{"id":18018,"date":"2020-08-04T16:43:23","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T16:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=18018"},"modified":"2023-06-08T18:26:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T18:26:28","slug":"coronavirus-frontline-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/04\/coronavirus-frontline-students","title":{"rendered":"Health Studies pushes back against pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By N.L. Sweeney
\nEvery crisis needs a range of responders, and some of those on the frontlines during the coronavirus pandemic have been ÌÇÐÄvlogÊÓƵ students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaron Davis, Addison Lin, Kathy Luangrath and Sesait Tekle are three students and one recent graduate of the School of Nursing & Health Studies<\/a>. Davis, Luangrath and Tekle have been able to leverage their health studies background to benefit communities that are especially hard hit by the pandemic. Lin, a nurse, is on the front line every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis, who will graduate in 2021, offered a perspective that is shared by all four: \u201cI am a firm believer that if you can do good, then you should do good. I am always actively looking for ways to help make someone\u2019s day better. It is just who I am.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting community first <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Aaron
Aaron Davis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Davis worked as an overnight program manager at a Mary\u2019s Place emergency family shelter, playing an integral role in creating a new sense of normal in the shelter, delivering lunches, helping youth transition to online education and assisting youth program leaders. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to change our operations during the pandemic, and we wanted people to feel supported,\u201d said Davis. \u201cWe wanted to provide a sense of stability and normalcy as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lin, a graduate student in the Master of Nursing<\/a> program, has been distributing much-needed personal protective equipment through his involvement with WE CARE<\/a>. The international group of Chinese Christians has donated more than 500,000 masks to health care workers throughout the United States. Lin helped facilitate communications, with his team helping to develop new online tools and standard operating procedures to more efficiently connect hospitals with donors of PPE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luangrath and Tekle, in a partnership between Affiliate Instructor Michelle Kleisath\u2019s Global Health Practice course and the Rainier Valley Community Clinic<\/a>, helped create a list of health care resources for underserved populations. The 23-page list includes essential information and contacts for organizations that could benefit people and communities such as new or expecting mothers, unsheltered individuals and families, immigrants and refugees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they didn\u2019t stop there. \u201cAs daughters of immigrant parents who often had a difficult time navigating the system, we knew we wanted to do more to make our project as accessible, equitable and culturally sensitive as possible,\u201d Tekle said. \u201cSo we expanded the accessibility of our lists even further, which resulted in using Google My Maps to help disperse the information in a way more people could access.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disparities and access <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Addison
Addison Lin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The issue of accessibility has been integral to the work of all four, and the Black Lives Matter movement has only reinforced for them the need to address disparities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccess to health care and health services intersects with broader issues of race, class and culture,\u201d Lin said. \u201cSocial determinants of health such as socioeconomic status, neighborhood and health literacy play critical roles in how minorities are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Luangrath and Tekle, this awareness of the people they were representing was what made the long hours and sleepless nights worth it. \u201cWe were able to keep going because we knew we were doing work that would help people who are so often overlooked,\u201d said Tekle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe pandemic has given me insight into major gaps in health-related fields \u2014 especially when it comes to issues of access and quality of care for populations from lower socioeconomic backgrounds,\u201d said Davis. \u201cThe pandemic has boldly highlighted many inequities in our society but has also lit a fire within me to work toward changing systems for the better.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the pandemic <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Kathy
Kathy Luangrath<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sesait
Sesait Tekle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These four front-line workers are looking ahead at how to incorporate what they\u2019ve learned into their careers. As Lin put it, \u201cHealth is more than just diagnosing and treating diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he graduates in 2021, Lin plans to pursue work in the fields of public health, biostatistics and health policies. Luangrath, who graduated spring 2020, and Tekle, who will graduate in fall 2020, are both interested in social work and learning more about the ways health is connected to politics and shelter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur work with the Rainier Valley Community Center has opened my eyes about the possibilities of what can be done in the field of social work,\u201d said Luangrath. \u201cThe coronavirus pandemic has really illuminated areas of accessibility, such as access to high-speed Wi-Fi or even just the internet, that I otherwise might not have considered.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of the four also emerged with a renewed sense of passion and intent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe work I\u2019ve done has been empowering for me,\u201d said Davis. \u201cThere is so much strength in our community, and I am excited to continue pushing conversations about equity and inclusion for underserved communities.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A crisis needs a range of responders, and some of those on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic have been School of Nursing & Health Studies students Aaron Davis, Addison Lin, Kathy Luangrath and Sesait Tekle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[202,249,252,204],"tags":[],"school":[420],"class_list":["post-18018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news","category-coronavirus","category-population-health","category-students","school-school-of-nhs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHealth Studies pushes back against pandemic - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/04\/coronavirus-frontline-students\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health Studies pushes back against pandemic - 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