Jewel S. Younge | College of Pharmacy - Chicago | Rockford (2024)

Address:

840 S. Wood Street, Chicago, IL

Email:

jyounge@uic.edu

Related Sites:

Overview:
Zip code >> Genetic Code. That is the rule in Chicago. For all of its parks, pathways, protected bike lanes, and planning, Chicago remains an untraversable landscape for many of its residents. The implications of that are profound – in terms of class, mobility, and health.

Bringing care to underserved communities starts with putting it in walking distance. My clinical practice site, CommunityHealth, and my current research projects, The Lab Matters, the Older Adult Wellness Program, and Boxville Vitals, lead me to engage some of Chicago’s most vulnerable residents, from far West to far South, representing many language communities, class levels, and age ranges.

Teaching health education in underserved communities requires creativity and spark. Games, arts, and hands-on science/pharmacy activities create ways for practitioners and patients to move beyond the limitations of their existing vocabulary, externalize their preconceptions, and examine clinical concerns without stigma and burden. This approach established The Lab Matters, a hands-on science program for elementary aged kids who ‘hate science.’ It carries through my work with the Older Adult Wellness program, which employs activities and games to teach self-care. Boxville Vitals, a blood pressure and blood sugar testing site located at a SouthSide CTA station, uses nudge theory and a ‘low-stress approach which has resulted in a clinically significant reduction in blood pressures among those served.

Research Interests:
Cultural competency in health care, Medical arts

Teaching Statement:
At the College of Pharmacy, I lecture in Diabetes and Mood Disorders, Diabetes and Weight Loss, Motivational Interviewing, and Sleep Aids and Stimulants. I am co-coordinator of Pharmacy 201, Pharmaceutical Care in the US, which is course in the undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Science program at University of Illinois Chicago. I teach a lecture on the Urban Health Crisis, and I lead students through a live-action simulated game called Traffic, which explores barriers to care in Chicago. Additionally, I lecture in the College of Sports Medicine on Topical Analgesics.

Aside from lecture, the vast majority of my teaching is preceptorship. At my clinical practice site, CommunityHealth, I precept introductory and advanced practice pharmacy experiential students. I mentor approximately 6 pharmacy students each year at my community based participatory research site, Boxville Vitals. I am collaborating with Leslyn Hanakahi, Benjamin Schultz, Mary Kopale, and Aamina Syeda on research related to Traffic, and my Boxville Vitals students have created and are conducting a longitudinal self-study on development in cultural competence among Boxville Vitals volunteers.

I have been a teacher for over 30 years. I hold a Master’s Degree in Teaching English from Washington University in St. Louis MO. I’ve been a professor, a classroom teacher, and a teaching assistant. Before that, I worked in early childhood education. I have taught in a myriad of modes, ranging from lecture to performance, and in disciplines ranging from world religions and cultures to math basics.

Spec Project in Pharm Pract – SNPhA Pre-Pharmacy Mentorship Program (PMPR 390), 1/8/2024 – 4/26/2024
Spec Project in Pharm Pract – Boxville Vitals Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant Draft (PMPR 390), 8/21/2023 – 12/1/2023
Spec Project in Pharm Pract (PMPR 390), 1/9/2023 – 4/28/2023
Pharmaceutical Care in the US (PHAR 201), 1/9/2023 – 4/28/2023
Spec Project in Pharm Pract (PMPR 390), 1/2/2023 – 4/14/2023
Undergrad Resrch Pharm Pract (PMPR 380), 8/22/2022 – 12/2/2022
Drugs in Society (PHAR 201), 1/10/2022 – 4/29/2022
Spec Project in Pharm Pract (PMPR 390), 1/10/2022 – 4/29/2022
Undergrad Resrch Pharm Pract (PMPR 380), 8/23/2021 – 12/3/2021