URSHEP

Brief Summary:

The Urban Rest Stop Health Education Program is an all-volunteer project run by health science students (including medical, nursing, public health, and undergraduates) that provides accessible and client-driven preventive health education programming, to homeless adults at a hygiene facility in downtown Seattle.

Program Description:

The Urban Rest Stop Health Education Program (URSHEP) is a pilot venture of Al Shifa Health Resource Center and Students In the Community, both organizations of the University of Washington, which aims to provide accessible preventive health resources and advocacy to patrons of the Urban Rest Stop. The Urban Rest Stop (URS) is a non-profit organization located in downtown Seattle that provides clean restrooms, shower and laundry facilities, at no cost, to anyone who identifies as homeless.

The URSHEP aims to provide knowledge and tools to patrons of the URS that empower individuals to: better care for their own self; prevent disease, disability, or other health conditions; and interact with their healthcare provider more efficiently. We do this by offering health education programming every other Saturday at the URS that specifically addresses health issues that affect this community most. Additionally, URSHEP offers a unique opportunity for health students to better understand the issues that affect some homeless communities in Seattle and a chance to be innovative about promoting accessible physical and mental health.

Upcoming Project:

The URSHEP has just been awarded $3050 from Seattle University’s Eileen Ridgway Scholarship. The intended use of this scholarship will be to conduct an evaluation of the relevance, adequacy, progress, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of the Urban Rest Stop Health Education Program (URSHEP) using models derived from evidence-based theory and nursing values. As March 2010 marks the first anniversary of the URSHEP, this evaluation is intended to identify specific areas of improvement in order to better meet the needs of the clients and fulfill the vision as the URSHEP pushes into its second year. In the five months allotted, the first month will be spent to develop the evaluation. This time will be used to identify who will be involved in the evaluation and how to go about conducting the research. The next three months will be used to conduct the evaluation. The last will be used to qualify and quantify the outcomes. Findings will be presented to colleagues and professors in mid-May at the Sigma Theta Tau Banquet at Seattle University and also to all of the partners of URSHEP.