Intervista a Jessica Adams: Infermiera, assistente sociale e volontaria globale

Ramya Sriram

6 anni fa

Indice dei contenuti

Pochi di noi prendono al volo l'opportunità di portare un cambiamento positivo attraverso il lavoro pratico nelle comunità di tutto il mondo. Ma per il vice-sceriffo diventato infermiere Jessica Adams, it is a dream come true. Whether it’s volunteering to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, offering medical services in the Dominican Republic, or even supporting local groups in her hometown in Florida, Adams is passionate about using her expertise as a nurse to educate and empower. Though she graduated as a political scientist, Adams turned to infermieristica following her experience working with a youth development organization in New Orleans. She intended to pick up some practical skills, but had no idea that her new career would become a huge part of her identity.

Through humanitarian trips, Adams has traveled widely within and outside the US, serving in regions that do not have easy access to assistenza sanitaria facilities and resources. She lavora come volontario medico con la Global Livingston Foundation, un'organizzazione che aiuta a organizzare la Festival iKnow, a series of music concerts focused on HIV awareness in Uganda. The annual event, now in its 5th year, aims to reduce the stigma surrounding HIV and promote sexual health awareness. Adams, along with a team, offers on-site tests, medical examinations and counseling. Last year, to assess the impact of the festival, her team did a pilot study, but found that a standard assessment tool could not be applied to the geographically and culturally diverse communities in the area. They needed a more rigorous study design and had to be certain that they were adopting the right statistical techniques. They were also on the verge of applying for various nursing research grants and wanted to make a strong case for it.

Alla fine del 2017, Adams ha cercato aiuto da Kolabtree per trovare un esperto che potesse aiutarli a randomizzare e stratificare il loro studio, verificando anche che i loro metodi di raccolta dati e le dimensioni del campione fossero accurate. Si è consultata con successo con uno scienziato interdisciplinare di grande esperienza, Dr Dlorah Jenkins, who had extensive experience in data collection analysis and design. Though the deadline for the project was six weeks, Dr Jenkins provided Adams and her team with a robust and reliable design for their study within ten days. Thanks to this, Adams’ team was able to apply for several nursing grants on time. They were also able to apply for continued funding from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. If awarded with a research grant, they will implement Dr Jenkin’s study design in their home base, Kabale, with a control community. Dr Jenkin’s model will not only help them accurately measure the effectiveness of their initiative, but can also be replicated in other places and with other health issues.

We at Kolabtree are humbled to have played a role, however small, in facilitating a project that has the potential to change so many lives. We had the opportunity of interviewing Adams, who we believe has led a life far from ordinary. Here’s what she has to say about her unique career path, her work in Uganda, and the joy of giving back.

1. Lei ha servito in contesti internazionali come la Repubblica Dominicana e l'Uganda. Cosa ti ha ispirato a lavorare con popolazioni vulnerabili e sottoservite?

My role as a Deputy for the Sheriff’s Office working in the jail focused on “care, custody, and control”. As a political science student at the time, I had really begun to look at the larger picture as it involved crime, punishment, mental illness, ethics, inequality, discrimination, stigma, and all of these interrelated issues that create and frame our societal problems. I didn’t feel like I was part of a solution to the problem at that time. I just felt like I was there to contain them, so to speak, and I wasn’t satisfied with that.

2. Com'è stata la tua esperienza come parte del festival iKnow? In che modo i concerti hanno aiutato le persone affette da HIV?

È venuto con una curva di apprendimento gigantesca! Il processo di sviluppo internazionale può essere molto disordinato perché si lavora in ambienti non familiari e si ha a che fare con un misto di varie culture e lingue. Il piano sembra andare insieme e cadere a pezzi regolarmente e devi solo essere flessibile.

Our work has helped selected communities in rural Uganda by creating an opportunity for many of the local residents to access free on-site HIV testing, as well as a growing number of other free assistenza sanitaria services such as cervical cancer screening, family planning, male circumcision, blood pressure screening, and more. The event, itself, contributes to stigma reduction by normalizing the discussion surrounding HIV, condom use, and sexual health while reaffirming the idea that “knowledge is power”. Those that do test positive for HIV are immediately linked to care through our local NGO partners.

Adams con la sua squadra in Uganda

3. Il tuo team sta facendo domanda per una sovvenzione NIH. Se la domanda ha successo, che impatto avrà sul tuo lavoro in Uganda?

We actually didn’t end up applying for an NIH grant recently, although we remain committed to working up to that goal. Instead, we have applied for several nursing research grants, in addition to continued grant funding with some of our established partners such as the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. If funded via the nursing research grants this year, we plan to undertake a study designed to measure the impact of our work on stigma reduction in our home base community of Kabale — where we have produced the “iKnow” HIV Awareness Music Festival for 4 years now — with a control community that is not familiar with our initiative. Being able to show that our public health model is an effective stigma reduction intervention will be a huge step toward our goal of establishing what we do as a successful model for replication for use in other places and with other health issues.

4. Lei ha avuto un percorso di carriera insolito - da sceriffo a infermiere a studente di dottorato. Ci piacerebbe saperne di più sul tuo viaggio.

I actually came to New Orleans as an AmeriCorps volunteer following Hurricane Katrina. I had just graduated with a degree in Political Science and I knew by that time that it was time to move on from law enforcement. I came here and worked with an organization called YouthBuild which assists at-risk youth by teaching trade skills and helping them work towards their GEDs. It was a good experience, but the funding for the program ran out. I realized that my law enforcement experience did not really translate into many other skills that were useful in this community as it was in the process of rebuilding. This was actually the same time as the economic recession. I chose nursing, not only because it was a solid set of practical skills, but also because I believed I would be able to find a job in a job market that was unreliable at the time. Even though the move was a calculated one for me, it ended up being the best thing I could have chosen to do with my life. I never expected to love nursing the way that I do. It’s really remarkable how fast being a nurse became interwoven into my identity. It’s who I am now.

5. Come possono altri professionisti medici essere coinvolti nel raggiungere le comunità sottoservite?

Volontario! Nella mia esperienza, c'è sempre, sempre, sempre lavoro per le persone che sono disposte a farlo. Faccio volontariato a livello locale con un'organizzazione chiamata Street Medicine, che fornisce assistenza sanitaria e cerca di collegare coloro che si trovano nelle comunità di senzatetto ai servizi necessari. Appartengo anche a numerose organizzazioni professionali e sono stata sempre più coinvolta nella politica sanitaria facendo parte di consigli, commissioni, ecc. È assolutamente imperativo per noi avere una voce in questi tempi.

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