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Community and Public Health

Class Act

January 31, 2023 by University Communications & Marketing

Students, staff volunteer to help The Institute for Human Services

Not to be confused with Service Learning Day, Servant Leadership Day only happens once a year in January to coincide with Founders’ Week. In the half century since its introduction, Robert Greenleaf’s “Servant Leadership” theory has become increasingly popular among American corporations. Companies such as Nordstrom, Starbucks, The Container Store and FedEx have all adopted the theory that a leader must be a servant first and a leader second. This was indeed the case when Chaminade University’s Mitch Steffey joined students and fellow staff members in an effort to help The Institute for Human Services (IHS).

“We’re learning just as much from the community as we are giving to it,” says Steffey, Associate Director

Students volunteered to participate in Servant Leadership Day at IHS.

of Service Learning and Community Engagement. “The idea is you’re leading for the people to accomplish their goals and not ours. It’s also talking about the difference between sympathy and empathy.”

Silversword senior, Montserrat Lanfranco ’23, was among the volunteers who helped haul away old furniture, appliances and miscellaneous equipment in a Herculean effort to organize a large storage area at IHS. To Steffey’s point about empathy, Lanfranco muses that “everyone has a different situation as to why they’re homeless.”

During an on-camera interview with KGMB’s Hawaii News Now, Montserrat says by helping IHS—and thus, in essence, its clients—they’re digging into the roots of houselessness and helping a marginalized population of society plant new roots to promote a healthier type of system.

“At least that’s how I see it,” Montserrat concludes. “I feel like if we can get down to it (the root of the cause) then we can really solve the problem.”

Across the nation, homelessness has become a major flash point, attracting the attention and the ire of local, state and national lawmakers. On Dec. 19, 2022, the Biden-Harris administration released a federal plan for ending homelessness in America that starts with the ambitious goal of reducing homelessness by 25 percent by 2025. All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness builds on the success of previous plans and will do more than any previous federal effort to systemically prevent homelessness, and combat the systemic racism that has created racial and ethnic disparities in homelessness.

Mitch Steffey organized Servant Leadership Day with IHS.

Modeled after the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, The Hawai‘i Interagency Council on Homelessness (HICH) is an advisory body that serves as a statewide homelessness planning and policy development entity with broad representation from State and County government and the community. The council has adopted its own 10-year plan that utilizes an active implementation framework with the work divided into four general stages for implementation: exploration, installation, initial implementation and full implementation.

According to the released Ten-Year Strategic Plan and Framework, the proposal advances the vision of ending homelessness in Hawai‘i by implementing and sustaining a housing-focused system that draws upon the efforts of multiple partners and creates a clear pathway to stable housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. The plan and vision acknowledge that the work to combat homelessness cannot be addressed by any single government entity or provider alone, and requires a shared community effort and “all-hands-on-deck” approach. 

Steffey shares the same approach when he organizes these types of service events, which he hopes will become more frequent. “What we did at the IHS shelter is the community engagement part of my job,” says the Pennsylvania native, emphasizing the second half of his official staff title. “I’m trying to get students out of their residence halls, out of their homes and into the community.”

Steffey distinguishes the difference between community service and learning service. Citing an example of the latter, he uses a biology student who could go out in the lo’i kalo (taro patch) to test the waters to see why one part of the patch produces more kalo than another.

“He/she can test if there’s too much acid in the water,” Steffey explains. “So we’re going to the community to fulfill a need with the expertise that we already have through our professors, courses and classrooms.

“You don’t have that at beach cleanup,” Steffey continues. “The cleanup is good for the community, but there isn’t much learning being done.”

Filed Under: Campus and Community, Service Learning, Student Life, Students Tagged With: Community and Public Health, Servant Leadership, Service Learning, Volunteer

Dr. Lorin Ramocki and Dr. Katelyn Perrault Recognized for their Passion and Innovation in Teaching

September 24, 2021 by University Communications & Marketing

Motivated. Innovative. Passionate. A trailblazer.

Those were some of the words used to describe this year’s faculty honorees of the Chaminade Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship awards, which recognize those going above and beyond to ensure student success in the classroom and contribute to their area of study in meaningful ways.

Lorin Ramocki

Dr. Lorin Ramocki, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing and Health Professions, received the Chaminade’s 2021 Excellence in Teaching Award for her tireless work to create hands-on simulations that promote “learning by doing.”

