Hall-Mercer
Title: Encouraging Belonging Among Adults With Intellectual Disabilities Through Education and Programming at Hall-Mercer
Student Interns:
Ilana Cohen
University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy & Practice
Caden Schrunk
University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing
Academic Preceptor:
Dalmacio Dennis Flores, PhD, ACRN, FAAN
University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing
Johanna K.P. Greeson, PhD, MSS, MLSP
University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy & Practice
Community Preceptor:
Angelo Cirrincione
Case Manager, Hall-Mercer
Patty Inacker, DSW, MBA, LCSW
Hall-Mercer
Bianca Oglesby
Case Manager, Hall-Mercer
Community Site:
The mission of Hall-Mercer is to ensure access to effective treatments and holistic supports that promote essential skills for living, working, learning, and participating in our communities. As the first outpatient community mental health center in Pennsylvania, Hall-Mercer and its affiliations with Penn Medicine and Pennsylvania Hospital offer behavioral health support to children and adults with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses. The Wellness Program provides free services for adults associated with Hall-Mercer, primarily those with intellectual disabilities, to promote well-being and individuality among community members, regardless of insurance status.
Team’s Experience:
The Bridging the Gaps interns’ projects at Hall-Mercer focused on individual health and well-being by promoting individual expression, creativity, mindfulness, collaboration, and physical activity. The interns incorporated oral and cardiovascular health education into weekly programming through interactive quizzes, informative YouTube videos, and activities involving physical activity. They emphasized healthy cardiovascular habits as well as client autonomy and decision-making. To promote dental health, the interns provided all clients with dental kits and provided oral hygiene education through videos and trivia games. The interns ran two cooking activities and taught clients about the importance of balance in a healthy diet. They also ran and participated in group sessions and assembled bags of hygiene supplies to be donated through the outreach program.
Reflections
Throughout the summer, I’ve reflected on the presence of joy and community building in so much of social work. I’ve noticed in the field that it’s expected that work with marginalized populations is distressing, difficult, and stressful. While this can be true, there’s so much joy and fun in the work as well. Clients generally showed up to the program every day, happy to be there, and engaged in creative and fun activities. There were challenging moments, difficult conversations, and I was made aware of the need for resources and support that is present in this population, but I also had a lot of fun and enjoyed being part of the community. It made me consider how joy, creativity, and community could be present in my social work career going forward. Building relationships with clients was an important throughline during our time in this program. Many clients have been at Hall-Mercer for years, building long-term relationships with each other and with staff. Over the course of the summer, we got to know each other and build relationships, which in turn benefited our work. We learned about the variety of services at Hall-Mercer and how an interdisciplinary team and various resources address different aspects of health.
Ilana Cohen
Working with Hall-Mercer this summer, I’ve learned the importance of community health and its impact on individual health and well-being. As a nursing student, I have always recognized the presence of diverse populations yet have not had much experience in working alongside individuals with intellectual disabilities. Through this experience with Bridging the Gaps, I have engaged clients with unique activities that not only encouraged creativity and individuality but also brought me closer to understanding them as individuals. I have critically reflected on how I will utilize these communication techniques in my nursing journey to truly understand my patients and advocate for their personal needs, not the assumed community needs. It was fascinating to learn about the social work aspect of healthcare and how important this is in connecting patients to necessary resources and support systems.
Caden Schrunk
Partners
