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care to change the world
The Community as a Classroom:
Helping the Homeless
Students in the fall 2006 Community Health
341 clinical class learned not only how to use
their nursing skills in the community, but
they also experienced, through their work
with Bethesda Project, what it is like to
be homeless.
The Class promotes applying community
health nursing theory, focusing on health
promotion, disease prevention, and care for
clients across the lifespan, in community
settings. “This class goes beyond the usual
student rotation,” says Associate Dean for
Nursing Research Linda McCauley, PhD, RN,
FAAN, the Nightingale Professor of Nursing.
“The work the students are doing will have a
lasting impact on the community.”
This was the first time students collaborated
with Bethesda Project, an organization that
provides housing and support services to
homeless men and women in Philadelphia.
Working with men from a Bethesda
residence, the nine students in Alfred Giosa,
Jr., MA, RN’s class taught the importance of
hand-washing, stress reduction, and
diagnosis-specific lessons. As part of its
group project, the class educated the
residents on healthy diets and cost-effective
living choices through a healthy food choice
interactive game, a recipe book they created
and left at the residence, and incorporating
lessons on exercise in their teaching.
The second component of the class project
allowed the students to develop an
understanding of what it is like to live on the
streets – an experience they tried to
duplicate by camping outside on College
Green. The students used the campout as a
tool to raise awareness about the plight of
the homeless to the Penn community by
going dorm to dorm to talk with other
students, holding a fundraiser, and ultimately
helping to purchase staples such as socks
and underwear for the homeless at Bethesda
Project.
“Working with the residents of Bethesda
Project was an interesting and humbling
experience,” says student Jessica Yeh,
Nu ’07. “I enjoyed having the opportunity to
share some of my knowledge with them, and
I am grateful that many of the residents were
willing to share their experiences and their
lives with us. We often forget that those
less fortunate than we are forced to face
challenges we cannot even imagine.
The residents of Bethesda Project have
conquered their challenges and demonstrated
strength while walking through some of life’s
most difficult obstacles.”
“The students’ engagement in the community
changed their perception of the homeless,”
says Dr. McCauley. “As one student says, ‘It
wasn’t about what we taught the homeless.
It was about what the homeless taught us.’”
Community Health students camped out on College Green to raise awareness about homelessness.
With the donations they collected, Penn Nursing
students purchased necessities for Bethesda
Project residents.
“Working with the residents of Bethesda
Project was an interesting and humbling
experience… We often forget that those
less fortunate than we are forced to face
challenges we cannot even imagine.”
JESSICA YEH, Nu ’07
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