2020 GW Nursing Annual Report

The Offce of Community Engagement
The Offce of Clinical Practice & Community Engagement was created this year to serve as a central resource for
community engagement partnerships and activities coordinated with communities the school serves. Dr. Karen
Drenkard serves as inaugural associate dean for Clinical Practice and Community Engagement, and is leading the
strategic efforts to improve our community involvement, both in clinical practice and volunteer opportunities for
faculty, staff and students. Now included under the umbrella of this new unit are the Center for Health Policy and
Media Engagement; Center for Aging, Health and Humanities; and Offce of Community and Global Initiatives.
The newly created offce aspires to be the central resource for faculty, staff and community partners in providing
student service-learning opportunities, faculty development opportunities, and research endeavors to improve
the health of communities. GW Nursing takes engagement in the community to heart and supports a multitude of
efforts that enrich student scholarship, research and creative activity.
Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement
The Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement continues
to conduct high-impact activities in education, research and
knowledge sharing. The center brings high-profle speakers to
campus for insightful guest lectures, convenes decisionmakers
from nursing organizations to increase representation in news
media for the nursing perspective, and publishes thought
leadership pieces to steer conversations on nursing’s role in
health policy discussions.
The center hosted and co-hosted several guest lectures as part of
a suite of offerings that encourage a free exchange of ideas with
a broader community, among them experts in policymaking, a
sitting congresswoman and those on the front lines of addressing
the COVID-19 pandemic. The center also hosted leaders from
more than 20 national nursing organizations and associations to
Rep. Lauren Underwood speaks during a fall 2019 event as part
of the Health Policy Leadership Series.
develop a national blueprint for advancing the strategic use of media to promote nursing perspectives on patientcentered,
value-added policies and care.
Center for Aging, Health and Humanities
The Center for Aging, Health and Humanities (CAHH) has continued to develop, strengthen and explore new
opportunities to engage with its community partners in four core areas: research, health policy, education and
clinical innovations. The center has solidifed its partnership with the D.C. City Council, hosting the University
Seminar Series to explore age-friendly initiatives. Additionally, CAHH Director Melissa Batchelor provided testimony
for the D.C. City Council Health Committee to support B23-0325, the Dementia Training for Direct Care Workers
Act of 2019.
In addition to the center’s work advocating for age-friendly initiatives and policies, Dr. Batchelor and faculty
associated with the center have contributed signifcantly to the body of research in the feld of aging, with support
from competitive grants from foundations, the NIH and the university.
Offce of Community and Global Initiatives
Even with challenges and restrictions of a pandemic, the school’s community and global initiatives saw expansion
and growth in the frst half of the fscal year with new international partnerships in six countries and renewed
commitment with existing partners in South Korea, Costa Rica, Uganda and Ecuador. These partnerships further
enhance global engagement, international collaboration and expanded opportunities for teaching, education,
professional development, research and scholarship, clinical and community-based practice and service.
This year also saw an innovative response to the onset of a global pandemic with a virtual clinical practicum
experience for Bachelor of Science in Nursing students working with GW Nursing’s global partners in Costa Rica,
Slovenia and Uganda. For one project, students made an instructional video recorded in Spanish for children living
in marginalized communities in Costa Rica to help the population easily understand how COVID is transferred and
how to prevent the spread by washing hands and properly wearing a mask.
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