Community Service Proposal



Running head: COMMUNITY SERVICE PROPOSALCommunity Service ProposalAngela M. BairdFerris State UniversityAbstractFor my community service learning I plan on participating at Catherine’s Care Center in Grand Rapids. I will be helping to educate individuals about health promotion and disease prevention at health fairs through Catherine’s Care Center. Catherine’s is a non-profit organization that provides primary care and pharmaceutical assistance to many underinsured individuals. Community service learning is an opportunity for me to offer my knowledge and skills to my community, advance professionally and become more confident with teaching. Community Service Proposal Community service learning is a teaching and learning approach to education. The definition of service learning that I found explains it clearly is through the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse: “Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities” (National Service-Learning Clearinghouse 2004). Although I have never done any community service in the past I am looking forward to being an active part of my community and learning what needs they have, and providing my knowledge and skills to benefit my community. Many universities require community service learning in their curriculum, and the purpose for service learning is providing a supplement to course study with community service that benefits the community and the learner. Service learning also provides the knowledge, skills, and values for a well rounded civil commitment (Ferris State University). My paper will provide my advisor and I with a plan I will follow to fulfill my community service learning prior to my graduating the BSN program at Ferris State University. Agency DescriptionCatherine’s Care Center is a non-profit community health center dedicated to wellness and prevention of disease. The clinic was named after Catherine McAulley and is a partnership between Saint Alphonsus Parish and the Creston Neighborhood Association, in the Grand Rapids area. Target population for the clinic is the working poor. These are members of the community who make too much money to get Medicaid and have jobs that do not offer health benefits. The clinic offers general practice care to 1800 regular patients of all ages and assists with obtaining medications that members of the community cannot afford. With the help from Indigent Patient Assistance programs offered by pharmaceutical companies, Catherine’s Care Center obtained over half million dollars worth in prescription medications last year. Another large amount is given monthly through sample medications donated by pharmaceutical representatives (Catherine’s Care 2009).The mission behind the clinic is to provide health education, screening, and primary care medical services to low income, underinsured, and medically underserved individuals. The clinic not only serves patient needs but promotes relationships and partnerships within the community to continue to meet health needs of underinsured (Catherine’s Care 2009). Catherine’s Care Center was established in 1996 after the well child clinic was closed in the Creston neighborhood by the Kent County Health Department. It started as a nurse-run clinic administering immunizations, health education, and free screenings for children. There was a determination that the families of these children had unmet health needs, and the clinic was expanded over the years to meet health needs of numerous members of the community. Today the clinic is staffed with a volunteer doctor, nurse practitioner, two registered nurses, other volunteers, and paid staff. Open hours for the clinic is Monday-Thursday eight to four, and Friday nine to noon. Expenses are covered by partners, revenues from third party billings, gifts, and grants (Catherine’s Care 2009). In addition to the clinic, Catherine’s developed many community oriented activities. Using the staff, volunteers, and AmeriCorps/VISTA workers Catherine’s sponsors a number of outreach activities. These include free educational health fairs, support groups, a winter walking program, monthly blood pressure and blood sugar checks, cholesterol testing at neighborhood senior centers, and community hepatitis and influenza immunization events. Training neighborhood volunteers as “Health advocates” allows Catherine’s to stay close to needs and opportunities for future outreach activities (Catherine’s Care 2009).Description of Service RoleOn March 30, 2009 I met with Karen Kaashoek, RN, executive director at Catherine’s Care Center; in a brief meeting it was determined due to the size of the clinic, and regulations as to the number of staff allowed in the clinic at one time, I would be taking an active role in the free health fairs that Catherine’s participate in. June 18, 2009 is the first health fair and I will be monitoring blood pressure and blood sugar levels and handing out information about disease prevention. Subsequent health fair activities will be identified and designed by myself upon approval of Karen Kaashoek, RN.As an experienced nurse of 19 years and returning to education I am very excited about this opportunity in community service learning and feel it will make my nursing practice stronger and increase my confidence volunteering with other agencies in the future. Learning more about the different income groups, ethnic, cultures, and the needs of my community will also prepare me for the future and my desire to teach. ObjectivesThrough the community learning service I will learn to design and organize health education topics that are understandable and benefit those in the community. I will do this through presenting health promotion and disease prevention to individuals at each health fair through Catherine’s Care Center. I will benefit from service learning by increasing critical thinking, organization, and teaching skills. This ultimately will enhance my professional development and learning within all areas of study. I will feel more confident about offering individuals my nursing knowledge and skills in real life situations to contribute to my community. Monitoring of potential risk factors and educating the community of prevention of disease will help make the community healthier and live longer.EvaluationUpon completion of each health fair I will utilize a self examination form that I will document completion and reflect on the response of community members that I came into contact with. I will include an evaluation form for Karen Kaashoek, RN to evaluate my organization, participation, effectiveness, and critical thinking of health topic presented. This will be done with each health fair attended, and will include the date, time that it started, time that it ended, and the total number of hours contributed. All documentation will be held in a folder for future reference for the final project.Agency Contact Information Catherine’s Care Center 224 Carrier St. NE Grand Rapids, MI 49505. My contact person is Karen Kaashoek, RN, Executive Director. She can be reached at this number 616-336-8800. Currently my advisor is Sharon L. Colley, RN, BSN, MSN; Ph.D.c. Sharon can be reached at 231-591-2288 or by email colleys@ferris.edu. In conclusion I am anxiously waiting to start this new path of my career and know it is a great learning experience, and will help me grow both professionally, as a student, and within my community. After researching the information on service learning I know now that this is not just volunteering, but a commitment for the better of the community that you live in. ReferencesCatherine’s care center (2009). Opening the Doors to Healthcare. (2009). Retrieved on April 13, 2009 from website state university (n.d.). Service Learning and Community Service. Retrieved on April 13, 2009 from website and serve America’s national service-learning clearinghouse (2004). Service Learning is. Retrieved on April 13, 2009 from website Self Examination FormToday’s date:Time health fair started:Time health fair ended:Total hours:Topic presented:How was topic presented?Response from the community:My critical reflection of how health fair progressed:What if anything could be done differently?Planning for next health fair:Evaluation of Angela BairdDate:Topic presented:Organization of topic presented:Participation at health fair:Effectiveness of topic presented to community:Critical thinking of related topic: ................
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