Students Conduct Research for Mercer Street Friends

Throughout this spring semester, 14 Rider University students have been conducting hands-on research for the Mercer Street Friends (MSF), a local non-profit home health care agency.
     With guidance from their instructor Dr. Kelly Noonan, assistant professor of economics, the students have been examining the link between quality of care provided by home health care providers and overall cost-effectiveness regarding their patient load. As a result of Medicare funding cutbacks, the question is: Are the nurses, in fact, able to provide adequate quality services for their patients – elderly clients who rely on Medicare to finance their care?
     MSF is on a mission to determine if they are presently allocating their resources properly. In turn, Noonan had her students step up to the challenge of providing some of the answers.
     Looking for one single assignment to totally engage students in the research process was Noonan’s goal. “Bringing in a community partner is a perfect way to do this,” said Noonan, who developed the upper-division economics seminar. “My students tell me they love doing this because it is directly tied to the community. They are learning very important research and analytical skills.”
     Erin McGrath, coordinator of service learning projects at Rider, put Noonan in contact with Princeton University’s service learning coordinator, Tricia Thorme, who already knew that MSF needed assistance with data analysis. After it was determined that their services were needed, the students plotted their course of action.
     The students have been invited to present their findings to MSF. Their findings will be presented to MSF nursing administrators and nurses. Dan Dintino, a senior business economics major, and Jarrod Coburn, a senior business administration major, will give the presentation; all class members will also be in attendance. In the fall, a couple of students will also present their papers to MSF’s board of directors and the class plans to submit its findings to a research journal.
     Although the class is comprised of students from various disciplines, the majority are those majoring or minoring in health care administration, business and/or the sciences.
     Their most striking findings? Current reimbursement rates being paid to Medicare are a good predictor of the amount of time spent providing care to a patient, however the quality of care is still in question, particularly for those who are chronically ill or incapacitated.
     “I think this is an extremely helpful class no matter what your major is,” said Dintino. “I learned how to do good research from many credible places. I became familiar with the research process and how to analyze and confirm data in a research project presentation.”
     Gaining “real world” experience is intriguing to Brooke Olster, a junior business economics/global studies major.
     “The opportunity to present our findings to Mercer Street Friends is an exciting and important chance to communicate what we have learned and to be of some assistance to the organization,” Olster. “It is a win-win situation. When students are responsible for the outcome of their whole class’ project, they are forced to be involved and research a topic that they are passionate about. In effect, we are learning from each other.”

 

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