Providing undergraduate nursing students and the community with an opportunity to smile: Student managed initiatives in lifestyle education

Abstract

Background: The SMILE: Student Managed Initiative in Lifestyle Education program is an arts and health workshop that runs for 2 hours per day for 8 weeks. Health care students and community members are invited to participate. SMILE was developed to provide undergraduate nursing and health care students with an opportunity to practice and improve on their communication, group facilitation, and leadership skills. SMILE also provides community participants access to an arts and health education workshop. Method: The SMILE project was evaluated using a qualitative approach to identify effects to student and community participant learning. Results: The SMILE evaluation highlighted a key theme: Helping to Learn, Learning to Help. Students identified SMILE as an opportunity to learn how to help and community members recognized and valued their role in helping students learn. Conclusion: This article provides an overview of the SMILE program and report on the evaluation findings.