Penn Nursing’s Community Champions Engage to Improve Health

"Lipman, the Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Professor of Nutrition, began the Community Champions program when she realized that Penn Nursing undergraduates, already committed to the community, wanted more engagement opportunities. In a short time the program grew from 20 students to more than 50, coordinating initiatives that range from the dance-fitness project to a health-education partnership with the Free Library of Philadelphia.

There are diabetes awareness and asthma outreach programs at University-assisted middle schools that, in collaboration with Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships, teach children prevention methods plus tools to manage the conditions and potential complications. One of the most popular programs, The Fruit Stand, is a joint effort with Netter’s Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative that demonstrates to elementary-age children how to eat well and manage a business by selling fruit.

Community Champions also engages with older community members, including a chair-dancing program created by the nursing students at the LIFE (Living Independently for Elders) Center. LIFE is not a nursing home but rather provides health care services and socialization to allow older individuals to live in their homes as long as possible."

 Read more about Penn Nursing's Community Champions program here!