UofL News: What was the primary focus of your lecture?

Christian Furman: I gave five of the eight lectures, and my topics were geared to practitioners new to the field of geriatrics. I discussed both practical skills for working with older adults, as well as general information about the aging process. Topics included geriatric assessments, cognitive assessments for dementia, how to break bad news, advance care planning and end-of-life discussions.

UofL News: Is this part of an ongoing effort?

Christian Furman:聽This was my first trip to Belize; however, my leadership and mentorship role in developing the study of geriatrics in the country is part of a larger, ongoing effort. Belize does not have geriatricians, and there are only a couple facilities and programs that support older adults. Starting in 2014, through a three-year LIFE (Living Independently in Full Existence) grant with Catholic Health Initiatives Mission and Ministries Foundation and KentuckyOne Health, I began working with Dr. Omar Aviles, a primary care physician in Belize who works at Mercy Clinic, a clinic for older adults in Southside Belize City. I provided monthly telehealth consultations to Dr. Aviles through videoconferencing to discuss patient cases. In this way, I provide continuing mentorship and expertise on specific patients, and offer advice on how to develop an interdisciplinary geriatrics clinic and program. My goal in providing telecommunication consultations is to provide Dr. Aviles with instruction on geriatric medicine best practices that he can use in his practice and disseminate to his colleagues.

UofL News: What are the main challenges for older adults in Belize?

Christian Furman:聽In Belize, more than 41 percent of the population lives below the poverty level and, as in many countries, the effects of this are often most severely felt by a nation鈥檚 older adult population. Many older adults in Belize struggle to meet their basic needs across the major areas of health: social, housing, food access, transportation and medical care. These challenges are exacerbated by a lack of geriatricians in the country. These obstacles make accessing quality health care a challenge for many older adults. Having access to a geriatrician when we are older is essential to aging optimally. Just as we need pediatricians when we are young who understand the nuances of our health needs, so, too, is it essential to have someone who understands the complexities of aging. Many of the health care professionals in Belize have not been taught geriatric syndromes such as dementia, delirium, polypharmacy and how to complete a comprehensive geriatric assessment.

UofL News: What is the future of geriatric care in Belize?

Christian Furman:聽I am optimistic about the future of geriatric care in Belize. Even with just this one grant, we have been able to dramatically improve the skill set and awareness of geriatric issues among the Belizean health care workforce. Already many of the practice protocols at the Mercy Clinic have been updated to reflect the needs of their older adult population. Working with this practice has started a larger movement in the country to disseminate best practices more broadly 鈥� as seen by the first geriatrics symposium held in October. Dr. Aviles also has passed along many of our conversations to the National Health Insurance (NHI) of Belize, a branch of the Social Security Board of Belize. Due to this effort, NHI is even considering changes in the geriatric health care delivery throughout the country.

I have been honored to be part of this movement in Belize to improve the health and well-being of older adults. It has been deeply rewarding to help professionals integrate geriatric best-practice medicine into their practices. I am committed to doing all I can to increase the number of geriatricians 鈥� as illustrated by my work on this grant and in my efforts at UofL to add to our number of geriatric medicine fellows. I also am working to educate professionals through the institute鈥檚 Interprofessional Curriculum for the Care of Older Adults (iCCOA). The shortage of geriatricians is not only a challenge in Belize but also in the United States. According to the American Geriatrics Society, we need 30,000 more geriatricians by 2030 to meet the health care needs of the growing older adult population.

members from across campus participating in the excursion, which mixes service work and international travel learning. The group will stay mostly at Pelican Beach Resort in the town of Dangriga. 聽

“We will be visiting the Mayan ruins at Lamanai, doing some snorkeling and relaxing on South Water Caye (small island off the coast), and visiting the Belize Zoo as part of our ‘excursion’ time,” said聽Caleb Brooks, ISLP director.

Their service work will take place in the nearby town of Independence at a dental clinic. Eight 3rd聽and 4th聽year dental students as well as two faculty members from the dental school will attend to the basic dental needs of students from Independence High School for three days. The Cardinal contingent聽will also work with students in local schools on topics selected by local leaders and coordinate a medical history collection project.

UofL News checked in with Elizabeth聽Pe帽a, a junior communications student and University Honors Scholar, about why she wanted to attend this year.听Pe帽a has traveled abroad before, to Morocco and Spain.听

UofL News: What made you want to go on this trip?

Elizabeth Pe帽a: I am a Communications major and I was looking for another way to travel while earning class credit. Although Belize and Latin America aren’t my focus of study, I really enjoy service. I was part of the Service LLC my freshman year and I wanted a way to continue that abroad so ISLP seemed like a natural fit.

UofL News: UofL’s ISLP program includes a number of places, why did you choose Belize?

Elizabeth Pe帽a: I didn’t know much about Belize to be honest but I have always been interested in Latin America due to my background (my family is from Mexico). I wanted to explore it past Mexico, so Belize seemed like the perfect place to go to do that.

UofL News: What do you hope to get out of the experience?

Elizabeth Pe帽a: I hope to get a better understanding of service learning in an international context. I really hope to see what, if any, long-term effects our short-term service will have on the students we visit in Belize. Mostly, I hope that the people we visit and interact with get as much — or more —聽out of the experience as we do.

I’d highly recommend the program because any major can participate.