The simulations—which ranged from a mock homeless camp on campus to a COVID vaccination clinic to an “unfolding case study” into a Hepatitis A outbreak—were especially vital during the pandemic because COVID made some community placements for Nursing students impossible.

“The COVID pandemic created a loss of clinical rotations in both hospitals and community settings and faculty pivoted to simulation on campus as well as supporting COVID vaccination efforts,” said School of Nursing and Health Professions Dean Rhoberta Haley, PhD, who nominated Ramocki for the award.

Haley said Ramocki ensured experiential learning continued for students during the pandemic. “Dr. Ramocki is a truly creative, innovative, motivated, and effective teacher,” Haley said, “who makes Public Health content and clinical experiences come alive for each of our Nursing students.”

Ramocki said she is honored by the recognition and takes joy in using her creativity to develop “engaging learning environments to give students the best experience possible.” She added that her teaching philosophy is rooted in “developing a community within the classroom.”

“My philosophy on teaching students is really embedded in trying to inspire them to find their own interests—and then connect it back to something in public health to help them enhance their understanding and how they can impact the health of their own communities,” she said.

Katelynn Perrault

Meanwhile, the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics’ Dr. Katelynn Perrault was recognized with the 2021 Fr. John F. Bolin Excellence in Scholarship Award for substantial contributions to her field of study. The associate professor of Forensic Sciences and Chemistry was also recently honored with the John B. Phillips Award, which recognizes early career researchers who are making advancements in the field of two-dimensional gas chromatography, which involves separating chemicals present in complex samples.

Perrault is studying odors produced by bacteria associated with decomposing bodies.

Dr. Hans Chun, director of Education Leadership Programs at Chaminade, nominated Perrault for the honor and said she has been a “trailblazer in research” since she arrived at the University. “Kate embodies the concept that teaching and research are not mutually exclusive,” Chun said.

Chun also said her work has helped to “raise Chaminade’s scholarly profile.”

Perrault said receiving the award is a “landmark moment for me” at the University and has driven her to reflect on her work—and on the work of the student researchers she is mentoring. “Seeing their contributions to science recognized gives me great joy as a mentor,” she said. Perrault added that while many people think of research as something that’s done outside of the classroom, she sees it as something central to classroom learning. “Great things can be accomplished within a class when students are set with the task of creating new knowledge on their own accord. There is something about that experience that cannot be learned in any textbook.”

Filed Under: Campus and Community, Faculty, Featured Story, Natural Sciences & Mathematics, Nursing & Health Professions Tagged With: Chemistry, Community and Public Health, Forensic Sciences, Honors and Awards, Nursing

Community and Public Health: Power to Help People Live Healthier Lives

August 2, 2021 by University Communications & Marketing

Those at the frontlines of the healthcare industry don’t just work in hospitals.

As the COVID pandemic has made clear, frontline professionals also include health navigators and coaches, nonprofit healthcare administrators, public health project managers and advocates, health data analysts, epidemiologists—and a long list of other experts seeking to build community health.

School of Nursing and Health Profession students participating in a people without houses simulation.

In fact, healthcare that’s focused on prevention, health maintenance and access to care and delivered in the community is among the fastest-growing sectors of the industry, including in the islands, said Chaminade School of Nursing and Health Professions Associate Dean Dr. Pamela Smith.

Smith said Chaminade is helping to meet that strong demand for community health with its unique Bachelor of Science in Community and Public Health, launched in Fall 2020. The innovative program has already attracted significant interest and is preparing graduates for a host of new opportunities.

“Our community really needs community health workers,” said Smith. “They are trusted in our communities, which means patient outcomes are better. Because of that, there’s a significant demand for graduates with this degree and they are very employable after graduation.”

Chaminade’s four-year Community and Public Health degree puts a strong emphasis on individualized instruction, hands-on learning, service to others in the community and mentorship. Students can choose from one of four specializations: Community Health Worker, Environmental and Health, Non-profit Administration and Data Analytics, all of which feature a strong foundation of knowledge.

Smith, who oversees the program, said the specializations were designed following in-depth conversations with community stakeholders and significant research into Hawaii’s healthcare needs. Each one gives students a host of potential career options or opportunities for further study.

