population health center

Nursing students help underserved communities get their kids back-to-school ready

Shayla Brown — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 17:05:19 +0000

Nursing students help underserved communities get their kids back-to-school ready Shayla Brown Wed, 08/14/2024 - 13:05

��AV’s Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinic holds free clinics throughout Northern Virginia every day. This summer, two of those community-based clinics helped local elementary school students get back-to-school ready.

School of Nursing students at the MAP Clinic in the Population Health Center. Photo by Shayla Brown

Managed by practitioners in the College of Public Health, the clinics offer uninsured school-aged children and other underserved communities essential health services. They also allow undergraduate nursing students, including MSN Family Nurse Practitioner and Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) students, as well as graduate psychology, social work, health informatics and administration students among others, to complete Community Health Clinical requirements in a meaningful way.

George Mason’s School of Nursing ran the first clinic on June 21, where 38 ABSN and four nurse practitioner students were working, and the second on July 19, where 28 ABSN and three nurse practitioner students were working. In total, 45 families brought their children to receive vaccines and physical examinations.

“The clinics are a different side of nursing. The families are so sweet and grateful for everyone who’s there,” said ABSN student Kaleigh O’Keefe.

The MAP Clinic collaborates with many community partners throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area including Fairfax County Public Schools, Manassas City Public Schools, Manassas Park City Schools, Prince William County Schools, Refugee Resettlement Agencies, Fairfax United Methodist Church, Inova Alexandria Hospital, and non-profits across the region.

School of Nursing faculty providing medical care to a student in the Population Health Center. Photo by Shayla Brown

School nurses, school-parent liaisons, refugee resettlement case managers, and caregivers from these various locations reach out to MAP Clinic administration to schedule appointments for students.

“Many of these families are long-term patients who we’ve been seeing at our MAP Clinics for years now,” said Kenneth Frese, director of clinical operations in the School of Nursing.

The clinics are able to address a variety of communities and health issues such as general health, pediatrics, and substance abuse, said O’Keefe. Nursing students rotate through all of the specialties.

The clinics collaboration with Inova comes in the form of the Inova Cares Clinic for Families, which allows patients that need to be closely monitored to receive care from Inova for a discounted rate based on income.

“I had a patient whose blood pressure was really high, which in children is typically caused by some type of kidney problem, so we tested his urine and there was a high protein count, which can indicate kidney damage,” explained O’Keefe. “We sent him to Inova where he was officially diagnosed, though he still comes back to the MAP Clinic to follow up with us sometimes.”

Nursing students also collaborated with students and faculty from George Mason’s Department of Social Work throughout the MAP clinics.

Amy Joyner with backpacks that were donated to the children at the MAP clinic. Photo by Shayla Brown

“Social work was a big part of the work we were doing. A lot of our job was ––communicating with those students,” Isabelle Kahng, an ABSN student who will be doing a neuro-ICU practicum for the MedStar Health Future Nurse Program partnership.

“It was our responsibility to relay the patient’s information to the provider, as well as the social workers, so that we could work together in getting the resources the patients need,” said Kahng.

“Bonding with these kids is my favorite part,” said O’Keefe. “They’re just so happy to be there, and being there to help them thrive is everything.”

In This Story

Kenneth Frese

Make a difference with the College of Public Health

Support the Mason Nation

Topics

School of Nursing

population health center

Mason and Partners (MAP)

Nutrition clinic opens at College’s Population Health Center

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 17:36:52 +0000

Nutrition clinic opens at College’s Population Health Center Mary Cunningham Mon, 08/15/2022 - 13:36

In This Story

Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD

Allison McKay

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies opens clinic with expansion plans to include student practice with the dietitian program.

College of Health and Human Services faculty are committed to creating experiential learning opportunities for students that meet the public health needs of the community. Most recently, Nutrition and Food Studies (NFS) Department Chair Larry Cheskin, an MD, started a once-a-week nutrition clinic at the College’s Population Health Center.

The opening of the Nutrition Clinic is timely as the NFS Department recently received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) and its first cohort of students begin in just a few week. The Master of Nutrition in Dietetics program is directed by Assistant Professor Sapna Batheja, PhD, RDN, LDN, and follows the Future of Education model for preparing Registered Dietitians. To ensure career-ready graduates, the ACEND Future Education Model integrates coursework and an internship into a two-year master’s program. The Clinic will be an additional source of hands-on learning for Mason dietetics students.

