The CourAGE to Care
Do You Have The CourAGE to Care?
The department of gerontology launched an outreach campaign to attract new and returning students to pursue an education in aging. The campaign entitled, The CourAGE to Care, will feature students, alumni and community agencies who have The CourAGE to Care. We want others to see what we see – The CourAGE to Care in action! We look forward to sharing students, alumni, and agencies stories with you.
Health Ministry is the promotion of health, healing and wholeness as part of the mission and ministry of a faith community for its members and the communities they serve.
CHI Health’s Faith Community Health Network (FCHN) partners with congregations of all faiths to build capacities and support the growth of Health Ministries. Starting in 2005 with 5 member congregations, they have grown to include 60 member congregations and sites in Western Iowa and across the state of Nebraska, with 85 active faith community nurses and health ministers serving in their own churches and communities.
The CHI Health FCHN provides education, consultation, support and resources to build capacities within congregations as they develop programs and services that promote health of body, mind and spirit. By leveraging CHI Health’s resources with the strength of faith communities, this Network impacts the health of the whole community.
Faith community nurses (FCNs) can provide health education, health counseling and referrals, coordinate volunteers and develop support groups, and be a health advocate for individuals in the congregation/community. Lay health ministers (HMs) provide health information to the congregation and community, as well as lead programs on health issues. Both promote stewardship of health, healing and wholeness, develop a caring outreach through disease prevention, health promotion, and social justice program, collaborate with other congregations for resources/ideas/programming, and raise awareness of healthcare access resources in the community.
Special projects have included distributing colon cancer kits in congregations during Colon Cancer Awareness Month, offering physical activity programs such as the “Jerusalem Journey” during Lent (participants keep track of their physical activity minutes to see if they can virtually reach Jerusalem by Easter) Tai Chi training/classes to improve balance, and furnishing hundreds of red/white/blue prayer shawls and quilts to Hospice veterans.
Although these services are for all ages, they lend themselves well to older adults in the community. Almost 90% of the individual interactions documented by FCNs and HMs are with adults over the age of 50.
For more information, please contact 402-343-4395 or email faithandhealth@alegent.org. You can also visit our website at www.chihealth.com/faithandhealth.
Past CourAGE to Care Honorees:
AAA's - click Here to view their story
AARP - click Here to view their story
Aging Partners - click Here to view their story
Alzheimer's Association - Click Here to view their story
Austin Wilson – click Here to view his story
Care Consultants for the Aging – click Here to view their story
Career Opportunities - Click Here
DD Launderville – click Here to view her story
Dreamweaver Foundation - click Here to view their story
Emily Drummy – click Here to view her story
ENOA - clilck Here to view Dennis Loose and Janelle Cox story
Glenda Hallberg – click Here to view her story
Hospice House - click Here to view their story
Intercultural Senior Center - click Here to view their story
Jeannie Hannan – click Here to view her story
Joey Cadek – click Here to view his story
Judy Dierkhising – click Here to view her story
Legal Aid of Nebraska - click Here to view their story
LifeLoop - click Here to view their story
Methodist Hospital - click Here to view their story
Rose Blumkin Jewish Home - click Here to view their story
The Nebraska State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program - click Here to view their story
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Omaha National Cemetery - Click Here to their story
VA Omaha Geriatrics - Click Here to view their story