News — According to a report from the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, 70 percent of counties in the Indiana Uplands region have identified . U.S. Â鶹´«Ã½ and World report has ranked Indiana in the bottom fifth for health care — .
One of the many ways that IU students are addressing these challenges one Hoosier at a time is through annual health clinics that offer .
Led by , a clinical assistant professor at the IU School of Nursing, the clinics connect nurses in training with community members in partnership with the and Southern Indiana Community Health Care, a regional health care provider.
“We see these events as us being able to be an extension to the primary-care offices,” said Arce, whose students participate in the clinics through a course for second year-nursing students. “The primary-care providers have a large patient load, and we see ourselves as helping bridge that gap between office visits.”
Over the past five years, Arce said the clinics have served over 250 people across southern Indiana. For the past few years, the events have taken place at Melton Public Library in French Lick, Indiana — population less than 2,000 — and Solutions Center in Mitchell, Indiana — population less than 4,000.
Every visitor to the clinic receives a basic blood panel, including key numbers such as blood glucose and cholesterol. For an uninsured patient, Arce said, a blood sugar test can normally cost upwards of $150.
“Even basic numbers are valuable for telling for people what they need to know, to understand if they’re at-risk for developing diabetes or if they are getting in range,” she added. “It provides people an opportunity to start making lifestyle changes now instead of waiting until more serious issues arise.”
The clinics also offer students the chance to practice health coaching skills, which help patients understand their personal health data in a meaningful way. A registered nurse oversees each student during these interactions.
Participants whose results raise any red flags are also invited to speak one on one with a registered nurse, who can help set up a primary care appointment or other access to care, Arce said.
For example, a veteran in French Lick had not seen a doctor in years due to lack of transportation, Arce said. After calling a local doctor’s office, IU clinic volunteers learned that the patient’s veteran’s insurance would cover care at the physician’s office due to the lack of VA hospitals near his address.
IU’s outreach activities go beyond the rural health clinics. IU School of Nursing students — led by Sonita Ball, a lecturer at the school — partner with the Center for Rural Engagement on wellness fairs, the most recent of which was conducted at the Greene County Health-Shakamak Clinic in in Jasonville, Indiana. Other contributors to the fairs are the IU School of Public Health, School Social Work and School of Optometry, as well as the Human Biology Program and the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at the IU College of Arts and Sciences, all in Bloomington; and the School of Health and Human Sciences and the IU Interprofessional Practice and Education Center in Indianapolis.
The IU School of Optometry, in collaboration with the Bloomington Lions Club and the Bloomington Salvation Army, hosts the “MLK Day of Vision,” an annual event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that offers free comprehensive eye exams and prescription glasses to low-income Monroe County residents without vision insurance.
The IU School of Dentistry organizes monthly trips to rural northern Indiana to provide dental services to children in the Amish community, as well as provide oral health care services for children in area shelters for the homeless and for victims of domestic violence. The school also delivers low-cost dental care at the in Indianapolis, including basic dental services and 24/7 support for dental emergencies. On average, IU dental students and supervising faculty treat more than 19,000 people at the school’s clinics.
Led by the IU School of Medicine, the provides free services — including medical exams and chronic disease management; physical therapy; dental services such as cleanings, fillings and extractions; and access to social workers and legal aid — to underrepresented populations in Indianapolis. Other IU Indianapolis schools that contribute to the clinic are the IU School of Dentistry, IU School of Nursing, IU School of Social Work, IU School of Health and Human Sciences, and IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
IU School of Health and Human Sciences students provide low-cost personal training, fitness assessments and classes through the John Boner Neighborhood Centers — a social services and community development organization — as a part of the school’s program.
In addition, IU is taking steps to tackle Indiana’s health care shortages at the institutional level.
This includes a commitment from the IU School of Nursing to across its graduate and undergraduate levels. The school, which has 1,700 undergraduates across three campuses, enrolled its largest first-year class for the second year in a row with 79 newly admitted students in Fort Wayne, 120 in Bloomington and 247 in Indianapolis for the 2024-25 academic year.
At IU Indianapolis — the home of the majority of the university’s health professional programs — over 90% of graduates stay in Indiana, and .
Moreover, , and about for residency training. These include graduates of its , 21 of whom practice as primary-care physicians in rural counties, 61 in medically underserved areas, and 58 in counties with designated health professional shortages.
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