“As a university, we have the classrooms to teach students, and at Mason, we have this state-of-the-art medical facility, so we want to train students here too. The advantage of having our Mason nutrition clinic is that it is in the same place that they will receive their didactic training and it’s with the faculty who will teach their courses,” Cheskin said. “Plus, we’re able to better meet the community needs at Mason and underserved people in neighboring communities.”

Larry Cheskin, MD, and Allison McKay, RD, discuss the Nutrition Clinic in the College's Population Health Center.

Similar to the behavioral health clinic that opened in the Population Health Center earlier in 2022, the nutrition clinic will train students in the Dietetics program under the direct supervision of faculty who are Registered Dietitians or MDs. Clinical rotations for dietetic students will start their second year in the program. Also, like the behavioral health clinic, the nutrition clinic is a sliding scale model, which means the cost is income-based and affordable for those who have limited resources.

The clinic will help patients with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and any health effect that diet can improve. Initially, patients will be referred by the School of Nursing’s Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinics, interprofessional clinics that serve the uninsured and refugee community within Prince William and Fairfax counties in Northern Virginia. The MAP Clinics also provide opportunities for Mason students to receive firsthand, guided experience in giving interprofessional care to patients and responding to community-based needs. Cheskin aims to grow the program to accept patients from other referrals as well.

Earlier this year, Registered Dietitian Allison McKay was brought into the department as the department manager in anticipation of the clinic. To begin, Cheskin and McKay will treat patients and the number of licensed practitioners will increase with additional funding and when students are able to join the team. Currently, funding for the Clinic is coming from the College, with opportunities for philanthropic support.

In the future, Cheskin also intends to expand telemedicine capabilities at the clinic. The Population Health Center is equipped to support telemedicine and, after their initial in-person visit, he could see patients appreciating the option of a virtual visit.

Learn more about Mason's Master of Nutrition in Dietetics here.

Topics

CHHS

Nutrition

population health center

Nutrition Faculty

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program Supports Student’s Goal of More Compassionate Care

Mary Cunningham — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 21:00:45 +0000

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program Supports Student’s Goal of More Compassionate Care Mary Cunningham Tue, 07/12/2022 - 17:00

Future psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner Hiba Masood works in the Population Health Center's behavioral health center.

Future psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner Hiba Masood intends to use the power of education to fight substance use disorder misinformation.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) student Hiba Masood found her true calling to enter the field of psychiatry amidst the pandemic. With the advent of COVID-19 came a rise in psychiatric illness and the incidence of fatal overdoses. Unfortunately, this also coincided with a shortage of health care providers. Thus, Hiba returned to Mason to become a PMHNP and increase access to compassionate behavioral health care.

“Patient care can be considered an art that requires a scientific foundation and authenticity. Evidence-based practice is required to provide appropriate care, though it takes the unique experiences of practitioners to provide more individualized care,” she said. “Substance use disorder needs support, non-judgmental care, and compassion.”

As an alumna of Mason’s Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program, Hiba knew that Mason was the best place to further her education in order to gain additional skills to help those with substance use disorder. Mason’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certification prepares graduates to perform a variety of mental health services including medication management. PMHNP’s perform a variety of roles including but not limited to conducting assessments, prescribing medication, and providing psychotherapy

Hands-on learning experiences are an essential part of the program. Hiba recently assisted in launching the Population Health Center’s behavioral health clinic. Alongside her cohort, Hiba learned the theory and practice of advanced practice psychiatric nursing in a variety of practice settings within the health care delivery system. Under the guidance of licensed preceptors, students working toward their PMHNP certification meet patients during their initial evaluation and follow them through their treatment journey. (Read more about the Population Health Center’s behavioral health clinic.)

“We are doing so much more than writing papers and trying to pass exams,” said Hiba. “One of the greatest experiences during this program is the ability to apply education into practice ensuring we are utilizing evidence based and individualized patient care.”

Mason’s instructors are a part of what makes the College special and why Hiba chose to continue her education here. She spotlights Dr. Melanie Yousefi, who has supported her throughout the PMHNP program in both the instructional and clinical settings.

“The faculty are remarkable, very caring, and supportive,” she said. “They have so much experience and education that they share with us, ensuring we are prepared to support our community.”

Removing the Stigma of Substance Use Disorder

Hiba is a strong advocate for shedding light on the realities of substance use disorder as a disease rather than a behavior that requires punishment or isolation. She has seen first-hand how the negative perceptions of substance use disorder have dissuaded people from seeking health care. Hiba wants to educate those whose perceptions have been skewed by misinformation.

