Nursing Students Help Homeless With Information About Health, Safety

Donald Thompson has his blood pressure checked at the health fair.

U of A nursing student Lance Lanier talks about which spiders’ venom can be the most dangerous.

Students also gave away sunscreen and talked about the importance of hydration.

Clark Mitchell poses with his dog, Alice, at the 7hills Homeless Day Center health fair organized by U of A nursing students.

Photo by Heidi Stambuck

Clark Mitchell poses with his dog, Alice, at the 7hills Homeless Day Center health fair organized by University of Arkansas nursing students.

Clark Mitchell has camped out a lot because he didn't have a permanent home. University of Arkansas nursing students taught him about preventing and treating bites of insects he might encounter in the woods of Fayetteville.

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing students organized a health fair at 7hills Homeless Day Center in Fayetteville on May 28, bringing in professionals to provide information about women's health services, affordable health insurance, transit services, community clinic services, career information and medication information. Health-care professionals performed blood pressure, blood sugar and HIV/AIDS testing.

In addition to the education about insects, the nursing students taught 7hills clients about heat-related issues, insect bites, medication compliance and overdose, interview skills and job-seeking.

The 7hills day center serves about 100 clients per day. Services include case management, food pantry, clothing, meals, showers, computer use and a mailing address.

Mitchell takes his dog, Alice, with him most places, and he also often carries a supply of walking sticks that he makes to sell. He said he learned from the nursing students about the importance of staying well-hydrated and which spiders to avoid because of their venom.

Nursing students Lance Lanier and Jacob Roberts displayed pictures of poisonous spiders and of their bites so that 7hills clients would know what to watch for if they didn't see the spider that bit them.

"We told them, especially if you get bitten and don't know what (the spider) is, get it checked out," Lanier said. "We also explained you might have flu-like symptoms after getting bitten."

The students advised people to check themselves for ticks regularly and to wear insect repellent, which the students gave away at the health fair. When pulling a tick, be sure to get the entire body because the saliva from the head is what transmits diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease, Lanier said. Flu-like symptoms after being bitten by a tick are also important to have checked out.

Mitchell also talked to a Goodwill Industries representative about job training services. He was able to move into an apartment last weekend.

Donald Thompson had his blood pressure checked, and it was within normal range.

"I've gotten more information today than I had before," Thompson said.

Lanier said the students used their medical-surgical textbook and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website to gather information and create materials for the health fair. They are taking the community-based health course taught by adjunct instructor Janet Gardner.

The students advised 7hills clients to wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothing to stay cooler in the heat, and they set out water bottles to illustrate how much liquid men and women need to drink daily.

"We thought about this population and what we could teach them," Lanier said. "Many of these people camp out."

Other students have assisted 7hills clients to apply for Medicaid. For many people, the first step is to get a photo identification card, the students said.

Gardner's students have conducted a weekly foot-care clinic at 7hills for several months.