The Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation has announced that it will award two of the eight 2018 Hillman Emergent Innovation grants to projects led by researchers from The Ohio State University College of Nursing. These grants support nursing-driven innovation for vulnerable populations.
Both projects innovate with collaboration between the College of Nursing and other Ohio State colleges. The projects are:
- Turning Sick Care into Well Care for Homebound Older Adults and Their Pets
Pets are highly valued companions and can be especially helpful in improving health outcomes in homebound elderly populations who may otherwise be isolated. POP (Pet Owner and Pet) Care creates an inter-professional team consisting of a nurse practitioner, a veterinarian and a social worker to address the healthcare needs of homebound older adults and their pets. The expectation is that the improved health of the person-pet dyad will correlate with better health and well-being outcomes for the pet owner.
Principal Investigator: Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, RN, APRN-CNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, The Ohio State University College of Nursing.
Co-Is: Laurie Millward, DVM, MS, DACVP, The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Holly Dabelko-Schoeny, PhD, The Ohio State University College of Social Work.
- Peer Mentoring Middle School Youth in Appalachia to Improve Lifestyle Behaviors and Health Outcomes
Young people in rural Appalachia suffer from worse health outcomes and practice fewer positive health behaviors than their counterparts elsewhere in the U.S. Leveraging the power of peer group dynamics and social networking, this nurse-designed initiative trains tenth-grade mentors to help guide middle school students towards lifelong healthy behaviors and improved health outcomes.
Principal Investigator: Laureen Smith, PhD, RN, FAAN, The Ohio State University College of Nursing.
Co-Is: Rick Petosa, PhD, The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology and Abigail Shoben, PhD, The Ohio State University College of Public Health.
These projects were selected from an initial pool of over 140 applicants for the highly competitive grants. Read more about the program and projects selected.