“When people feel judged they hide away and go through such a dangerous disease process alone,” said Hiba. “With education and compassion, we can remove that stigma, so those who need help are more encouraged to come forward to get the support they need without societal judgment or fear of criminalization.”

Those who suffer from substance use disorder often experience comorbidities including other psychiatric and medical disorders that can go untreated due to stigmatization. Hiba describes how the societally imposed shame associated with substance use disorder causes those who need compassion and support to combat this illness without help.

“People with substance use disorders are human, just like you and me and should be treated with dignity and respect. Substance use disorder is a chronic disease that necessitates holistic care similar to other diseases like diabetes or hypertension. Those battling with substance use disorder deserve the right to receive care like anyone else and live their best life,” Hiba said.

Hiba also notes the importance of utilizing medically appropriate language when referring to substance use disorders as a piece of de-stigmatization. There is a growing movement among health professionals to avoid perpetuating the negative attitudes associated with terms such as drug user and addict. Using vocabulary such as “a person with a substance use disorder” removes the blame from individuals and reframes substance use as a disorder.

No Such Thing as One Size Fits All

Before starting the PMHNP certification process, Hiba worked in cardiology as a Registered Nurse (RN), in an inner-city hospital. She worked closely with the homeless population and incarcerated individuals, where the prevalence of substance use disorder and cooccurring illnesses are statistically higher. In her career as a RN and FNP, Hiba has always made it a priority to meet her patients’ individualized needs and ensure the patient’s support system is prepared to help them outside of her care. She has interned at various inpatient and outpatient facilities, including the College’s Population Health Center behavioral health clinic.

After completing her time at the behavioral health clinic and earning the title of PMHNP, Hiba is committed to putting her education into practice as well as her compassionate nature.

Providing medication-assisted treatment is one of the ways she plans to assist in the interdisciplinary care necessary for substance use disorder treatment. Hiba also plans on working with the adolescent population, supporting them through a vulnerable developmental time frame.

If you or someone you know is suffering from substance use disorder Mason’s Student Support and Advocacy Center offers resources.

Topics

population health center

First-of-its-Kind Interprofessional Behavioral Health Clinic Opens at the Population Health Center

John Brandon Cantrell — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 12:47:58 +0000

First-of-its-Kind Interprofessional Behavioral Health Clinic Opens at the Population Health Center John Brandon C… Wed, 03/30/2022 - 08:47

PMHNP students treat patients supervised by licensed practitioners at the only teaching clinic in the country for psychiatric medication management service that is affordable for all.

More than 50% of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In a given year, 20% will experience a mental illness. The ongoing pandemic has increased this by at least 10% percent, according to a CDC survey. Now nearly two years in, more people are seeking mental health support, however, finding a psychiatrist who is accepting new patients can be difficult and not always affordable.

Patients at Mason’s Center for Psychological Services (CPS) now have a new option— the Population Health Center’s behavioral health clinical services. Assistant Professor of Nursing Melanie Yousefi and the School of Nursing saw a need they could fill in the community plus a great way to train new psychiatric nurse practitioners and created this new program.

The College of Health and Human Services is sponsoring this new clinic which is the first-of-its-kind interprofessional clinic where Clinical Psychology doctoral students and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) students are delivering services in collaboration with each other and licensed faculty.

Training the Next Generation of Mental Health Professionals

With referrals from clinical psychology and counseling students at CPS, PMHNP students in the behavioral health clinic treat patients supervised by licensed practitioners on the College faculty. It is the only clinic in the country for psychiatric medication management service that is affordable for all and serves as an experiential learning environment for students.

“The clinic is providing hands-on psychological education for our PMHNP students,” said Yousefi, who is a certified PMHNP. “Most students can’t get this clinical experience anywhere else in the area until after they are certified. Because the clinic is part of an academic setting, there is more flexibility and our students get more real-world experience with real patients while still learning from the support of faculty members. They are able to receive feedback in real time to improve their practice and help the patient.”

PMHNP are licensed to diagnose mental health issues and to prescribe medicine as part of the treatment plan. All student clinical care is provided under direct supervision of Mason faculty who are experienced, practicing PMHNPs. Working with patients and PMHNPs, students learn by doing.

