I thought I'd take a minute to discuss the current status of my project with the 1917 Clinic. The purpose of the project is to provide a needed service to the Clinic through academic learning, civic engagement and meaningful community service. I created a list of goals and objectives to help narrow my focus. They are as follows:

1. Academic learning: I will enhance my own learning through a review of the literature and studying the link between HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer.

2. Civic engagement: I will engage in meaningful civic learning by serving a population of women who are HIV positive, and at greater risk for cervical cancer, among many other health and psychosocial risks.

3. Community service: I will help improve patient screening at the 1917 Clinic by encouraging women to schedule pap tests and providing education as to the importance of these tests.

As discussed in the previous post, women with HIV/AIDS are up to five times more likely to develop cervical cancer. Studies have also found that a woman's t-cell count and her income are two of the most significant predictors of whether or not she will develop cervical cancer. I have already seen this health disparity first-hand at the Clinic, and it is my goal to do everything I can to combat it.

So far, I have scheduled about 30 pap tests. Talking with the women on the phone, I've learned a lot about their health perceptions, barriers and facilitators to taking care of themselves. As a nursing student, I am interested in health promotion and helping people achieve their optimum healthy state. Talking to these women about their barriers and facilitators helps me better understand the whole picture.

The next step is tracking which patients come in for the appointments I've scheduled, and which patients either cancel or fail to show. My mentor, Truus, and I are working to obtain that data and will report on it at the end of the summer. Since I've only been there a few weeks now, the data would not give an accurate summary of the progress we've made.

I hope this blog will serve as a way for me to post updates on my project, and get feedback. Any ideas/suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you!