More Information:

Registration is now closed for the Belize trip. But, check out next year which include the Philippines, Belize, Croatia and Ghana.听

Last week, more than 30 ISLP students departed for a service trip to Belize.

While ISLP has visited several countries throughout聽the years, Belize is the original and the longest-running service trip. ISLP is an interdisciplinary program includes an intense focus on community service.

鈥淚SLP exposes students to the world by immersing them into the local community through service learning and engaging experiences,鈥� said ISLP program coordinator Nicole Rosskopf, who is also a participant on the trip. 鈥淭his new perspective gives our students a better understanding of people and cultures around the world.鈥�

While in Belize, 32 students will staff a dental clinic and will teach students in local schools. The students and faculty are from a variety of disciplines including nursing, law, dental, communication and criminal justice. Lesson plans will cover crime prevention, personal safety, dental hygiene, setting and achieving goals and STD and pregnancy prevention.

A few dental students will be working in the school, while the majority will be working in the dental clinic providing services for the community. Non-dental students will also be working in the clinic providing office assistance.

However, the trip won鈥檛 be all work. While in Belize, the students will visit the Lamanai Mayan Cultural Site and the Belize Zoo, as well as explore South Water Caye on an island expedition.

The students are blogging about their experiences. .听

The primary goal of the annual trip is for education students to take what they have learned in their field and course work and implement it in a diverse and unfamiliar setting. Not only does this help instill cultural responsiveness skills in students, it also lets them act as models for the Belizean teachers to provide informal professional development in the underprivileged schools.

Every day, the CEHD students and their advisers piled into a van and rattled down miles of dirt road to get to the modest聽schools聽where聽they were greeted by 500聽pupils excited to learn from them. They especially relished the luxurious teaching tools they brought, such as counting blocks and plastic clocks.

鈥淭his trip greatly impacted my teaching. I look at it in a whole new way,鈥� said Bridget Donoghue, a student on the trip. 鈥淚 learned that a really cool aspect is the relationship-building among the students 鈥� I鈥檓 not just here to teach you and tell you what to do, I can learn from the students, too.鈥�

One of the things UofL students had to learn was how to think on their feet. They experienced a minor crisis when they found their classes much more advanced in some areas than they expected, throwing months of carefully-laid lesson plans out the window. With guidance from faculty advisers and Belizean teachers, the students were able to develop a new plan in short order that addressed their classes鈥� unique needs.

When they weren鈥檛 teaching classes, CEHD students spent time touring their host villages and meeting their residents, taking excursions to Guatemala, snorkeling in the Caribbean Sea or just splashing in the local waterfall. But for everyone involved, the best part of the trip was the teaching itself.

鈥淲e came expecting to change them, as far as instruction, but what happened was that many of us were changed and humbled by them,鈥� said John Finch, a faculty adviser on the trip.

Another CEHD International Learning trip departed for Ireland May 20, where students聽will remain for a week and a half as they take classes on art therapy and comparative education and work with professionals in their areas of interest.

Dean Duncan is the only UofL Dean to participate in the program. This was her second year leading a group of law students to Belize.

“I participate聽in the ISLP because I enjoy incorporating service learning opportunities with legal doctrine. Restorative Justice is practiced worldwide so it is perfectly suited for this international trip. Exposing law students to different cultures and legal systems will make them better lawyers and people. I find the trip very impactful and rewarding for all of us,” Dean Duncan said.

Laura Mercer, director of the ISLP, said Dean Duncan’s participation says a lot for the program.

鈥淚t shows a big buy-in that (Dean Duncan) not only endorses this program, but she participates in it. I think it’s fantastic that she does it,鈥� said Laura Mercer, director of the ISLP.

Prior to the trip, Dean Duncan tasked the law students with developing presentations and interactive exercises to teach both the children at the local schools and the prison guards at Belize Central Prison about the benefits and uses of restorative justice in repairing harms within their communities.

Law student Megan Conroy said the trip exceeded her expectations.

鈥淚鈥檝e always enjoyed travel, so I knew I would enjoy sightseeing the country of Belize,鈥� she said. 鈥淗owever, it was the service aspect of this trip that really impacted me 鈥� I definitely believe that visits by students to underprivileged communities spread goodwill and foster good relations between countries.鈥�

Conroy said the older children they met were receptive to the concept of restorative justice.

鈥淭hey appeared to appreciate restorative justice鈥檚 potential to work through conflict at home and school,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he prison staff were also very encouraged by the concept and felt the process would be beneficial to juvenile offenders.鈥�

Katherine Vail said she was 鈥渉appily surprised鈥� by her experience.

鈥淚 began my trip with the belief that we would be bringing light and love to the country through our community projects. I was happily surprised to see how reciprocal it would be. What I found particularly astounding was the culture there is already very grounded in kindness toward your fellow countrymen,鈥� she said.

Ryan Maxwell said the timing of the trip was personally beneficial.

鈥淲hen I began my law school career I was motivated to become prepared through a legal education and be a maximum service to my community.听 However, this motivation was put on the back-burner when keeping my head above water became a more pressing priority,鈥� he said. 鈥淎fter spending time in Belize educating children and prison staff, the perspective I entered law school with came back to me with full force.鈥�

That perspective, he added, is, 鈥淭he more you think of others, the less you think of yourself and because of this the gift that you receive is happiness and fulfillment.鈥