“I have had the experience of meeting clients from their initial evaluation, building rapport with them, and collaborating with them in such an important aspect of their health and overall wellbeing. It brings me great joy to join clients in attaining their mental health goals,” said Hiba Masood, a certified nurse practitioner and Mason PMHNP student. "I am honored to collaborate with the interprofessional team at the Center for Psychological Services, learning and growing with them and our mutual clients."

Students working in the clinic are experienced, licensed registered nurses enrolled in their clinical practicum and in the process of becoming a PMHNP and completing either their doctoral degree or post-master’s graduate certificate (if they are already an advanced practice nurse). Prior to their time at the Population Health Center, as with all Mason PMHNP students beginning their clinical practicum, nursing graduate students have already completed a wide range of mental health coursework including diagnostic training, psychotherapy, advanced pharmacotherapeutics, advanced physical health assessments, and psychopharmacology.

“Being a part of the teaching program with PHC has given me valuable clinical experience and helped to build my confidence and skills in providing quality care for clients," said Masood.

Interprofessional Collaboration for Well-Rounded Care and Education

“Mental health and physical health often coincide, and we are able to collaborate with CPS to provide the broad spectrum of mental health services to provide the best care for our patients,” said Yousefi. CPS provides evidence-based therapy and testing for clients of all ages in the community on a sliding scale, but it needed additional help with medication and pharmacology. Since fall 2021, CPS and the behavioral health clinic have worked together to provide complete patient mental health care.

CPS is a training clinic for doctoral students in clinical psychology that serves the Northern Virginia community on a sliding scale pay structure. Under the direction of Dr. Robyn Mehlenbeck, CPS has helped organizations and community members receive top-notch, evidence-based mental health care. CPS patients come from community referrals, including CPS’s emotional support phone line and Mason’s student services. However, the Center cannot provide medication or medication management, which is where the behavioral health clinic steps into patient care.

Behavioral health clinic patients, who are all referred from CPS, can see a PMHNP and receive prescriptions if needed. Previously, patients would have to go to outside community partners for this, and there was never any guarantee there were openings. Additionally, the two Mason clinics hold interprofessional meetings to discuss the best treatment for each patient. Students in both clinics are learning the scope of practice as students before they become licensed practitioners.

“This collaboration helps our students understand the complete process of psychopharmacology and psychotherapy treatment,” said Yousefi. “And the patient is receiving an overall wellness plan.” Mason is the only provider combining these two types of clinics and services to patients of any income.

Like CPS, Mason’s behavioral health clinic is a sliding scale model, which means the cost is income-based and affordable for those who have limited resources. No other training clinic in the country has a sliding scale for psychiatric medication management service, that Mason is aware of.

“It is wonderful to have the behavioral health services clinic as an on-campus partner,” said Mehlenbeck. “My trainee’s client started meds with Melanie’s team and reported he feels so much better. Accessible medication management is almost impossible to obtain, and yet, was exactly what this client needed. Working as an interprofessional team provides the best care to patients, the best training to our students and making this care accessible for our community is key.”

Next Steps for Growing the Clinic

“Melanie’s vision for this clinic is trailblazing for the College and the community. Two great teams are coming together to make health visible,” said interim Director of the School of Nursing Cheryl Oetjen. “We are grateful for the College’s support of this initiative, which has made it a reality.”

The behavioral health team is currently staffed to manage a limited caseload and hopes to be able to expand with additional funding. For every patient, only two students can assist one licensed practitioner so there are a limited number of appointments available. Since it is a training clinic, each visit takes twice as long as a standard doctor’s visit so that the students have time to understand what they are learning.

“Having more clinicians would allow for more availability to oversee care and student training, which in turn would allow for more referrals,” said Oetjen of the future of the clinic. When the clinic can support additional patients, Yousefi hopes to develop a referral process from the Mason and Partner (MAP) clinics too.

To further prepare students to serve in the clinic, Yousefi and Oetjen aim to work with the College’s Virtual Reality and Simulation Lab to do additional training with students before they start seeing patients in person. Mason will continue to prepare excellent mental health nurse practitioners to follow their passion for helping others.

“I enjoy being a great asset to the community,” said Masood. “It has been a privilege to be a part of launching this vital program for our community."

