult population is common. Screening older adults for depression yields an opportunity to individualize health promotion and education.
College
College of Nursing & Health Sciences
Department
Nursing
Campus
Winona
First Advisor/Mentor
Jen Timm
Second Advisor/Mentor
Samantha Brown
Third Advisor/Mentor
Community Partner: Bridges Health
Location
Ballroom - Kryzsko Commons
Start Date
4-18-2024 2:00 PM
End Date
4-18-2024 3:00 PM
Presentation Type
Poster Session
Format of Presentation or Performance
In-Person
Session
2b=2pm-3pm
Poster Number
19
Assessing Emotional Well-Being: 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. Bridges Health is a free student-led, faculty-guided clinic that offers a variety of health services. One location is in rural Blair, Wisconsin where 12 to 16 patients are seen each day and receive a variety of services, including health screening and assessment, foot and nail care, massage, vision checks, ear wash, and vital monitoring. The Bridges Health-Blair site is located within a church that the rural community utilizes for a wide variety of community events. The town has an estimated population of 1,305 citizens, according to the U.S. Census (2020). An intake form is completed with each client and a trend found within this population is that many of the clients score 3 or higher within the mental health section. This subsequently initiates the completion of a PHQ-9 screening, which also trends high. The goal at the Bridges Health-Blair site is to provide excellent and compassionate care within the team's scope of practice and promote psycho-social health and wellness to those in the community. This includes engaging the client in discussions in the 8 dimensions of wellness. The older adult population has complex perceptions toward depression and treatments, with self-management being a main theme (Nair, et al., 2019). This creative health promotion strategy consists of the transition from the PHQ-9 screening tool to the GDS-15 screening tool at the Bridges Health-Blair site. While the PHQ-9 is a standard screening tool and widely utilized, it may not be the best for older adults as they may score higher due to co-existing health issues that impact their appetite and sleeping patterns. Health issues or normal aging changes may interfere with accurate screening of depression. The GDS-15 questions only require a "yes" or "no" answer, unlike the PHQ-9. This may be more understandable for older adults, especially those with decreased cognition. The questions focus on emotional changes, rather than physical changes like fatigue, that would be anticipated in an aging older adult, but abnormal for a younger adult. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) focuses fully on the individual's emotions and does not include the physical aspects (Smith, 2019). To date, most clients who completed a GDS-15 screening expressed the tool was appropriate, understandable, and easy to answer the questions. There has been minimal negative impact from switching screening tools to the interprofessional team and operations of the clinic. Future training of the Bridges Health-Blair students will include the GDS-15 and evaluation is underway for the adoption at other clinic sites. This community service experience shed light to how protective the older adult population can be when it comes to expressing their mental health needs. Symptoms are often minimized and self-management of symptoms in the older adult population is common. Screening older adults for depression yields an opportunity to individualize health promotion and education.
