Posted: 12/3/2001
Two School of Nursing projects designed to fight the epidemic substance-abuse problem in East Baltimore recently received grants from the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute.
The Amazing Grandmothers Project – a partnership between School of Nursing faculty members and students, Tench Tilghman Elementary School and the Amazing Grace Lutheran Church in East Baltimore, was awarded a grant of $34,184. Under the direction of faculty member Lori Edwards, the project will target 10 families where grandmothers are the primary caregivers to their grandchildren. By implementing nursing interventions such as home visits, an eight-week family nurturing program, a substance-abuse prevention program for the grandchildren, monthly group dinners, a reading program and a grandmothers’ gardening effort, the project aims to keep families intact, supported in their efforts to raise grandchildren ultimately drug-free.
“We are so happy to have been awarded the grant,” said Ms. Edwards. “We hope this project will become a model for future programs. With more than two million grandparents in the United States as primary caregivers for their grandchildren, a significant public health need is arising. Our ultimate goal is to use effective and appropriate interventions to facilitate the health of families and the grandparents, and strengthen the community in the process.”
Other School of Nursing faculty members involved in the Amazing Grandmothers Project include Carm Dorsey, Sara Groves, Joan Kub, and Linda Lewandowski.
The other School of Nursing program to receive an Urban Health Institute grant is called Linking Individuals to Need and Continuing Support (LINCS) and is led by faculty member Marion D’Lugoff. This project connects the school’s Wald Community Nursing Center (of which Ms. D’Lugoff is director) with the community organization called Heart, Body and Soul, Inc. The primary goal of the LINCS project is to incorporate substance abuse services into the primary practice of the Wald Center. The $49,368 grant from the Urban Health Institute will be used to train and sensitize current Wald staff to the latest tobacco, alcohol, and substance abuse identification and treatment trends and to employ a part-time community health worker from Heart, Body and Soul, Inc. who will also be trained in these areas.
According to Ms. D’Lugoff, the LINCS program is comprised of five major components: staff education, patient and family assessment, disposition and intervention, evaluation, and dissemination of information.
The School of Nursing community projects were two of four that received grants from the Urban Health Institute. The institute was established and funded by Hopkins in 2000. It is a multi-disciplinary institution for research, education and community outreach on issues related to urban health with jointly appointed faculty, a core staff, and connections to relevant community, government and health agencies. Its charter is to improve the health status of East Baltimore residents.
For more information about the School of Nursing projects call 410-955-7552.