CUA has joined with the Brothers of Charity in a partnership to offer a pre-baccalaureate certificate program in mental health care at the brothers' new Institute Canon Triest in Gent, Belgium.

The institute, named for the congregation's founder, was inaugurated Sept. 5. CUA Provost John Convey represented the university at the ceremony. Through its School of Nursing, CUA will help train Brothers of Charity to care for those who fall through the social network, including AIDS patients, drug addicts and struggling youth.

"This international collaboration speaks to the missions of both the university and the Brothers of Charity," Provost Convey said. "It allows CUA to use its resources to assist the brothers in ministering to God's poor."

Ellen Mahoney, professor of nursing at CUA and a psychiatric nursing specialist, has been working the past year to help the institute structure its program, entitled "Introduction to Psychiatric Care." Professor Mahoney has made several visits to Belgium in order to guide curriculum development. She will return to teach one-week courses in the program in October and December.

Geared to both the spiritual and health needs of individuals, the program covers study skills, anatomy and physiology, understanding illness, and other essential skills for healthcare providers. Young men from South Africa, Rwanda, Burundi, the Congo, Indonesia, the Philippines and India will be enrolled in the program, Professor Mahoney said. After their religious formation and training in Belgium, the brothers return to their homelands better prepared to meet the needs of the mentally ill, she explained.

"In many of these countries, the Brothers of Charity are the only providers of psychiatric care, a front-line resource for families and individuals confronting mental illness," she said. "They have a real opportunity to reach out and help people who often are living on the fringes of society."

Six Belgian psychiatric nurses will work with Professor Mahoney on the project. Other Belgian collaborators in the program include two psychiatrists, one psychologist and instructors in philosophy, biology and English. Much of the collaboration involved in establishing the program took place via the Internet, Professor Mahoney noted.

Planning the program and teaching in it requires a major commitment from Professor Mahoney, who will also teach two classes this semester at CUA. She is preparing to teach students from diverse backgrounds and ethnic groups.

"We’ve had to become increasingly culturally sensitive," she said of the interdisciplinary team working in the certificate program.

Since March, the brothers in the program have been taking courses in basic skills including English, math, basic philosophy, psychology and biology. Professor Mahoney helped provide direction for the basic skills program, which also prepares the brothers for Western-style teaching.

So far, the collaboration "has been a delightful experience," she added.

"It's very rewarding to be able to live out CUA's mission of service to the Church in this very practical way," she said.

Professor Mahoney has been a psychiatric-mental health nurse for more than 28 years. She has also been involved in educating nurses and students,"always enjoying most the privilege of introducing novices to the realities, both rewards and challenges, of working in mental health settings." In addition to her duties in academia through the years, she has maintained her clinical practice with patients in the community. Presently she works as a group psychotherapist in an outpatient addiction treatment center.

"This present work is a way for me to use my strengths, both teaching and clinical, with not only nurses from another culture but interdisciplinary collaborators as well, and students from a variety of cultures and non-health related backgrounds," she said.

The pre-baccalaureate program paves the way for the university to offer academic credit for program participants and for selected participants to come to CUA for bachelor's degrees. "We hope that those students who have great academic potential can eventually come to CUA," she said.

Nursing Dean Ann Marie Brooks applauded the partnership and looks to future collaborations.

"The School of Nursing believes that this innovative program has been able to combine both new knowledge and practical skills so that vulnerable populations can be served," she said. "We are excited about the expected outcomes of this creative program and believe that others can use it as a framework for serving others."