“UofL is committed to its role as an engaged institution passionate about partnering and collaborating with external constituencies and communities. This partnership between the university’s Trager Institute and its partners is a win-win for both UofL and the community,” said Douglas Craddock Jr., UofL’s vice president for��. “The university benefits from engaged scholarship, and our elderly citizens receive necessary services that help them live their best lives.”

In 2015, the Trager Institute led efforts to support Louisville’s participation in the Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities by AARP and the World Health Organization (WHO), resulting in Louisville becoming the 120th U.S. Age-Friendly city.

With 40 percent of Louisville’s population projected to be 60 years or older by 2050, creating an environment where seniors could age well in place was essential to promoting well-being and ensuring the city continues to thrive. The Trager Institute guided the creation of a strategic plan using a needs assessment and participatory community engagement approaches, including listening sessions, concept mapping methods and presentations to the public.

“The Trager Institute started on this journey in 2015 to engage community partners in the vision of Age-Friendly Louisville. Community-based organizations, local government and residents across Louisville have worked tirelessly on the strategic plan to realize the dream of becoming age-friendly for all regardless of one’s age or abilities. It has been such an honor to engage in this collaborative leadership,” said Anna Faul, executive director of the Trager Institute.

The Trager Institute partnered with Metro Louisville, AARP and KIPDA to successfully implement Age-Friendly Louisville’s long-term plan to address the needs of the aging population and promote inclusive and accessible communities for people of all ages and abilities.

The internal nominating process for the award was coordinated by UofL’s Office of Community Engagement, which provides coaching and mentoring to faculty prior to final submission. UofL has been recognized for all five award nominations submitted in the past. These awards help to enhance UofL’s national profile in community-engaged scholarship.

APLU also announced that four of its member universities have been selected as regional winners of the 2023 W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Award. North Carolina State University, The Ohio State University, the University of Pittsburgh and Texas A&M University will compete for the national C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award, which will be announced at the 2023 APLU Annual Meeting in November.

Since 2007, APLU and the��, with support from the��, have partnered to honor the engagement scholarship and partnerships of four-year public universities. The award recognizes programs that demonstrate how colleges and universities have redesigned their learning, discovery, and engagement missions to deepen their partnerships and achieve broader impacts in their communities. The national award is named for C. Peter Magrath, APLU president from 1992 to 2005.

“Congratulations��to the regional winners of the Kellogg Community Engagement Scholarship Awards and exemplary projects,” said APLU President Mark Becker. “Community engagement is a critical part of public universities’ mission and we’re pleased to highlight the work of institutions that are engaging communities to solve challenges. From the underserved areas of their communities and states to overlooked regions of the world, public research universities are engaging communities to solve the most pressing problems they face.”

A team of community engagement professionals from public research universities judged this round of the award. A second team will pick the national winner following presentations at the 2023 National Engagement Scholarship Conference.

Seeking to improve access to health care, the UofL School of Nursing spearheads efforts to partner with the Kentucky Racing Health and Welfare Fund to provide health care services to uninsured workers in the Kentucky horse racing industry. Many workers are non-English speaking with little access to health care or support finding health care. The partnership provides primary care, women’s health care, and mental health care to workers and their families as well as care focused on preventing costly chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma.

UofL School of Nursing faculty and advanced practice registered nurses Krista Roach and Dedra Hayden, who also serves as the program’s director, engage UofL Latin American and Latino Studies program students to help with��interpretation, dental students to provide care to patients with complex dental cases, and nursing students to provide care alongside nurse practitioners.��In addition to ongoing year-round health services, during the pandemic the��program’s nurse practitioner providers played an indispensable role in addressing vaccine hesitancy among their client population.

“At UofL, we are committed to directly impacting the health and well-being of Louisville and beyond,” said UofL Interim Vice President for Community Engagement Douglas Craddock. “Our clinic for equine industry workers both cares for an often-marginalized community and provides essential hands-on, experiential learning to our students, empowering them to make a difference in the lives of the people they serve.”

“Health care��provided by our highly qualified nurse practitioners��is critical to helping address the shortage of primary care providers in Kentucky. The UofL School of Nursing is honored to play such an important role in providing care to those who otherwise may not have access. We are thrilled by this recognition,” said Interim Dean of the School of Nursing Mary DeLetter.��

Since 2007, APLU and the Engagement Scholarship Consortium, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, have partnered to honor the engagement scholarship and partnerships of four-year public universities. The award recognizes programs that demonstrate how colleges and universities have redesigned their learning, discovery and engagement missions to deepen their partnerships and achieve broader impacts in their communities. The national award is named for C. Peter Magrath, APLU president from 1992 to 2005.