Georgetown Nursing Leader Receives Federal Grant from Health Resources and Services Administration
February 5, 2020 – Dr. Edilma Yearwood, chair of the Department of Professional Nursing Practice at the School of Nursing & Health Studies, has received a five-year grant award, totaling nearly $250,000, from the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Yearwood serves as the principal investigator on the new award (1H17MC338870100), “Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program,” which is a collaborative endeavor with partners at Children’s National and Mary’s Center.
Mary’s Center is a network of community health centers in the Washington area founded and led by Georgetown BSN alumna Maria Gomez. Gomez is currently a visiting distinguished professor at the school. Additionally, colleagues at Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development and Georgetown University Medical Center will collaborate on the grant.
Bettering Children’s Health
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who represents the District of Columbia in the U.S. House of Representatives, congratulated Yearwood.
“You were chosen from a competitive group of applicants and should be proud of this notable achievement,” Norton wrote.“By receiving this grant, you have demonstrated outstanding promise in your field. It is my hope that this grant will enable you to better the local and global community.”
The project aims to address familial and social factors that negatively impact kids and their health. “Family and community dynamics and social determinants . . . such as poverty, parental depression, safety issues, and lack of access to necessities – have a significant impact on the health and well-being of children and may result in poor health outcomes,” the grant abstract reads.
Yearwood, a mental health expert who is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, and her collaborators seek to change that through their work. Over the five years, the team will engage with an expert advisory group and develop an annual data-based plan to guide their work.
The overall aim is “to improve the health status of children in the region” by educating community-based organizations, families, and health providers about the factors affecting kids, how to improve wellness, and helpful resources; promoting the need to assess, in a comprehensive and systematic way, the health and well-being of children; and advocating for improved health service access.
Editor’s Note: “This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling approximately $250,000. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.”