Wealth for Health in Moroccan Nursing Home

In the summer of 2018, Chelsea Koessel had the opportunity to travel to Meknes, Morocco to study abroad.  Her Service-Learning placement was in a nursing facility called Dar Almoussinin, where she worked alongside the employees to provide care for the residents.  While working there, she was able to conduct research on geriatric care in Morocco, how nursing homes are operated, and how daily tasks are completed by workers in the facility.

While there were several similarities between the facilities in Morocco and the facilities in the United States, she also noted several differences.  One of the first things she noted was a lack in basic training such as handwashing, proper perineal care, sanitation, etc.  She met with the administrator of Dar Almoussinin and inquired how the employees were trained.  The administrator informed her that they did not have a training program; when new employees started, they were told which residents they were to take care of, and that was all.  Chelsea asked the administrator if she would be interested in implementing a training program at the facility to teach the employees how to provide better care, and the administrator said she would be very interested in implementing such a program.

Chelsea has had four years of experience working in geriatric care.  Currently, she is working as an administrative assistant and lead aide at Bozeman Health Hillcrest Senior Living.  She is also a student at Montana State University (MSU) studying Cell Biology and Neuroscience and French and Francophone studies.  Her end goal is to become a physician.  She has become very passionate about geriatric care, and this project is very important to her.  To effectively implement the training program at Dar Almoussinin in Meknes, she has assembled a team of three other students from MSU.  Ashley Sutter is a colleague that also works as an administrative assistant and a lead aide at Bozeman Health Hillcrest Senior Living.  Ashley graduated with a degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience, and she worked with Chelsea to update the current training program at Hillcrest.  She is interested in becoming a physician or a physician’s assistant.  Beth Brash is also a Cell Biology and Neuroscience student with a minor in Astrobiology.  She recently started working at Hillcrest with Chelsea and Ashley, and she intends on going to medical school as well.  Justine Johnson is a Nutrition Science major with a minor in French and Francophone Studies.  She has four years of patient care experience working for a physical therapist.  Her end goal is to work in naturopathic medicine.  She studied abroad in Morocco during the summer of 2018 as well, so she has experience with the Moroccan culture.

The four of them will travel to Meknes utilizing the same organization that Chelsea used in the summer of 2018, International Studies Abroad (ISA).  By utilizing ISA, the students will have the resources they need to complete the project as well as insurance, guidance and security.  All four of the students have already applied for and been accepted to the ISA program, specifically to work from May 29th, 2019 – June 29th, 2019.  The Service-Learning project has been approved by ISA as well as the nursing facility in Morocco.

In order to make this project a reality, the students must raise funds to cover the total cost of their flights, program, and resources.  A breakdown of the total budget is displayed below:

Cost of ISA Program: $2,650 each
Cost of Plane Tickets: $1,600 each
Cost of Resources: $1,000
Costs deducted from Go Fund Me Organization: $600

The ISA program will include housing, food, transportation, government access to the facility, and a translator.  The flights will be round trip for the four-week period of the Service-Learning project.  The resources will include materials such as glove and mask stations, soap and hand-sanitizer dispensers, towel racks, binders, etc.  The funds for the ISA program are due by March 15th, and the plane tickets will be purchased around the same time period.  Funds for the resources can be collected up until the students’ departure at the end of May.

Not only will this be a wonderful learning experience for the students to implement the skills they have learned in their studies and working in patient care, but it will greatly benefit the residents and workers of the Dar Almoussinin.  By implementing the training program, there will be a decrease in the spread of infectious disease and an increase in available education for the staff members on providing improved care.  This project is very important to Chelsea because the residents and employees of Dar Almoussinin became dear friends to her.  By supporting this cause, you will help these students make an important change in the health care of the residents at the nursing home!