Promoting Health and Wellness in Underserved Communities

"Don't let the title of this book fool you; the subtitle is more telling. Promoting Health and Wellness in Underserved Communities: Multidisciplinary Perspectives Through Service Learning is a collection of reports about service learning experiences. Service learning involves academic courses that meet community needs while developing students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The cases in the book (edited by Anabel Pelharn and Elizabeth Sills) deal with public health because this field has an especially long history of service learning. However, there are lessons here for all organizations working with students to meet community needs. The first case in the book, for example, offers fascinating insights about making connections across generations. The views of young students and senior clients about other generations were skewed going into the project, but learning how to communicate with each other broke down intergenerational misconceptions. The reports explain common problems within service learning projects and ways obstacles have been--or could be--overcome. Highlighting the virtue of teamwork, an entrepreneurial spirit in solving problems, and the importance of interdisciplinary practice, they demonstrate the benefits not only to education but to community building as well.

- Nonprofit World

"In taking up the pressing topic of community health and wellness, editors Pelham and Sills emphasize how service learning can be one channel for colleges and universities not only to provide needed support to community partners, but also to promote engaged and experiential learning for their students. With examples from disciplines based in the health sciences as well as those at further removes, such as anthropology and English language learning, the book suggests multiple projects that institutions can implement to the benefit of both students and communities. Part of a series on "service learning for civic engagement," the volume views this topic through the lens of public health and is a strong resource for faculty in related fields."

- Diversity and Democracy

"This volume illustrates the can-do idealistic virtue of volunteerism and teamwork and the pioneering spirit of solving social problems with elegant examples of intergenerational and interdisciplinary practice. Each of the contributors to Promoting Health and Wellness in Underserved Communities shares cutting-edge academic creativity to offer models to employ community service learning to promote social change. The contributions provide panoply of exemplary practices, insights, and course materials to enhance civic learning. Each of the chapters illustrates the amazing diversity, energy, creativity, and service orientation brought to California State University classrooms. The monographs in this series are suitable for interdisciplinary studies, faculty and student learning circles, thematic course clusters, and other forms of integrative learning where service learning is a primary method of delivery."

- SirReadaLot

Acknowledgments
Foreword – Robert A. Corrigan
About This Series – Gerald S. Eisman
Activity/Methodology Table
Contributors
Introduction – Anabel Pelham and Elizabeth Sills

Section One: Models Of Community Engagement
1. Reaffirming The Role Of Service Learning In Public Health Curricula – Veronica Acosta-Deprez And Tony Sinay
2. Connections Across Generations: Dialogue Groups Bridge The Generation Gap – Madeleine Rose
3. Preparing Future Nurses For A Life Of Civic Engagement: The Disaster Preparedness For Vulnerable Populations Project – Lynette Landry and Harvey Davis
4. Cultivating Healthy Habits: Food, Gardens, and Community-Based Learning – Debora Hammond

Section Two: Cross-Cultural Competencies
5. Immigrant Health Literacy: Reaching Across Languages, Cultures, and Disciplines In Service – Daryl M. Gordon, Maricel G. Santos, and Gail Weinstein
6. Community-Based Health Needs Assessments With Culturally Distinct Populations – Joachim O. F. Reimann and Dolores I. Rodri´Guez-Reimann
7. The Role Of Community-Based Participatory Research, Civic Engagement, and Service Learning In Reducing Health Disparities: An Experience Using Community Health Theaters – Helda Pinzon-Perez
8. Teaching Public Health Security Through Community-Based and Case-Based Learning – Louise Gresham, Sonja Ingmanson, and Susan Cheng

Section Three: Community Partnerships
9. From Projects To Partnership: Using Ethnography To Engage Students – Charles N. Darrah and Katie Plante Smith
10. The Accidental Service Learner: The Role Of Graduate Education In Community Service Learning – Jonathan Sills
11. The Economy Of Abundance: Developing Service Learning On A Grand Scale In A Rapidly Changing Environment – Kathleen M. Roe, Andrea Nance, Alvin Galang, Anna Bingham, German Blanco, Ryan Duhe, and Kenneth Lee
12. Using Service Learning To Teach Community Nutrition – Marjorie Freedman
13. Affecting Community Wellness With Technology and Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration – Malu Roldan

Anabel Pelham

Anabel Pelham is Professor of Gerontology and Director of the Institute on Gerontology at San Francisco State University.

Elizabeth Sills

Elizabeth Sills is the Community Health Manager for a major healthcare organization.