“For example,” Smith said, “as a patient care manager, you would be looking at medical records, communicating with the patient, communicating with support agencies to improve health outcomes and access to care. Or in data analytics, perhaps you’d be studying information from pedometers to make conclusions about broader trends and to find potential solutions to boost patient health.”

“There are so many potential pathways to success,” Smith added.

The degree also prepares students to take the national Certified Health Education Specialist exam.

Participants in the Community and Public Health program complete foundational coursework in everything from human biology to science writing, and from bioethics to intercultural communication. Additional specialized study is offered in health disparities, the impact of environment on human health, organizational leadership and behavior and community-engaged computing and data analytics.

Going forward, Smith hopes to continue to expand the program as it attracts more students, especially by extending networking opportunities and offering students additional service-learning experiences.

“This program prepares students to work in the field of healthcare and public health outside of traditional patient care environments,” she said. “The simple truth is community and public health workers have the power to help people live healthier lives, reaching their fullest health potential.”

Filed Under: Featured Story, Innovation, Institutional, Nursing & Health Professions Tagged With: Community and Public Health

Learning and Growing by Doing

May 18, 2021 by University Communications & Marketing

Dr. Lorin Ramocki believes in the power of learning and growing—by doing.

The School of Nursing and Health Professions professor has gotten high praise from her students, colleagues and community stakeholders for her innovative use of simulations—centered around hands-on, project-based learning—that help bring her curriculum to life and underscore its relevancy.

With clinical opportunities limited because of the pandemic, over the last academic year alone:

  • To prepare more than 60 Nursing students for work in COVID vaccination clinics, Ramocki created a mock clinic of her own and handed it over to participants to manage. Students learned about the varying roles at vaccination clinics, along with the patient education and monitoring.
  • Ramocki created a mock homeless camp (complete with volunteer actors) on campus for a simulation that gave Nursing students vital experience “treating” patients who are living on the streets, coordinating care with a treatment team and overcoming barriers to helping them.
  • Ramocki even had students put on their public health detective hats for a fast-paced epidemiology “unfolding case study” that tasked them with working out the source of a simulated Hepatitis A outbreak with 25 mock patients, each with unique back stories.
School of Nursing and Health Professions homeless simulation

Dr. Rhoberta Haley, Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions, said these types of simulations are obviously more engaging than lectures or rote memorization. And engaged students learn more. But their real power, she said, is in their immersive nature. In a simulation, students are embracing their roles as critical thinkers, as leaders and as team-based collaborators.

“Every step of the way in these simulations, Dr. Ramocki is asking her students to apply what they’ve learned and then build on it as they also work with their peers—whether it’s puzzling out a public health problem that impacts an entire community or ensuring that a single patient gets quality care,” Haley said. “Her students emerge from these simulations much more prepared for success.”

Haley added that she is especially impressed with how Ramocki has stressed not only the key foundational elements of her curriculum in the simulations, but important soft skills—like how to work with a patient to understand their unique needs or how to overcome the stigma of homelessness.

School of Nursing and Health Professions students participate in a vaccination clinic simulation

“That’s what learning by doing really means—doing the real work to understand its many facets.”

Dr. Ramocki said that she designed the simulations to engage students and provide critical clinical hours during the COVID-19 pandemic. Placements in the community for Public Health Nursing clinical course students were limited in 2020, with strict health protocols in place, so Ramocki improvised. “I wanted to give students the best experience possible during this time period,” she said, “when we were restricted to providing clinical experiences only on campus.” And so innovation was born out of adversity.

Dr. Ramocki’s simulated homeless camp was especially intricate.

School of Nursing and Health Professions homeless simulation

The realistic camp was built on campus and included eight case studies, with “patients” who had divergent backgrounds, back stories and health issues that were representative of the broader homeless population. In addition to helping students consider the psychosocial, financial and common medical problems among homeless residents, it also sought to help students develop empathy and reduce stigma as they worked comprehensively to serve a unique and high-needs patient population.

Dr. Ramocki also developed a tuberculosis clinic simulation that included modules for contact tracing, screening and testing, precaution protocols and various treatments. Each patient had a back story that students had to sift through in order check them in assessment and triage them to the appropriate service.

She said while the pandemic created the need for these simulations, she’ll continue to use them.

After all, she’s gotten her own hands-on learning in creating the simulations and rolling them out.

Filed Under: Faculty, Featured Story, Nursing & Health Professions Tagged With: Community and Public Health, Nursing

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