Family Academy
 The Family Academy will help parents
raise their children to be healthy,
happy, and ready for school by
providing:
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Support
Resources
Education
 Over 60 families are being served
in the Family Academy. A database
has been developed and
implemented to track progress
Cardiac Diagnostics Using Sophisticated
Fluid Mechanics Techniques
An analytical tool was developed
to characterize cardiac flow. The
tools measure various flow
parameters including the
propulsive efficiency of the mitral
inflow as a means of describing
cardiac health, cardiac disease
stages and heart failure. This work
could lead to a commercializable
and sophisticated cardiac
diagnostic tool.
Chronic Illness Strategies Clinic
The purpose of the Chronic
Illness Strategies Clinic is to
empower individuals with
chronic illnesses to manage
their disease, prevent acute
exacerbations, delay further
decline and maximize quality
of life. It will be designed as
an adjunct to primary care
services, and will provide
innovative, evidence-based
multi-disciplinary strategies
not feasible in primary care
settings today.
Creation of a Simulation Center
A simulation center has the
potential to provide
regional services to
enhance education/practice
partnerships by providing
staff development and
continuing education for
area health care providers.
Development of an Immunoassay
for Human Tear Lacritin
Lacritin is a natural human tear
protein being developed as a new
topical therapeutic to treat dry eye,
microbial infections, and corneal
wound healing. In conjunction
with this, a team is developing an
ELISA-based immunoassay to
detect lacritin and variants of
lacritin in human tears. They are
interested in obtaining tear samples
from healthy individuals as well as
individuals with ocular infections or
diseases.
a = tear gland / lacrimal gland
b = superior lacrimal punctum
c = superior lacrimal canal
d = tear sac / lacrimal sac
e = inferior lacrimal punctum
f = inferior lacrimal canal
g = nasolacrimal canal
Energy Conservation - Alternative
Fuel Showcase
A power company may provide
grant money dependent upon
consumer education provided
by RMH, perhaps in
collaboration with JMU.
The left pot is burning
diesel fuel. The right is
burning biodiesel fuel.
Evidence Based Practice - Developing
a Collaborative Model for Scholarship
EBP promotes the collection,
interpretation, and integration of valid
and applicable patient-reported,
clinician-observed, and researchderived evidence.
Research/workshops linked to topics
identified by clinical nurses include:
 Foley catheters in the OR
 Umbilical cord care
 Pain management in the confused
patient
 Scopolamine patches and nausea
and more
Functional Mapping of Hospital Costs
Researchers would use mathematical modeling
to calculate functional distances between various
costs for a number of patients as the difference
between the billed amounts. Multidimensional
scaling would then reduce the complexity of
those data to a two-dimensional graphical
depiction.
Result: insight into how costs accrue, and in the
recognition of different patterns in different
patients. Eventually this model should help
predict what resources will be needed.
Harrisonburg Community Health Center
RMH and JMU, in collaboration
with the Healthy Community
Council, are providing support to a
Federally Qualified Community
Health Center (FQHC) in
Harrisonburg and Rockingham
County. The practice is busy and
growing, with 3 physicians, 2 nurse
practitioners and 10 other staff
persons. They are currently engaged
in a strategic planning process.
Integrative Health
 Goal: Collaborate in developing
integrative health education
and practice
 Examples underway:
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Continuing medical education
session offered through RMH
Mindfulness based stress
reduction collaborative research
project
Center for Voice and Swallowing
Assessment and Treatment
The center, a collaboration
between physicians in the
region, the RMH, and JMU
faculty, will provide previously
unavailable specialized services
for the Shenandoah Valley
region to serve patients with
voice, speech and swallowing
disorders
Modeling Waiting Times in the
Emergency Department
Using Emergency Department data from RMH
in a constructed cartography model to determine
patient flow and ultimately reduce any bottlenecks.
Training: Assessing and Managing
Suicide Risk
 Designed for RMH and college
campus mental health clinicians
 Goal: increase suicide prevention
preparedness
Video games for balance rehabilitation
JMU researchers wish to
collaborate with RMH by
testing participants in a balance
study using the Wii and Wii Fit
video gaming system
Workshops/Education sessions on
environmental sustainability
JMU Scholars are
available for group
discussion and
education:
 Wetland preservation
 Water/soil
management
 Integrated medicine
with healthy
environment
 Recycling wastes
Learning Tour of RMH Hardware
 Tour of RMH facilities by
interested Computer
Information Systems
faculty in order to learn
more about the computer
hardware being used
 Objectives include
acquisition of outgoing
RMH hardware for JMU
student learning activities
as well as identification of
research possibilities
Medical Imaging for JMU Athletics
Onsite x-ray services for JMU’s student-athletes at
athletic events
Teaching/Learning Collaboration
 Adjunct appointments
 Guest lectures
 Clinical teaching
Touchscreen Computer Kiosks
 Goal: help persons of low literacy by improving access
to effective, high quality health information
Recycling at RMH
Collaborative effort of JMU’s Institute for Stewardship
of the Natural World and RMH Surgical services
Health Literacy Game
Goal: Educate community health workers and others
LEED Certification Educational DVD
Helping to inform and
enlighten the greater
Harrisonburg population
to understand the
benefits for becoming
LEED certified
Human Resource Projects
 Video on peer interviewing procedures
 Video orientation for new hires at RMH
Journal Club
Focus on topics of interest to clinical nurses on units
Chronic Illness Strategies Classes
 A 6-week educational program for persons with
chronic illnesses covers nutrition, exercise, use of
medications, evaluating new treatment options,
effective communication, and strategies for addressing
problems.
 Outcomes include: decreased days in the hospital,
improvement in health behaviors and health status.