Finding an Ethical International Service Learning Partner: Lessons Learned in Asset-Based Community Development

Nicaragua is the third poorest country in the Americas. This presentation will focus on the journey toward attaining a service-learning course designation for a nursing education abroad course in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua. The journey began in 2015, when the presenter participated in a course-design faculty learning community sponsored by The Ohio State University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT). The initial learning community provided a safe environment in which to evaluate the prior education abroad course and explore strategies for revision of course objectives and learning activities that would promote service learning opportunities for faculty and students. The presenter was subsequently accepted into a second UCAT learning community, Internationalization of the Curriculum, which provided a safe space for further course refinement and support through the process of curriculum change. A grant from the Ohio State Office of Service Learning provided additional resources. A potential community partner was identified: http://jhc-cdca.org. The Center for Development in Central America (CDCA) is a project of the Jubilee House Community, Inc. (JHC), a nonprofit organization. It has 501(c)(3) status in the United States and International Mission status in Nicaragua. The goal of CDCA is to work in partnership with communities and cooperatives to facilitate empowerment. This enables them to find their own solutions to the problems they identify and connects them with resources to solve their problems. The job of CDCA is not to tell others what to do, but to first listen to the needs and then respond as they are able. The CDCA's mission is to enable communities to become self-sufficient, sustainable, democratic entities. In 1994, the work of CDCA began in Ciudad Sandino, the most densely populated city in Nicaragua, and one of the poorest. Ciudad Sandino has long been the dumping ground for refugees from natural disasters and violence. Invited to work with the poor in Ciudad Sandino, CDCA works in four main areas: sustainable agriculture, sustainable economic development, health care, and education. The focus of the service learning partnership is health care. The health work focuses primarily on families living within Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua. The CDCA continues to work with local community leadership, building partnerships and listening. The CDCA works to connect Nicaraguans with others from around the world who have access to all types of resources. Financial resources, professional expertise, time and energy, creative problem-solving, and physical assistance are all needed. This exciting community engaged partnership exhibits participatory bi-directional capacity building. We look forward to sustaining our collaboration in an upcoming visit on May 8-20, 2018.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing, College of Nursing Graduate Studies, [email protected] (Corresponding Author); Jennifer Kue, Director, College of Nursing Office of Global Innovations and Assistant Professor, College of Nursing.Learn about the journey toward attaining a service-learning course designation for a nursing education abroad course in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua. A potential community partner was identified: http://jhc-cdca.org/. The Center for Development in Central America (CDCA) is a project of the Jubilee House Community, Inc. (JHC), a nonprofit organization. It has 501(c)(3) status in the United States and International Mission status in Nicaragua. The goal of CDCA is to work in partnership with communities and cooperatives to facilitate empowerment. The learning objectives of this session are: identify steps to take if one is considering having a service learning designation or adding service learning opportunities to one's course; gain knowledge of special considerations when doing service learning in a low-resource country; and enhance participant knowledge of resources at Ohio State as well as other institutions and organizations

In Patients Post-stroke, Is Implantable Peroneal Nerve E-stim More Effective Than Transcutaneous E-stim In Improving Foot Clearance?

A cerebrovascular accident (CVA) more commonly known as a stroke, is a life changing event resulting in impairments that decrease the quality of life.1 Over 795,000 people each year suffer from a stroke and are affected by resulting impairments and disabilities, of these impairments 20% of those affected by a stroke will acquire foot drop.2 Foot drop is due to paralysis or weakness of the ankle dorsiflexor muscles3,4 and therefore describes the inability to actively raise the toes up required to clear the ground during swing phase, resulting in the toes to drag. Foot drop not only causes abnormal gait patterns and compensations, but increases the risk of falls, increases energy expenditure, and potential orthopedic issues up the chain.5-8 Literature has shown the use of ankle foot orthoses (AFOs), transcutaneous functional electrical stimulation (FES), and implantable FES to be effective interventions used to decrease the severity of foot drop in patients post CVA. 8,9 Implantable FES offers an alternative to the transcutaneous e-stim by allowing patients to have a more permanent device to address their foot drop impairment that is more convenient and eliminates the need for daily application. Furthermore, there has been no research in the comparison of transcutaneous FES to implantable FES and their effectiveness on foot clearance during gait for individuals post CVA

Research with Arctic peoples: Unique research opportunities in heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders. Working group summary and recommendations

Arctic peoples are spread over eight countries and comprise 3.74 million residents, of whom 9% are indigenous. The Arctic countries include Canada, Finland, Greenland (Denmark), Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Although Arctic peoples are very diverse, there are a variety of environmental and health issues that are unique to the Arctic regions, and research exploring these issues offers significant opportunities, as well as challenges. On July 28-29, 2004, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research co-sponsored a working group entitled Research with Arctic Peoples: Unique Research Opportunities in Heart, Lung, Blood and Sleep Disorders . The meeting was international in scope with investigators from Greenland, Iceland and Russia, as well as Canada and the United States. Multiple health agencies from Canada and the United States sent representatives. Also attending were representatives from the International Union for Circumpolar Health (IUCH) and the National Indian Health Board. The working group developed a set of ten recommendations related to research opportunities in heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders; obstacles and solutions to research implementation; and ways to facilitate international comparisons. These recommendations are expected to serve as an agenda for future research