Health

This introductory course provides students a broad overview of public health focusing on concepts relating to health promotion, disease prevention and epidemiology. Additionally, students learn about the core public health values, functions, population health assessment and intervention and the socio-economic, behavioral, biological and environmental determinants of health.

ACE Component: Students will write letters to elected officials and decision makers about an issue related to public health.

Students examine social, psychological and biological aspects of aging within the context of holistic nursing. Application of knowledge and skills using gerontological principles for prevalent health problems experienced by older adults is emphasized. The course incorporates instruction and feedback for developing oral communication through the practice of interpersonal communication skills. Clinical experiences focus on elder care in a variety of community settings.

ACE Component: Students practice therapeutic communications skills with clients at local long-term care facilitites, producing a final client for their residents (letter, journal entry, etc.) based on their dialogue.

Public health nursing is informed by community needs and environmental factors focusing on health promotion and disease prevention. Through project management, students address the health needs of groups and communities utilizing group communication processes, teamwork, and collaboration. Students focus on utilizing community resources, identifying risk factors, and evaluating the impact on population health as related to current epidemiological trends.

ACE Component: Students prepare presentations on puberty and adolescent concerns for 5th and 6th graders at Medford Public Schools. In addition, students help coordinate and facilitate county employee health fairs in Rice and Steele Counties.

Students synthesize knowledge and apply evidence-based practice in the care and management of clients experiencing a major psychiatric and/or mental health disorder. Emphasis will be placed on the role of the professional nurse in various treatment settings as well as current treatment modalities. The client population includes children, adolescents, and adults along the health-illness continuum.

ACE Component: Students conduct an educational presentation on a behavioral health topic to the nurses at their clinical site.

Students analyze mechanical principles in depth as they affect human motion. Topics include study of muscular and skeletal systems, skill analysis, and motion measurement techniques.

ACE Component: Students will work in pairs to conduct a Gait Analysis (recording, analyzing, and recommendations) on members from the St. Olaf community.

Students study in-depth the physiology of exercise, covering cardiovascular and muscular adaptions to exercise and factors affecting performance, including body composition, environmental influences, training implications across gender and age, and the assessment of fitness.

ACE Component: Students will offer free baseline measurements to the great St. Olaf community (faculty, staff, and students). During the process, participants will receive not only the measurements, but information about the measurement testing and suggestions for how to improve their health based on their individual measurements.

Each kinesiology major is assigned two clients for the entire semester.  The client is assessed on numerous factors (e.g., strength, endurance, flexibility, nutrition, blood pressure, body composition) at the beginning of the semester.  The student then prescribes exercise regimens and offers dietary advice to the clients for 12 weeks.  The client participates in the same testing at the end of the semester (and the results are fantastic).  The potential benefits to members of the St. Olaf community include increased workplace wellness and reduced medical and insurance claims.  The students gain a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment as they integrate and utilize course material in a real-world setting.

Students created cost-benefit analysis videos for Health Finders, a local nonprofit agency that provides free and sliding scale care for members of the Northfield community. The students researched statistics on Heath Finders and put those statistics into an analytical argument promoting the cost-effectiveness of Health Finders.

This course integrates on-campus classroom activities with service-learning placements.  Readings, classroom discussions, and assignments highlight the unique theoretical perspectives, skills, and methods that psychologists use to address social problems and community needs through research, practice, and policy.  Onsite experiences within the community provide opportunities for the application of previous coursework as well as guided written reflection about and exploration of students’ personal and vocational development.

Students explore service to human beings as a profession, a vocation, and a volunteer commitment. Who needs help? Who helps? Where? How? What motivates people to help? Using the liberal arts as a foundation for helping people, students study career opportunities in areas such as health care, social services, ministry, youth work, and the arts. The class includes lectures, discussions, speakers, and field visits. The civic engagement component of the class varies from year-to-year.  In 2014-15, students experienced different shadowing opportunities with the Cedar House in Faribault, ate lunch with clients as a way of promoting healthy relationships, & then met as a large group to debrief. The class also went to the Community Action Center where we met with the Housing Specialist & learned about transitional housing options and needs in Northfield.

Social work majors study the methods and skills of social work practice, particularly intercultural communication. They describe strengths and problems of diverse individuals and families; frame goals and plans for change utilizing the planned change process and the systems perspective; and use ethical decision-making, informed by the scientific method, grounded in the liberal arts, and concerned with social justice.The story-partners project pairs students with an older community member residing at the Northfield Retirement Center. Students meet with their partner 6-8 times throughout the course of the semester for the specific purpose of encouraging their partners to tell stories about their lives. Students practice what they have learned through role-playing in class such as active listening and asking clarifying questions, which helps to build their one-on-one conversation and interviewing skills. The volunteer participants gain an enthusiastic listener, validation for their experiences, and the opportunity to reflect upon their lives, furthermore students demonstrate learning in recorded role playing and have an academic civic engagement experience.

Social work majors continue to study the methods and skills of generalist practice. They assess strengths and problems of diverse groups, organizations, and communities and use the systems perspective to help client systems frame goals and plans for social change. Students scientifically assess macrosystems and develop plans for implementing change that are reflective, scientific, just, and grounded in the liberal arts. This course includes a community engagement project. As part of this course, in 2014-15 students worked with Rice County Mental Health Collective to interview youth-serving organizations. These interviews collected data on teaching of social-emotional skill building to youth who participate in these programs. The ACE component in 2018 included a housing survey and analysis for the League of Women Voters under the supervision of faculty member Lisa Moore.

For the civic engagement component of this course, students tour the American Indian Center in Minneapolis to learn about what the center does and the community it serves. Students also participate in a powwow by serving food at a community feast and observing as part of the audience.