Community Partnerships

• The Indiana Campus Compact Grant awarded to Dr. Mimi McKay funded a new service Scouts Beyond Bars Program in Louisville, KY, which addressed the psychosocial risks incurred by incarcerated mothers at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women (KCIW) and their daughters. Program evaluation is being developed for the project integrating forensic nursing content into six nursing courses. Students are also involved in service learning projects at the infirmary and in prenatal education at KCIW.
  
  
• In the 1999 and 2000 academic years, Judy Myers, Coyla Short and four senior students collaborated with the March of Dimes to develop a public health campaign to increase community awareness of the relationship of folic acid and the prevention of birth defects in six counties of Southern Indiana.Evaluation of the grant's effectiveness is underway.
  
  
• The Center for Women and Families in Louisville and in Southern Indiana have formed a partnership with the Division of Nursing. A program affords our students an opportunity to extend learning beyond the classroom and bridge a gap between nursing theory and nursing practice. The Center for Women and Families provides students with training in domestic violence interventions in exchange for twenty hours of direct or indirect service at the Center's sites in Louisville and Southern Indiana. Then, students and faculty work with women who have experienced domestic violence. The experience provides students the opportunity to understand the social context of domestic violence and gain the knowledge base needed to address the problem.
  
  
• In 2001, the March of Dimes and IUS Division of Nursing combined resources to provide the CenteringPregnancy® Program to pregnant women at the Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women (KCIW). Dr. Jacquelyn Reid  offers the program that provides opportunities for incarcerated women to learn more about pregnancy and childbirth. Staff Development programs are offered to the nursing staff and security officers at the KCIW facility. Students in the course: Multi-system Approach to the Health of the Community are involved in the CenteringPregnancy® Program. More information about the CenteringPregnancy ®Program is available at http://www.centeringpregnancy.com/