Topics

Psychiatric Mental Health

Nurse Practitioner

In the George

population health center

1,000 Children: Study of Children’s Long-Term Health and Development Celebrates Major Milestone at CHHS

dhawkin — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 18:56:41 +0000

1,000 Children: Study of Children’s Long-Term Health and Development Celebrates Major Milestone at CHHS dhawkin Fri, 03/26/2021 - 14:56

In This Story

Dr. Kathi Huddleston, PhD, MSN

Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) longitudinal study recruits thousandth child

How do environmental factors such as air pollution, chemical exposures, social, genetic, and neighborhood exposures influence obesity and asthma rates? We are also all aware that a new environmental exposure, the COVID-19 pandemic, has influenced our children’s access to social and educational resources. How might this influence the health and developmental outcomes of our children?

The College of Health and Human Services (the College) is exploring these questions as it collaborates in the ECHO program, a seven-year initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health. In addition to the large number of children included in the longitudinal study and the collaboration of the research teams to maximize the study effectiveness, ECHO is the first national longitudinal childhood study being conducted during a pandemic.

The College joined the ECHO program and started seeing participants in January of 2020, and in March of 2021, the College enrolled its thousandth child in the study. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai leads the cohort with Boston Children’s Hospital and Mason. Mason and the families of Northern Virginia play a large role in the ECHO data; only five other ECHO cohorts in the ECHO consortium have enrolled more children into the national study.

To date, the College has recruited 1,000 children, completed more than 14,000 surveys, collected more than 1,600 biospecimens, and conducted more than 150 safe face-to-face visits with children and families. As part of their surveys, the College asks families questions to assess the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives such as employment, staying home, and changes in diet. The research team also uses “child Fitbits” to track the activity of the children in the study over a week – providing a snapshot of how activity has changed during the pandemic. Together, these will provide critical information on how the pandemic is affecting children and families in the short term and over time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity to study environmental impacts on children during a pandemic. “With the pandemic, we want to see how it has influenced the health of children and families,” explains Dr. Kathi Huddleston, principal investigator of ECHO at Mason. “For example, are they going to the doctor less and getting delayed in their routine vaccination schedules? Are students learning English as a second language losing progress because they’re not attending school and having as much opportunity to practice?”

“We’re deeply concerned about the psychological health of the next generation and the underlying health disparities and economic disadvantages that are being further exacerbated with the COVID-19 pandemic,” explains Huddleston. “We know there will be long-term impacts from the pandemic on children and families, and by participating in ECHO, we will be able to determine certain high-risk exposures and certain high-risk populations, so we can identify practice, programs, and policies that can address these issues and hopefully provide better future public health measures.”

Along with 68 other ECHO teams across the country, the College is working to investigate the impact of different types of environmental exposures, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on five key pediatric health and development outcomes: adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes; airway function; obesity; neurodevelopment, and health and well-being. Each cohort looks at a specific population or disease but shares its data with the larger consortium to maximize the research questions that can be answered with the longitudinal study.

Mason’s ECHO cohort will include data on more than 1,700 children by 2023, and the national ECHO program will include data on more than 50,000 children. Due to the unique collaboration of nearly seventy cohorts across the country – each now enrolling their families to the national program asking the same survey questions and collecting the same biological samples – ECHO will offer an unprecedented opportunity for researchers to assess how numerous environmental exposures impact a diverse set of children across our country.

The College’s participation in ECHO is part of a new set of research initiatives made possible with the opening of the Population Health Center on the Fairfax campus.

Topics

CHHS Research

coronavirus; covid-19

population health center

Environmental Chemicals

Environmental Health

Public Health

College of Health and Human Services

CHHS News

Center for Health Equity

population health center

Nursing students help underserved communities get their kids back-to-school ready

In This Story

Make a difference with the College of Public Health

Support the Mason Nation

Related News

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Nutrition clinic opens at College’s Population Health Center

In This Story

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies opens clinic with expansion plans to include student practice with the dietitian program.

Topics

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program Supports Student’s Goal of More Compassionate Care

Future psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner Hiba Masood intends to use the power of education to fight substance use disorder misinformation.

Topics

First-of-its-Kind Interprofessional Behavioral Health Clinic Opens at the Population Health Center

PMHNP students treat patients supervised by licensed practitioners at the only teaching clinic in the country for psychiatric medication management service that is affordable for all.

Training the Next Generation of Mental Health Professionals

Interprofessional Collaboration for Well-Rounded Care and Education

Next Steps for Growing the Clinic

Topics

1,000 Children: Study of Children’s Long-Term Health and Development Celebrates Major Milestone at CHHS

In This Story

Topics