University of Notre Dame Kaneb Center (Fall 2023)

Enhancing Student Wellbeing at Notre Dame In the Classroom

Partner Background

Over the past two years, International Development in Practice (IDP) students have partnered with the University of Notre Dame Wellness Center and the Office of Student Affairs to explore ways to promote flourishing among Notre Dame students. Through this partnership, students in the class both mapped resources available on campus to promote student flourishing, as well as conducted over one-hundred interviews of students, faculty, and staff regarding best practices of teachers for promoting flourishing and wellbeing in the classroom. Further, these IDP students have hosted brainstorming sessions with faculty and students to share, workshop, and ideate on ideas for improving student wellbeing linked to what is happening in the classroom.

This semester, the Wellness project will expand this partnership to include Notre Dame’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence. The Kaneb Center was established in 1996 under the leadership of President Edward Malloy and Provost Nathan Hatch with the support of John Kaneb. The Center, composed of educational developers, learning researchers, and program managers, provides research-based services, programs, and resources that support teaching excellence and reflective practice at Notre Dame.

Main offerings or Kaneb include:

Offering workshops and collaborative consultations that explore a variety of pedagogical approaches with an emphasis on the creation and implementation of engaged, student-centered learning experiences.

Supporting scholarly inquiry to improve teaching and learning.

Maintaining a lending library of resources on topics including course design, classroom strategies, assessment design, student feedback, and academic career development.

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Definition of Opportunity

Given the stresses and challenges to mental health that exist for college students and the impacts of the pandemic, it is evident that students can benefit from wellness resources more than ever. The University offers a variety of resources to students, but they are spread across different schools, offices, and initiatives.  In the spring 2022, a team of students mapped resources (programs, initiatives, classes, support groups, etc) on campus that help promote wellness and student flourishing.   In the fall 2022, a student team explored strategies and approaches that Keough School of Global Affairs (and other) faculty used in the classroom to promote student flourishing. The team held a workshop with faculty to exchange ideas and share best practices. 

Definition of Success

Through this project, we hope to accomplish the following:

• Increased awareness of practices teachers can use to improve student wellbeing

• Creation of easy to understand content / data that is compelling to faculty

• Understanding barriers and challenges of incorporating these ideas for faculty and students

• Bring together faculty in a welcoming space to share some of these ideas, prototype, and put these ideas into practice

Meet the Team

Final Deliverables

Compañeros en Salud (Fall 2023)

Project Background

Partners In Health (PIH) is an international health organization relentlessly committed to improving the health of the poor and marginalized. PIH partners with local governments to build local capacity and works closely with impoverished communities to deliver high-quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change.

The organization originally developed as a community health project in Haiti in the 1980s and has since expanded to several countries around the world, including Mexico. Since 2011, Compañeros En Salud (CES), Partners In Health in Mexico, has operated as a non-governmental organization that collaborates with the local Ministry of Health to strengthen healthcare delivery. Over the last decade, CES has developed and implemented numerous healthcare delivery innovations with remarkable outcomes.

Definition of Opportunity

The primary objective of this project is to create a comprehensive inventory of healthcare delivery innovations implemented by CES in Mexico. The inventory will not only highlight CES's achievements but also provide a global context by identifying and comparing similar innovations worldwide. To achieve this, the project will involve a meticulous scope review, thorough publication analysis, interviews with knowledgeable CES personnel, and contextualization with global examples.

Definition of Success

Success for this project entails producing a comprehensive report that showcases CES’ healthcare delivery innovations in an organized manner. The report will vividly describe each healthcare innovation, outlining its key implementation elements, highlighting the significant outcomes achieved, and offering insightful global comparisons. The document will be a valuable resource that not only demonstrates CES's contributions to healthcare delivery but also serves as a source of inspiration and learning for donors, local organizations, and government officials in Mexico. This success will be measured by the report's ability to effectively communicate CES's innovative approaches, engage stakeholders, and foster meaningful collaborations toward advancing healthcare practices and outcomes within Mexico's healthcare landscape.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverables

CES Dat Final Fall 2023 by Joseph Drey on Scribd

University of Notre Dame McDonald Center for Student Well-Being & Division of Student Affairs (Spring 2023)

Enhancing Student Wellbeing at Notre Dame

Partner Background

The McDonald Center for Student Well-Being strategically assesses the environment and creates structures for wellness enhancement and risk reduction for Notre Dame students. Using evidence-based practices and collaborating with a range of campus partners, “McWell”  works closely with the Division of Student Affairs to provide initiatives, services, and resources that support the eight dimensions of student well-being.

Definition of Opportunity

Given the stresses and challenges to mental health that exist for college students and the impacts of the pandemic, it is evident that students can benefit from wellness resources more than ever. The University offers a variety of resources to students, but they are spread across different schools, offices, and initiatives.  In the spring 2022, a team of students mapped resources (programs, initiatives, classes, support groups, etc) on campus that help promote wellness and student flourishing.   In the fall 2022, a student team explored strategies and approaches that Keough School of Global Affairs (and other) faculty used in the classroom to promote student flourishing. The team held a workshop with faculty to exchange ideas and share best practices. 

