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Project Details
Created:
10/23/2008
Project Title:
Clay County Military/Veteran/Family Speech and Hearing Fair
Project Category:
Health
Project Status:
Proposal
CASE Competition
CASE Competition:
University of South Dakota - University of South Dakota
Grant Winner
Project Snapshot
Problem:
Solution:
Student Information
College or University:
University of South Dakota
State:
South Dakota
Student Name:
LeighAnn Dunn
Year in College:
Senior
Major:
Communication Disorders
Faculty Advisor
Advisor Name:
Community Partner
Partner Name:
USD Veterans' Club
Student and Community
What societal problem does your project solve?
Local military personnel and veterans currently have difficulty finding and obtaining health resources in regards to hearing and speech screenings. Scheduling appointments, lack of guaranteed benefits, and accessibility of the VA prove to be difficult for both our local military personnel and veterans. Only soldiers with overseas experience are allowed medical access to the VA. This poses a problem to those soldiers who remained in the region and don’t have overseas experience. These soldiers, just as veterans, are exposed to loud noises, machinery, gunfire, and explosives training, but are denied benefits, posing a societal problem.What would be the measurable outcomes of the partnership that you propose to create between the community and your educational institution?
Measurable outcomes would include the sheer number of local and regional people served. Through the use of pre- and post- screening surveys, knowledge gained and level of self-efficacy will be measured about hearing preservation and conservation. A test of self efficacy has proven to be quite indicative of an individual’s actual behavior. At the conclusion of the screenings, participants will be given a resource list identifying local and regional referral sources, increasing their personal contacts in the subject area. Considering there are nearly 9,000 Veterans and an increasing number of student military personnel in Clay County and its sixty mile radius, there is a definite need for outreach in this area.How would you, with the support of your faculty advisor on campus and some one from the community, work together around this specified community issue?
As a partnership, the USD Veteran’s Club and the NSSLHA/NAFDA organization on the USD campus, along with Clay County Veterans’ organizations, plan to combine their resources for the identification, conservation, and preservation of speech and hearing health of local military and veterans. With the aid of faculty advisors and graduate students in the Department of Communication Disorders, comprehensive speech and hearing screenings will be given to this specified population.How would you envision sharing power and decision making in the partnership? In other words, instead of doing something for the community how would you do something with the community?
Luckily, the presidents of both the Veterans’ Club and NSSLHA/NAFDA have the same goal: to provide resources for local military personnel and veterans. With their respective organizations in mind, and a common interest in Communication Disorders, the Presidents will work together through face to face communication, as well as other means of communication, to delegate tasks to keep the project on target. The project, which serves as a catalyst for speech and hearing health awareness, along with social/peer interactions between local military and veterans, including their families, is more than a simple screening process. This project would educate this population so they can independently seek resources and allow them to continue their distinguished dedication to their given occupational fields.How would you collect data on what the project was doing and use it in the decision making process?
By systematically recording tasks, finances, and available resources, the decision making process would become more objective and effective.What would be the project activities? Give examples of how the strengths already existing in the community will be acknowledged, built upon, and enhanced in the partnership to solve the problem.
The Veterans’ Club is already established on the USD campus and has an extensive support system within Clay and surrounding counties. These resources are great supporters and advocates for the Veterans’ Club and ultimately, local military personnel and veterans. The Department of Communication Disorders has established screening tools and methods for other specialized populations, such as children and the elderly. By joining these two forces, along with their respective resources, they can aid an entirely new population: local military personnel and veterans. In lieu of the current wars being fought overseas, our local military and veteran population is expected to increase. Along with this increase is a need for accessible comprehensive speech and hearing screenings to all.What obstacles or challenges might you encounter in implementing your project, and how would you address them?
Being a first year event, attendance could possibly be a hurdle to be overcome. Also, the type, cost, and effectiveness of advertising the event could prove to be difficult this first year. Travel for veterans with disabilities could possibly be a challenge as well. Being able to provide funding for a location for our event may be a challenge.Support from the local DAV (Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 17) would be asked for to provide transportation with their respective government vehicles for transport. Being a first year project, effective advertising may prove to be an obstacle. Funding would help in our quest for an appropriate locale.
Recruiting Volunteers:
Would you recruit additional student volunteers? If so, how?
Enlisting Partners:
Do you envision enlisting businesses, or other organizations, etc., to help; if so, how?
How would the award money be used here?
If your project idea is an innovation of an existing
program, what are its current funding sources?
What do you anticipate learning from engaging in the service project?
We anticipate learning the special needs of a specialized population: military and veterans. Learning and improving knowledge of hearing conservation/preservation, speech and hearing screening processes and community service organizing are also learning goals of ours.If the above questions have not enabled you to convey the essence and value of your project’s impact, use this space to supplement your answers.
With the aid of the Carter Academic Service Entrepreneur Grant, the execution of this project would be able to be carried out to its fullest potential. Within the near future, we plan on completing this project to benefit local military personnel, veterans, and their families. This project also gives the students within the Department of Communication Disorders a unique opportunity to serve a specialized population. Being selected as recipients of the CASE Grant would not just be greatly appreciated, as it would help with the execution of our project, but it would make a monumental difference in the effectiveness of our advertising and how many people we can reach with our message.Please submit an abstract (clear summary) of your proposed project idea.
With the aid of local Veterans’ Organizations, in conjunction with the Department of Communication Disorders on the University of South Dakota campus, we plan on producing a specialized speech and hearing fair for local military personnel, veterans, and their families. Clay County has approximately 930 Veterans and the University of South Dakota is home to approximately 300 student military and veterans. Within a sixty mile radius of Clay County, there are a total of nearly 9,000 Veterans. With these outstanding numbers, and an inability to access appropriate and affordable speech and hearing care, our fair will fulfill a societal problem. Graduate Students within the Department of Communication Disorders will provide accurate screening and counseling for attendees. Members of both the USD’s Veterans’ Club and the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association and National Association for Future Doctors of Audiology will volunteer as organizers and hosts for the event, making the fair as pleasurable and easy as possible for our men and women in uniform, along with their families.User Login
