A Nursing Study Abroad Experience in the Blue Zone of Sardinia, Italy: A Case Study of the Program and Development

Abstract

Each year, more than 300,000 American students have an international experience to earn academic credit on a variety of programs ranging from two weeks to a full academic year. Education Abroad (EA) enables students to “experience new perspectives, learn how to navigate different cultures, work with diverse peers, and communicate in other languages” [1]. In nursing, studying abroad has been shown to help with cultural awareness, personal growth, cultural immersion, and networking. EA opportunities help nursing students to gain “diverse cultural perspectives, as well as global competence” [2] in a world where they will be providing care for an increasingly diverse population. At a mid-size university in the American South, an associate professor in nursing who has previous EA experience, became interested in a health-related concept known as the Blue Zones, described below. She realized that this particular research area of interest could be applied to an opportunity for a health-related study abroad program for nursing students and other college students interested in the concept. In this article, the authors will describe the concept of Blue Zones, how an EA program focusing on the concept was developed, what was involved in the course connected with the program, and details of the experience.

Blue Zone of Ikaria, Greece: An education abroad program for nursing and health-related disciplines

“…For example, in Ikaria, Greece, people on average live 8 years longer than Americans and have 20% less cancer, half the rate of heart disease, and no dementia. [5,7] The nursing professor who developed these study abroad programs was curious about the habits and lifestyles that led to the increase in health and longevity. Additionally, while she had read about the concepts, the research, and the people, she saw value in visiting the actual Blue Zones to interact with the citizens and learn from them about their techniques.…”

“…Information about that program development can be found in Naber and Hale. [5] Due to the success of the Sardinia, Italy program and a continued desire for engagement, immersion, and experiential learning, the professor applied to teach abroad in Summer of 2019 in Ikaria, Greece with another professor in the Public and Community Health department. The year before the program consisted of recruitment efforts by the professor, other colleagues in her department, colleagues across campus, and education abroad representatives.…”

“…Studying abroad has been shown to help with cultural awareness and interaction with people of different cultures, maturity, and self-confidence. In a world where nurses will be providing care for an increasingly diverse population, [5] cultural awareness and improved interaction with people of different cultures is invaluable. Maturity and self-confidence are traits that new graduate nurses do not always possess, [6] but studying abroad can help to improve that.…”

“…A nursing faculty member with education abroad experience at a mid-size university in the southern United States developed a study abroad program for the summer of 2017 to Sardinia, Italy, [5] geared towards undergraduate students in nursing and other health-related disciplines. This program centered around a concept of interest, Blue Zones, described below.…”

Nursery education for diabetes

“…[8][9][10] In the past, medical and technique education plays key roles for nursery activity and quality in the hospitals and healthcare centers. [11][12][13][14][15] These different types of nursery education contain two distinct categories (quality and knowledge). 16,17…”