School of Health and Human Services Blog

Wranglers and Horses Help Veterans Heal Many veterans face problems associated with transitioning from military to civilian life. There is a need for more integrative health approaches that treat the psychosocial and embodied aspects of combat veterans “re-booting” into civilian life. One approach includes horsemanship training to help veterans better empower themselves both physically and mentally.  This approach was developed into the Heart of Horsemanship (HOH), an eight-week horsemanship program with combat veterans living in a residential treatment facility.  The hope is that the program could improve quality of life indicators and the stress response of participants. The program is the focus of SHHS faculty member Dr. Ellen Kaye Gehrke's current research and community outreach  featured before  in the school's blog. Dr. Kaye Gehrke was joined this fall by fellow SHHS faculty members Peggy Ranke and Michael Myers and College of Letters and Scien...

The SHHS Gets to Work on a  Mobile Health Clinic as it  Wins its Second Million Dollar U.S. Department of Health &Human Services Grant! Winter may have just started, but the SHHS has had a busy fall with the announcement of another large grant from the Federal Government.  Details were released to the community in a National University Press Release .  The initiative is led by the Dean, Dr. Gloria McNeal, with a team from all over the school.  The clinic will be based out of Los Angeles and will serve some of the most undeserved patients in the country. The clinic will have virtual components and will move to where it is needed in the community.  Patient care is changing across the U.S. , and our school will be part of that change.  Nursing is at the center of the clinic, but the approach will be inter-professional, utilizing all three SHHS departments and nearly a dozen different programs.  Th...

The Elf (Makaya,  daughter of Deanna Stevens, Assistant to the Dean) helps to hand out presents to community families at our Spectrum Campus in San Diego. 2015 started off a little brighter for several California families thanks to the SHHS.  The now annual event linking the SHHS and the community was held at the Spectrum campus on Friday, December 5th, 2014 and was hosted by nursing students. Six economically challenged families from the community were chosen to receive toys, school supplies and clothing donated by nursing students, faculty and staff. The Elf in the room was 16-year old Makaya Stevens from Jamul, who was a big hit along with Santa as they handed out gifts to happy smiling boys and girls. Parents received gifts as well.  Each year National University's nursing program adopts families who have fallen on hard economic times, but who also give back to their own community as volunteers. Parents were moved to tears as they watched their children unwrap ...