Definition of Success

A successful project would, in consultation with the two ND liaisons, build on work of past DAT projects in ways that help promote student flourishing at Notre Dame.  This might be developing a guide for faculty on best practices, additional workshops and/or modalities for faculty to engage on these issues. 

Meet the Team

Spring 2023 ND Wellness DAT Presentation by Joseph Drey on Scribd

Compañeros en Salud (Fall 2022)

Project Background

Partners In Health (PIH) is an international health organization relentlessly committed to improving the health of the poor and marginalized. PIH partners with local governments to build local capacity and works closely with impoverished communities to deliver high-quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change.

The organization originally developed as a community health project in Haiti and has since expanded to several countries around the world, including Mexico. Since 2011, Compañeros En Salud (CES), Partners In Health in Mexico, has operated as a non-governmental organization that collaborates with the local Ministry of Health to strengthen healthcare delivery. To achieve comprehensive healthcare delivery, CES provides follow-up care for non-communicable diseases and maternal health patients with community health workers, known locally as Acompañantes.

Definition of Opportunity

Acompañantes care for members of their own community who have complex medical and social situations; the impact of their work on their own mental health – both its emotional burden and its therapeutic role – was highlighted in a CES quality improvement project to inform the creation of a comprehensive mental health pathway to care for the acompañantes. Programmatic changes suggestions done by current Acompañantes are being taken into consideration to allow wellness and professional growth opportunities for the whole team.

The Acompañantes program coordinators at CES are looking to develop a curricula through the fall of 2022 to later be implemented in 2023 - 2024 with the Acompañantes and Acompañantes supervisors to improve the personal and collective wellbeing of the current teams through techniques such as mindfulness and relaxation, gratefulness, purpose, creativity; as well as reinforce adequate team dynamics and communication that will allow for each CHW to feel as supported by CES as they care for their patients. Because supportive supervision plays a critical role in ensuring CHWs feel well-prepared to do their work, it is also important to expand training of CHW supervisors to enhance their current activities by gaining more knowledge on 1) other CHW programs, 2) popular education techniques and 3) practical use of Microsoft Office package; as well as developing more leadership skills such as team building and group dynamics, assertive communication, opportune feedback, etc.

Definition of Success

Development and creation of training materials and a work plan on the proposed subjects that can be delivered to the 9 groups of Acompañantes and 3 Acompañantes supervisors during the period of July 2023 – June 2024.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverable

McDonald Center for Student Well-Being (Fall 2022)

Project Background

The McDonald Center for Student Well-Being strategically assesses the environment and creates structures for wellness enhancement and risk reduction. Using evidence-based practices and collaborating with a range of campus partners, “McWell” works collectively to provide initiatives, services, and resources that support the eight dimensions of well-being.

Also includes:

University Health Services (UHS)

University Counseling Center (UCC)

Student Support and Care

Definition of Opportunity

Given the stresses that exist on college students & the impacts of the pandemic, it is evident that students could benefit from wellness resources more than ever. The University offers a variety of resources of great value to students, but they are spread across different schools, offices, and initiatives.  This project focuses on a potential partnership with the new Keough School of Global Affairs and imagining a school with a focus on student wellbeing and flourishing.

Definition of Success

A successful project would not only show what opportunities and resources for wellness exist at Notre Dame but would present them to students in a user-friendly way that is both attractive and efficacious at spreading the resources. Further, such mapping may show how different efforts might more effectively work together, or show where gaps may exist in wellness resources. 

One possibility would be to create a student-facing website that is interactive and user-friendly.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverable

McDonald Center for Student Well-Being (Spring 2022)

Project Background

The McDonald Center for Student Well-Being strategically assesses the environment and creates structures for wellness enhancement and risk reduction. Using evidence-based practices and collaborating with a range of campus partners, “McWell” works collectively to provide initiatives, services, and resources that support the eight dimensions of well-being.

Also includes:

University Health Services (UHS)

University Counseling Center (UCC)

Student Support and Care

Definition of Opportunity

Given the stresses on students and the impacts of the pandemic, it is evident that students could benefit from wellness resources more than ever. The University offers a variety of resources of great value to students, but they are spread across different schools, offices, and initiatives.  This project focuses on mapping resources (programs, initiatives, classes, support groups, etc) on campus that help promote wellness and student flourishing. Such mapping exercises are often helpful to both realize there are more resources than meets the eye and allow people more access to them, as well as encourage different actors working towards the same goals to talk with one another.  

1. What are the student health and well-being resources on campus?

2. Where are the resources located?

3. How do students know about the resource?

4. How do they connect and access the resource?

5. What is student utilization of the resource?

6. What is student perception of the utilization of the resource?

7. How does the department measure effectiveness of the resource?

8. Who/which departments are the established partners for this resource?

Definition of Success

A successful project would not only show what opportunities and resources for wellness exist at Notre Dame but would present them to students in a user-friendly way that is both attractive and easy to access. Further, such mapping may show how different efforts might more effectively work together, or show where gaps may exist in wellness resources. 

One possibility would be to create a student-facing website that is interactive and user-friendly.

Meet the Team

Final Project