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Waters College of Health Professions > Tactical Athlete Initiative > Research

Research

The faculty research team is composed of faculty in the Waters College of Health Professions, the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, and the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health. The faculty work in a collaborative effort to take on health and wellness in a holistic approach by implementing programming, presenting and publishing research, and preparing grants geared toward improving the health of our first responders.   

“It is critical for us to use evidence-based research when making changes to our physical training program.  The GS Tactical Athlete program was key in assisting us in updating our training practices to be more effective and reduce injuries..” – Major Hal Braswell, GPSCT

Grant Funded Projects

Improving De-escalation Skills Among Recruits Through Mental &
Physical Training

The integrated mental health initiative creates a wellness curriculum for use with cadets that frames officer mental health through the perspective of resiliency, mindfulness, awareness, physical training, injury-prevention and occupational task preparedness.

Sponsored By: Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Grant in partnership with Georgia Public Safety Training Center GPSTC

Principle Investigator: Bridget Melton, Ed.D.

Rural Regional Mental Health & Wellness Training Program

The goal of the Statesboro-Bulloch County Rural Regional Mental Health & Wellness Training Program is to increase awareness and access to mental health and wellness resources for law enforcement officers and non-sworn personnel.

Sponsored By: Department of Justice Community Office of Policing COPS grant in partnership with Statesboro Police Department

Principle Investigator: Richard Cleveland, Ph.D.

Student Research

  • Nicholas Hunt (in progress): “Occupational Apparatus and Fatigue Among Firefighters”
  • Petra Kiss (in progress): “Occupational Task in Firefighters and Blance”
  • Alyssa Fail (in progress): “Chronotypes and Law Enforcement Officers”
  • Kayden Lowe (in progress): “Hypertension Among Municipal Workers”

Completed Student Research

Last updated: 2/22/2024

Clinical Internship/Practicum Experience Update

Many of the clinical programs offered by the Waters College of Health Professions require a clinical internship or practicum experience to fulfill degree requirements.  Pursuant to the University's legal agreements, participants in clinical experiences are required to abide by the workplace rules of the clinical site. The University is aware of recent federal requirements that would mandate vaccination against COVID-19 for those working in certain settings, including health care. At this time, we expect that these new requirements may significantly impact our ability to locate a placement for students who remain unvaccinated. As always, WCHP will continue to make every effort to place students at clinical sites. However, please be aware that we may be unable to locate a site to accept unvaccinated students, which may cause a delay or inability to progress and complete the program of study.

Waters College of Health Professions • chp@georgiasouthern.edu

Armstrong Campus: Dept #4073 • 11935 Abercorn Street Savannah, GA • Tel: 912-344-2565

Statesboro Campus: PO Box 8073 Statesboro, GA • