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School of Nursing
School of Health Sciences
Duquesne University's School of Nursing, Rangos
School of Health Sciences, and School of Pharmacy
are developing a Demonstration Inter-disciplinary
Wellness Program in K. Leroy Irvis Towers, a HUD-funded
independent-living high-rise complex for the elderly
located in the city's Hill District.
The needs assessment, program design, implementation
and evaluation will be carried out by an inter-disciplinary
team of health-care professionals including gerontology
clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners,
and graduate nursing students, physician assistant
students under the direction of a primary care
physician preceptor, and faculty and students
from the athletic training, health information
systems, and pharmacy programs.
The purposes of the Inter-disciplinary Wellness
Program will be to provide specific health promotion
activities for elderly residents of an independent
living facility that will assist them to:
* maintain wellness;
* maintain or improve their quality of life; and
* avoid devastating and expensive hospitalizations
and institutionalization.
The Inter-disciplinary Wellness Program will be
based on a health needs assessment designed by
the project staff and carried out by the project
personnel, faculty and students of the respective
schools. All residents in the facility will have
the opportunity both to participate in focus groups
and to have an individual health assessment. Residents
who exhibit health problems in need of medical
treatment will be referred to a primary-care physician
for diagnosis and management. Individual health
assessments and follow-up for assistance with
management of chronic health problems will be
done on an as-needed basis by the nurse practitioner.
Following completion of the health needs assessment
and data analysis, the project coordinator and
the inter-disciplinary health team will work with
the resident council in the high-rise to design
and implement the wellness program. Using this
collaborative process, goals and indicators will
be established for the wellness program. Wellness
programming will include both individual counseling
based on the health assessments and group educational
sessions based on aggregated data from the health
assessments and focus groups. To allow for program
evaluation and to assist in replication, the program
also includes a research component.
Contact: Dr.
Lenore Resick, Nursing, or call 395-5228
Project
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