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Tag: education

Place Studies Summer Projects: An Evaluation of the 2013 ACA implemation

The ACA, or Affordable Care Act, is a new national health law that has been only implemented recently. This summer, Collin Greene and Will Rappaport focused their research on an evaluation of the ACA in the central Pennsylvania region, in hopes of exposing the glitches that will make the second year of enrollment in 2014-2015 much improved.

In their pursuit of answers, Collin and Will contacted heads of organizations such as United way, Columbia County Volunteers in Medicine, PA Mental Health Association, and the Lewisburg Library, and conducted interviews in person. They found that there were many challenges in enrollment that individuals faced, such as low literacy levels, lack of transportation, lack of prior knowledge of healthcare, and distrust of the government. Their findings through these interviews facilitated their project design, and fabrication of components that will improve the educating of individuals, so that the second year of enrollment will be more sufficient.

The pair came up with ideas that they believe will improve the second year of enrollment, one of which will be pursued with the grant they were given. One idea was to set up a comprehensible and more simplistic website, tailored for those with below average reading levels. In order to educate those with a lack of knowledge of healthcare, they also suggest a video tutorial that would be presented at workshops, a project that will be initiated with the grant they received.

With their project rolling and in execution, Collin and Will believe that reaching out, and educating people on the ACA and means of enrollment will save and improve lives. While some may not believe in the ACA, the program is still out there for use, and the more people who know about it and know how to enroll, the more lives that will be saved whether they believe in it or not.

Read the report Will and Collin’s research contributed to here:  The-Central-PA-ACA-Project

Place Studies Summer Projects: Saints of Coal Township

The sisters of St. Casimir are a community of women religious, a congregation founded by Venerable Maria Kaupas in 1907. To this day they continue the mission of Mother Maria Kaupas: ministering in the United States and across the world, and their faithful involvement in education, social justice ministries, parish, and health care, with a focus and commitment to the needs of the poor and disadvantaged.

This summer, Jen Bush focused her research on Mother Maria Kaupas, and her fellow sister of Saint Samir, creating an ethnographic documentary that would capture their stories. She began by familiarizing herself with ethnographic film documentaries, and then practiced using the video equipment and editing software that she would need to progress her project.

By the end of the summer, she was able to conduct four interviews with two of the sisters at the Motherhouse of Saint Casimir in Chicago Illinois, as well as two individuals in Mt. Carmel, PA.

Through the project, she wishes to preserve the history of Mt. Carmel, and the influential work that the sisters of St. Casimir have done in their surrounding community, in the United States, and across the world.

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