Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services of Family Practice & Counseling Network
Title: Community Wellness: Providing Programming in Mindfulness and Art Therapy in Underserved Communities
Student Interns:
Wydelah Campbell
Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions, Creative Arts in Therapy
Neil Sharma, MS
Drexel University College of Medicine
Academic Preceptor:
Natalie Carlton, PhD, ATR-BC, LPCC
Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions, Creative Arts in Therapy
Community Preceptor:
Kathleen Metzker, EdD, MPH
11th Street Family Health Services
Community Site:
The Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services offers an array of services, including primary care, behavioral health, dental services, physical therapy, social work, and health and wellness programs to Lower North Philadelphia. The 11th Street Services’ mission is to provide comprehensive, quality health services to underserved communities. Staff from different programs collaborate to provide effective care to the community. 11th Street is also a hub where community members socialize and build relationships with staff. These connections are fostered in wellness programs like chair yoga, Qigong, mindfulness programs, art, and music therapy.
Team’s Experience:
While 11th Street Family Health Services offers a wide range of services, summer is a tough time, as some faculty- and student-facilitated programs are typically paused. This, however, gave the Bridging the Gaps interns the opportunity to continue regular summer programming. The BTG interns collaborated with integrated health educators to lead community wellness programs. Each intern was responsible for planning activities for art therapy and mind-body health workshops. Art therapy sessions allowed community members to tap into their creative side, while also reflecting on the art they made, how they connected with it, and how it represented their identity and experiences. In mind-body health workshops, community members were exposed to different mindfulness techniques such as breathing exercises and guided meditations led by the interns. The BTG interns also assisted in movement therapies, such as Qigong and chair yoga, as well as other creative therapies, such as music therapy. Additionally, interns helped lead social wellness activities, engaging community members in games like Taboo and Trivia. These programs allowed interns to build relationships with community members while also providing wellness programs to individuals within the community.
Reflections
Participating in Bridging the Gaps and having the opportunity to be an intern at 11th Street has broadened my perspective on community-based health services and what it means to provide integrated wellness programming. The relationships I have built have given me the best experience I have ever had in a work environment, as I felt appreciated for all I brought. The connections, the conversations, and the insight I gained have been life changing and I am filled with so much gratitude. Leading the art therapy group has helped me put my education into practice and allowed me to sharpen my skills and develop a better picture of what my future career could be. Neil was a great partner throughout this experience, always offering a different perspective while being open to mine and collaborating on the classes and workshops in a way that felt balanced and structured. I understand even more now the importance of collaboration, especially in healthcare. We all offer such important perspectives and lived and learned experiences that contribute to the health of individuals and the community. Together we can work towards building a healthier world.
Wydelah Campbell
11th Street Family Services has been a welcome change of pace for me, as it allowed me to get in touch with my creative side while also broadening my understanding of mindfulness. This summer gave me the opportunity to find new ways to connect with members of the community by leading and participating in many different activities. While I have previous experience leading groups virtually, in BTG I was able to work with community members in person, which fostered deep and meaningful conversations. Many shared their life stories and the lessons they learned and applied in the mind-body workshop. I was also able to see how mindfulness could be used through the modality of movement by learning and then guiding Qigong practices. Teaching mindfulness through the lens of movement helped me to see that our bodies and minds are related in more ways than one. Participating in the art therapy sessions allowed me to reconnect with the joy of drawing and having community members share their art allowed me to deepen my relationship with them. I will look back fondly on the connections I made this summer, and I hope to implement what I have learned in my clinical career.
Neil Sharma
