Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Coming Alongside Women Experiencing Homelessness, Alexis Dang, Brianna Cowan, Tashayla Braxton, Ellen Jacobs, Elizabeth Cortes, Erin Smith

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Coming Alongside Women Experiencing Homelessness

Executive Summary

Six nursing students attending Seattle Pacific University (SPU), partnered with a women’s day center to provide and support healthcare needs for a leadership project. During the first few weeks of being at the shelter, we visited the agency site to get a better understanding of the population and have a greater idea of what the focus problems should be. Our assessments consisted of a windshield survey, in-person observations, and conversations with the shelter director, staff, and women to identify barriers within their healthcare services. We further gathered assessment information from our instructor, who …

Addressing Oral Health Within A Women's Homeless Community, Annika Hogan, Hannah Cadelina, Simran Kaur, Vannessa Decastro, Yoshiko Sano Sano, Fatou Sonko, Machaela Urbick

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Addressing Oral Health Within a Women’s Homeless Community

Introduction

Seven nursing students attending Seattle Pacific University (SPU) partnered with a women’s day center to serve population healthcare needs for a leadership project. In the first few weeks, we visited the agency site to get familiar with the population and have a deeper understanding of what our group should address. Our goal for this project is to identify an issue of concern and address the issue using the nursing process. The women’s day center is for women who are experiencing homelessness. Homelessness is unfortunately a big problem in the city of …

Implementing Health Information Stations At Addiction Recovery Center, Esther Yi, Daryn Hernandez, Maryam Umer, Jasmine Alvarez, Kaitlyn Ward, Riciajoy Padilla

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Implementing Health Information Stations at the Addiction Recovery Center

Six Seattle Pacific University nursing students partnered with an addiction recovery center to address aging healthcare concerns. The recovery center is a non-profit organization that provides a refuge for healing for community members recovering from trauma, homelessness, addiction, and other mental health challenges. Through our weekly meetings with the community, we wanted to address specific barriers such as aging healthcare concerns. We focused on how the low-income aging population posed barriers to aging well.

Background

There has also been a rise in poverty in aging populations (Saldanha, 2023). Though aging influences …

Women’S Shelter Health Needs Assessment, Asmait Woldu, Kelly Dona, Anna Frediani, Andrea Herrejon-Duran

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Women’s Shelter Health Needs Assessment

Introduction

Homelessness is currently one of the biggest societal issues in the United States and evidence indicates it is increasing, particularly for women (McGeough et al., 2020). A group of nursing students from Seattle Pacific University teamed up with a women’s homeless shelter in a Metropolitan city. The agency provides shelter and warm meals as well as laundry, toiletries, bus tickets and more. But even with the resources that they do provide, the residents have other needs that are not fully met, particularly with regard to their health. This is due in large to a …

Resources To Promote Senior Independence, Amanda Anderson, Sheree Mae Cacal, Sophia Gallego, Madyson Grant, Lola Wallace

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Resources to Promote Senior Independence

Introduction

Our group of five students from Seattle Pacific University's Lydia Green nursing program assessed the community of an independent senior apartment complex that provides affordable housing for adults aged 65+ in the Seattle area run under Sustainable Housing for Ageless Generations (SHAG). This assignment is for our leadership project and occurred over an 8-week period. During this time, we applied the nursing process to assess, diagnose, plan, and implement an intervention specific to a population's needs. The community faced issues of resource access, exacerbated by the population's low income and age. Our focus was …

Developmental Boxes, Karina Ryabinina, Lauren Kelly, Marissa Bankey, Kaila Medeiros, Sammy Schultz

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Developmental Boxes

The assigned facility is a resource center that operates to assist families in need. Services offered include housing placement, homelessness prevention, securement of affordable childcare, after-school programs, and health education. The center has served the Mount Baker community for nearly three years and intends to continue partnering with public services to end the cycle of poverty and create brighter futures for those who need it most (Mercy Housing, 2021).

Our team conducted a windshield survey of the community served by the facility and determined there to be limited access to childcare in the area as well as minimal …

Human Trafficking And Nutrition: Assessing The Effects Of U.S. Public Policy On Food Security And The Malnourishment Of Refugees, Moxie R. Mccandless

Honors Projects

This research paper aims to assess the challenges associated with human trafficking within the lived experience of refugees, specifically focusing on food security, and the resulting system shaped by existing United States policies and programs. By examining this complex relationship, the study seeks to shed light on the influence of power dynamics on fulfilling basic human needs and to propose more effective strategies for improving food security among marginalized populations.

