David Metcalf, a senior nursing major, checks a man's blood pressure during the Wilmington’s HOPE Commission’s Winner’s Circle, a weekly therapeutic peer support group for formerly incarcerated men and women.

Expanding access to healthcare

Article by Amy Cherry Photos by Ashley Barnas Larrimore February 27, 2025

UD nursing students partner with HOPE Commission to provide free health screenings

After years of eating a high-sodium diet in prison and lacking regular access to healthcare, many men reentering society understandably worry about their heart health.

At a recent educational roundtable held at the Wilmington HOPE Commission, men recently released from prison had an opportunity to ask aspiring nurses at the University of Delaware School of Nursing (SON) questions about heart disease.

The HOPE Commission, Wilmington’s premier correctional reentry program, provides comprehensive support services to high-risk men returning to the city’s most distressed communities. By addressing factors that contribute to recidivism, the program helps formerly incarcerated individuals rebuild their lives — including by providing access to critical health resources. In February, men in the re-entry program also could get free, walk-in health screenings as part of a new partnership between the HOPE Commission and UD SON for American Heart Month.

“This collaboration brings vital health education and resources to a population that often faces significant healthcare barriers,” said Darius Brown, executive director of the Wilmington HOPE Commission. “By fostering these conversations, we’re helping men take proactive steps in managing their health.”

Twice a week, senior nursing majors David Metcalf and Lindsey Piontek listened to heart and lung sounds and checked vital signs, including heart and respiratory rates and blood pressure.

“We also discussed their concerns and answered questions,” Metcalf said. “Many of these men don’t have primary care providers, so this was a chance to be seen and heard.”

Metcalf said their questions surrounded family history, smoking and how they can better their health and their loved ones’ health. Those topics were the subjects of presentations prepared and delivered by students on Fridays at the HOPE Commission’s Winner’s Circle, a therapeutic peer support group for formerly incarcerated men and women.

“I hope they leave the building a bit more informed than when they came in,” Metcalf said.

Senior nursing majors David Metcalf and Lindsey Piontek pose outside the Achievement Center, which houses the Wilmington HOPE Commission. They conducted free, walk-in health screenings as part of their community clinical rotation to expand access to healthcare during American Heart Month.

The opportunity is part of SON students’ clinical rotations, one of which includes a community-based rotation. Jennifer Shearer, SON clinical coordinator, carefully selects and manages these partnerships to ensure meaningful, hands-on learning experiences.

“This experience gives students a chance to see a holistic view of a patient, which they don’t always get in an acute care setting in a hospital,” SON Clinical Instructor Amanda Young said.

It also aligns with the UD SON’s mission to address social determinants of health through hands-on, population-based care.

“Providing care in non-traditional settings allows students to understand the barriers many people face in accessing healthcare,” said Elizabeth Speakman, chief nurse administrator and senior associate dean of the SON. “This experience helps them develop the skills needed to build trust and offer meaningful support to diverse populations.”

Young said she hopes the experience changes students' perspectives and makes them more culturally sensitive.

“I hope this experience broadens their perspective on health, life and the challenges people face,” Young said. “In acute care, it’s easy to focus on immediate medical needs, but this rotation reinforces the importance of a better understanding of their environment and other factors that can affect their health.”

Piontek works as a nurse’s assistant in the intensive care unit at Bryn Mawr Hospital. Her time at the HOPE Commission marks her first time working with this population.

“It’s been different from patients I’ve come across in the hospital,” Piontek said. “It’s interesting to hear their points of view and build trust. I think they feel more fulfilled having information they can take home to their families.”

Piontek says this community rotation will make her a better nurse in a hospital’s medical-surgical unit, where she hopes to work after graduation.

“I will encounter people from all walks of life in the hospital, and this experience has taught me how to translate everything I’ve learned in my nursing classes to a level that anyone would understand,” Piontek said.

Metcalf, a student extern at Christiana Hospital’s emergency room, called the rotation “eye-opening.”

“I’ve spent my whole life in Delaware, went to Newark Charter, and now UD, so I have a small-minded view of the community,” Metcalf said. “I hadn’t spent much time in Wilmington or been exposed to the different communities in the state, so helping these guys has taught me so much and given me the satisfaction that drove me to become a nurse.”

Above all, it’s taught him to be open to learning.

“You never know who may come through those hospital doors,” Metcalf said. “This has been a great opportunity to talk to and understand a population that I have no background knowledge in, and it will help me establish rapport and foster a connection to build trust with my patients as part of the healing process.”