Health equity for underserved Latino and immigrant populations will be broadened at the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden, thanks to a generous grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s International and Foreign Language office to strengthen Spanish language skills among students and faculty.
The grant will allow the Rutgers University–Camden nursing school to enhance its Learning Abroad programs to Spanish-speaking countries through interdisciplinary partnerships at Rutgers–Camden and at affiliated county college campuses (specifically Atlantic Cape Community College). The grant also will help to strengthen enrollment in the Spanish for Healthcare Professionals courses, which Rutgers–Camden students will be encouraged to take in order to participate in learning abroad courses in Spanish-speaking countries.
Nancy Pontes, an assistant professor of nursing, serves as the grant’s primary investigator. A family nurse practitioner with a strong interest in global health, she has led study-abroad programs for the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden. Her co-primary investigator is Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, a Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of Public Policy at Rutgers–Camden, where she also directs the Community Leadership Center.
Nursing professionals have long been leaders in public health initiatives, Pontes says, and this knowledge will be supplemented with Rutgers–Camden’s interdisciplinary expertise in public policy, foreign language, and business.