A comprehensive literature review is conducted, and a community nutrition needs assessment is performed in King County, Washington. Qualitative interviews are conducted with human trafficked organizations, government officials, and experts …

Mouth Care Is Self-Care, Abigail Waunch, Katelynn Huot, Aleya J. Germany, Oleksandra Shmatok, Elizabeth M. Cortes, Cortney M. Firns

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

In February of 2023, six Seattle Pacific University (SPU) nursing students partnered with a Seattle rehab agency to deliver mouth care education while prioritizing the health literacy level of the community. The agency aims to foster an inclusive and empathetic environment that builds a diverse community for those traumatized by homelessness, addiction, and mental health (Recovery Café, n.d.). The nursing group upheld the agency's mission with honor and respect during each project step. The special projects manager of the agency expressed a lack of health literacy among members. Tailoring health literacy to the appropriate education level has significantly improved dental …

Executive Summary Of Survey Among Temporarily Homeless Families, Berenice M. Casas Rodriguez, Andrea Munoz, Kalea Soto, Ava Beranek, Reagan Watson, Kimberly Brown, Amelia Navarro

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Executive Summary of Survey Project Among Temporarily Homeless Families

The agency we were assigned is a non-profit organization centered around providing housing and resources for houseless families in the Seattle region. The agency consists of five housing locations along with additional day centers. The housing locations are Burien, Northshore, The Regrade, Bellevue, and the Family Diversion Center. They all offer family housing services, healthcare, education, and employment.

The goal of our project was to gather information from guests on the healthcare services that they have utilized. It was also used to gather requests for additional services at each site to …

Health Services Survey, Doan (Delaney) Le, Hannah Gries, Cassandra Roy, Lesley Rabago, Franzelle Macaspac

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Health Services Survey

The agency we partnered with is a nonprofit organization committed to serving the needs of women and their families who are experiencing unstable or absent housing. They help to provide emergency shelter to families across five locations in the Seattle area and provide services surrounding housing, healthcare, employment, and community. They also have specialty programs aimed at providing services to children who are medically fragile and require specialized care, and families who have recently given birth and are still in the recovery and bonding stages. All this work is delivered with the values of love, equity, stewardship, …

Creative Methods For Improving Health Literacy In Underserved Communities, Riley Clark, Grace Lance, Beth Reid, Jenny Nguyen, Makenzie Mclauchlan, Kiara Maningat

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

In 2003, Recovery Café was founded with the goal of providing long-term recovery support to those in the margins, including those experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health challenges (Recovery Café, 2022). Recovery Café provides members with the support needed to gain and maintain access to housing, social and health services, healthy relationships, education, and employment (Recovery Café, 2022). Recovery Café provides this support by offering a safe space, with nutritious meals, fostering a loving community, and providing resources such as educational opportunities, 12-step meetings, and referral services (Recovery Café, 2022). In 2022, the Seattle Pacific University Lydia Green Nursing Program …

Creative Methods For Improving Health Literacy In Underserved Communities, Grace Lance, Riley Clark, Beth Reid, Makenzie Mclauchlan, Jenny Nguyen, Kiara Maningat

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Creative Methods for Improving Health Literacy in Underserved Communities

In 2003, Recovery Café was founded with the goal of providing long-term recovery support to those in the margins, including those experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health challenges (Recovery Café, 2022). Recovery Café provides members with the support needed to gain and maintain access to housing, social and health services, healthy relationships, education, and employment (Recovery Café, 2022). Recovery Café provides this support by offering a safe space, with nutritious meals, fostering a loving community, and providing resources such as educational opportunities, 12-step meetings, and referral services (Recovery Café, 2022). In …

Promoting Health Independence Through Accessible Health Resources, Haylee R. Gilman, Lucy Carrasco Flores, Keenan Haack, Hui Jean Liew, Gebrehiwot Abrha

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

Introduction

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD, 2018) defines an individual or family as homeless, as someone who lacks “fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence”. As of January 2020, there were an estimated 11,751 individuals experiencing homelessness in Seattle/King County (King County Regional Homelessness Authority, 2020). National Alliance to End Homelessness (2020) explains that health and homelessness are inextricably linked, where an acute physical or behavioral health crisis or any long-term disabling condition may lead to homelessness; homelessness itself can exacerbate chronic medical conditions. To reduce the number of homeless families on the streets in King County, …