The latest State Update covers: IU School of Medicine students joining county health departments through Public Health Externships; findings from a new ERI report that modernizing Northwest Indiana’s steel industry could bring major community benefits; IU Indianapolis O’Neill graduate students creating a reusable sustainability playbook for this year’s Final Four; new research from IU School of Nursing on the use of music therapy to improve health outcomes in children with cancer; and the community benefits of the IU School of Optometry Optical Lab.
IU School of Medicine students join county health departments through Public Health Externship
The program immerses students within local health departments to give them a better understanding of the impact public health can have at the macro level. Participants shadow workers with a variety of day-to-day responsibilities, including healthcare clinic management, restaurant kitchen inspection and mosquito breeding prevention.
ERI report: Modernizing Northwest Indiana steel mills could bring major economic, community benefits
A new report released by Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute (ERI) finds that modernizing Northwest Indiana’s steel industry with cleaner, more advanced technologies could secure the region’s steelmaking future, protect thousands of jobs, and dramatically reduce pollution affecting Hoosier communities.
Final Four in Indianapolis: O’Neill students help NCAA with sustainability initiative
Graduate students in the Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Indianapolis are providing the key assist to what the NCAA hopes is a slam dunk of a sustainability initiative. Master of Public Affairs students in the V-600 capstone course partnered with the NCAA, Indiana Sports Corp. and other local organizations at this year’s Final Four in Indianapolis to create a sustainability playbook that the NCAA can reuse every year at each host city. The playbook is intended to be an operating manual and training guide for the many volunteers who help at Final Four events.
Music therapy improving health outcomes in children with cancer, and helping their parents
Music is becoming a powerful tool in pediatric care, easing stress and anxiety for children facing complex conditions like cancer. At the Indiana University School of Nursing, Walther Professor of Supportive Oncology Sheri Robb has harnessed the power of music to develop an Active Music Engagement music therapy intervention that can counteract the stress of treatment and improve patient outcomes.
Optical Lab Gives IU School of Optometry students experience making glasses that benefit community
In a small lab at the Indiana University School of Optometry in Bloomington, technicians carefully cut lenses and fit them into frames, transforming prescriptions into the glasses that patients rely on every day. In addition to supporting the school’s two clinics in Bloomington and Indianapolis, the IU School of Optometry Optical Lab provides a hands-on classroom for Doctor of Optometry students.