On November 14, Brigham Young University held their “For the Benefit of the World” conference. The conference brought together faculty from across the university to share their research that “addresses existing human needs or their root causes and scholarship related to humanitarian efforts.”
Caring for Those in Need
The conference, the first of its kind, was opened by President C. Shane Reese of Brigham Young University and Elder Gérald Caussé of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Caussé focused his speech on the sacred responsibility held by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to care for God’s creations and help those in need.
As disciples of Christ, we are called to honor and care for God’s creations and to bless our families, strengthen our communities, and lift those around us with love.
After the opening addresses, attendees had the opportunity to learn about the research happening across the university regarding stewardship towards people and the Earth. Several faculty members from BYU College of Nursing presented their research that centers on improving quality of life for people around the world.
Professors Sondra Heaston and Kristen Erekson, for example, shared their work on reducing adolescent pregnancy rates in Paraguay. One-third of the population of Paraguay lives in poverty, and Paraguay has one of the world’s highest rates of teen pregnancy rates. Poverty is correlated with increased rates of adolescent pregnancy, and adolescent pregnancy impacts economic security by disrupting education and future earning potential. Together, these factors create a cycle that decreases quality of life.
Over the course of their project, the professors, with the help of students, have been able to teach reproductive education to over 4,000 adolescents throughout the country. Their goal is to empower young girls through education and address one of the root causes of poverty for many people in the country.
Professors Brandon Thatcher and Cynthia Johnson shared their project that seeks to improve dental care in southeastern Utah. Many people in southeastern Utah live in rural areas with little to no access to medical and dental care. Professors Thatcher and Johnson sought to understand what barriers people face in accessing dental care so they could then address them.
They learned that access was limited by cost, transportation needs, and availability, as well as cultural and community norms. As a result, Professors Thatcher and Johnson created educational materials tailored to their community, which have been integrated into the local hospital as part of their education resources for new mothers.
Collaboration Across Disciplines
The conference was closed by Renata Forste, International Vice President of Brigham Young University. She spoke about the growth of BYU initiatives in South America, with a special emphasis on the power of interdisciplinary research.
In her speech, she cited the recent collaboration between BYU Nursing, Engineering, Economics, and Sociology. A group of professors and students across disciplines worked together to design and distribute better prosthetic technology to amputees in Ecuador.
The engineering team worked on prosthetic design and development, the economics team worked to make the prosthetics affordable, the nursing team treated patients, and the sociology team monitored how patients were affected by the work. This project in Ecuador is an example of the lives that can be changed when people from different disciplines come together.
BYU College of Nursing has also been involved in interdisciplinary research through Dr. Christine Platt’s collaboration with Dr. Brennan Platt of BYU Economics. Their work is focused on the foster care system in the United States, highlighting the ways that variation in policy across the country impacts the children in the system.
Children in foster care are some of the most vulnerable in society, but lack of documentation of foster care policy across states has made it difficult to improve the lives of children in foster care. The ultimate goal of the BYU Nursing and Economics collaboration is to create more stable experiences for children in foster care.
I invite each of you to think about how you personally can bless your family, your community, your nation, and ultimately God’s children throughout the world.
BYU College of Nursing is proud of the ways their faculty and students prioritize the needs of underserved individuals in their research, and efforts to create interdisciplinary collaborations are growing. We look forward to continuing and expanding these efforts as we heed BYU’s call to focus our sacred stewardship on caring for those in need.