May 8, 2002

Boise State Program Garners National Recognition

A health-screening project for migrant farm workers initiated and coordinated by the Boise State department of nursing is one of two recipients of the first Community-Campus Partnerships for Health Award.

Titled “The Partnership for Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker Health in Idaho,” the project was started by Boise State nursing professors Cindy Clark and Nancy Otterness and several of their students in 2001. The award, which is intended to highlight the power and potential of partnerships between communities and higher educational institutions, was announced by the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health during its sixth annual conference in Miami. The Boise State project was one of two selected from a pool of more than 140 nominations.

The award-winning project is designed to improve the health of migrant and seasonal workers in southwest Idaho. In addition to Boise State, the partnership includes several health care agencies, civic service organizations, the Idaho Migrant Council, community youth organizations, and more than a dozen local businesses.

Over the past two years, as part of their service-learning curriculum, Boise State nursing students have visited migrant sites, interviewed key people, assessed the health needs and assets of the community, and produced four community health services events. Each was successful and well attended due to the support and collaboration of all members of the partnership.

One of the reasons for the success of the partnership, said Community-Campus Partnerships for Health in a news release, was because of its ability to bring health care directly to people in their communities and neighborhoods.