Interprofessional student service-learning opportunities
The ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ Wellness Center at Westbrook Housing opened in July 2021, created boundless service learning opportunities for ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ students, starting with an outdoor festival linking students with older residents around various health-promoting activities. Soon, the center’s six-room space in the Larrabee Woods building had residents taking part in interprofessional health fairs, receiving care from dental hygiene students, participating in group activities with social work students, taking part in fall risk assessments with physical therapy students, engaging with occupational therapy students around functional safety in the home, meeting with pharmacy students for medication reviews, talking with nursing students about managing blood sugar, and the list goes on. All of this led to a national award in Fall 2022.
In addition to supporting student learning, this partnership is also an engine for research and scholarship. The ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ Center for Excellence in Public Health (CEPH) and CEAH received a three-year $900,000 grant in 2022 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living to implement and evaluate a targeted nutrition intervention with WHA residents. More such projects are in the works.
The Wellness Center is open from September to May each year, with most activities occurring during the fall and spring semesters. Summer programming varies.