School of Health and Human Services: the blog of Dean Shirley Szekeres

Summer Events

Summer is always a little quieter on campus, but now it's time to begin getting back into the swing of things. The students are back and classes have started. I thought I would share with you a couple of events that happened this summer.

Every Thursday during the summer a different community group brings dinner and joins the refugee families of St. Mary’s Outreach for a meal on the front lawn. Sue Kwiatkowski works with grad and undergrad students at St. Mary's, teaching refugee children in an after school and summer school program. On July 28th, the Communication Science and Disorders Department, along with family and friends, served dinner at Mary's Place, joined by special guests, the band “The Bright Lights”.

Dr. Mary Gelder (a recent Naz. P.T. alum) and Chris Joyce (current P.T. student) were part of this summer’s crew on the Ride Across America, a bicycle race that goes from the west coast to the east coast. Mary and Chris both served as ‘chase-vehicle support’, which entailed navigating a vehicle behind one of their two assigned riders for approx. 1,500 miles across country, overseeing the riders’ nutrition, safety, stretching and general well-being. Mary and Chris received huge praise from William Reynolds, who said that ‘Team RWB made it through the race with zero penalties – something only 1/3 of 50+ RAAM teams do”.

Inside the Insider: Ethics and Tobacco

On February 21, we were fortunate to have Dr. Jeffrey Wigand speak to the Nazareth Community and guests. Dr. Wigand achieved national prominence when he became tobacco industry's highest ranking former executive to speak out to the public about the concerted effort of Brown and Williamson tobacco company to produce highly addictive cigarettes.  His public disclosure occurred on February 4, 1996 on the 60 minutes program.  In that interview with Mike Wallace, he described the cigarette as a "delivery device for nicotine".

Dr. Wigand's story was told in the movie entitled "the Insider" with Russell Crowe as Dr. Wigand.  It is a powerful movie that captures the ethical dilemma faced by Dr. Wigand and the price he paid for speaking out.  He stated that he has no regrets. Since his disclosure of the tobacco industry's "secrets", Dr.Wigand has mounted a crusade to prevent or eliminate smoking, especially targeting children and adolescents. 

The event was sponsored by Nazareth's School of Health and Human Services and Interdisciplinary Institute for Professional Ethics.

 

Outcome of the Physical Therapy Presentation at the Conference on Student Run Free Clinics

When Rachel Quashnoc and Terra Rice returned from the conferance on Student Run Free Clinics in Houston, they wanted to spread the word that the "conference was amazing"  Their presentation was successful and they got some great ideas from other presentations.  They were genuinely "inspired". 

Rachel wrote, "The main thing Terra and I realized by attending the conference was just how incredibly ahead of the curve we are at Naz with our clinics and the variety of patients we service.  Because Naz was the only PT education I had and the only school I attended, I didn't realize how lucky we were to have those clinics. It was so apparent at this conference that Naz is leaps and bounds ahead of other PT schools in establishing our clinics.  WOW!  It's awesome". 

All of the faculty and students in HHS feel the same way and are thankful that Nazareth College values the clinics as an integral part of our health professions programs- benefiting not only our students but the hundreds of underserved clients that we see in our on-campus clinics each semester.

CSD Adjunct Professor is Certificate of Merit Recipient

Jacquelyn Ater an adjunct professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department (CSD) since 1987 was honored by the Genesee Valley Speech Language Hearing Association (GVSLHA) with their 2010 Certificate of Merit award.  Jacque's graduate level course dealing with counseling, effective communication, collaboration and conferencing skills has been a unique component of the Speech-Language Pathology curriculum. 

Presently, Jacque is a medical speech-language pathologist at several Rochester area hospitals and long-term care facilities.  In addition, she is a certified Comprehensive Coach with her own business, "communicAter" which provides coaching services for healthcare consumers and training for healthcare and educational professionals. Jacque was described as a "renaissance woman" for her wealth of experience and training and varied contributions to her profession and healthcare community.

Physical Therapy Alumna and Student Present at Conference

A recent graduate from the physical therapy program, Rachel Quashnoc, and a current student, Terra Rice, will be presenting at the Society of Student Run Free Clinics Conference in Houston this month. They will provide an overview of the learning model at Nazareth and discuss how students fulfill course objectives through participation in the on-campus physical therapy clinic.Their presentation will highlight the unique opportunities for collaborative learning among students, faculty,and clients within the School of Health and Human Services. Congratulations to Rachel and Terra for being selected to present at this national conference.

Mary Kay Bradley's Years of Dedication to Individuals with Developmental Disability is Recognized

  

Thanks to the Florence M. Muller Foundation

We received notification this week that the Florence M. Muller Foundation has provided funding for the Nursing Department to purchase a DemoDose medDispense Medication Cart and Demo Dose medDispense System.  Simulated experiences in dispensing medications will significantly enhance the education of our nursing students.  Because medication errors are a major issue in health care, we believe this is a critical area of preparation for clinical practice.

We are so very grateful to the Foundation for this support.

Social Work Students and Professors in India

Nazareth College Department of Social Work began its first short term international study abroad program in India on December 31, 2010. This study abroad is in conjunction with the the Rajagiri School of Social Work located in Kochi a city situated on the southwest coast of the Indian peninsula on the Arabian Sea. The students are reporting their experiences, observations, and impressions as they interact with individuals and visit many of the highlights of the area.

Please join me in following their experiences and impressions on their blog by clicking here.

 

Wellness Initiative at Nazareth

Staffan Elgelid, a professor in Physical Therapy and I, as Dean of HHS,  are leading a campus wide committee to develop a strategic plan which will establish a culture of wellness here at Nazareth. Our concept of wellness is multidemensional including the physical, social, emotional, spiritual, environmental, intellectual, and financial aspects of life.  We have had for many years wellness activities that are sponsored by various organizations across campus, but we have not had an overall organized structure that crosses students, faculty, and staff.

Recently, Indiana University pointed out the importance of campus wellness programs.  They found major differences between freshmen and seniors in level of moderate physical activity, vigorous physical activity, body mass index, and time spent sitting. They concluded that many "students came out of college significantly less active and heavier compared to the start of their freshman year". They argued that college is a critical point in students' lives as they take on the responsibility for leading a healthy lifestyle. For faculty and staff, the large proportion of the work day that is spent sitting at computers presents some of the same challenges to health and wellness.

A website and blog will be the hub for wellness activities and information to promote healthy behaviors, health literacy, and health advocacy.   We plan to kick off the formal program in Fall, 2011.

Golisano Foundation Award Goes to Mary Kay Bradley in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department

We are all proud that our colleague, Mary Kay Bradley, Assistant Clinical Professor in the department of communications sciences and disorders, received an award from the Golisano Foundation for her years of service to individuals with developmental disorders. 

Mary Kay was a speech-language pathologist for 10 years at Mary Cariola Children's Center before joining the Nazareth faculty in 1993, first as an adjunct faculty member and then as full-time faculty.  Mary Kay is the Supervisor of Clinic Services in the department and teaches courses in Alternative/Augmentative Communication.   She has been instrumental in training hundreds of students who are now working with children and adults with developmental disabilities.

As part of the award, Mary Kay received a check for $5000. to give to a charity of her choice. She chose the "Kids Club" which is a summer and after school interdisciplinary program for children with disabilities. A team of students from art therapy, music therapy, speech-language therapy, and physical therapy, under the supervision of faculty, engage the children in fun activities that promote their health, wellness, and skill development. 

This interprofessional activity has provided our students in the School of Health and Human Services an excellent opportunity to build their skills to collaborate across disciplines and experience the rewards of working with individuals with developmental disabilities.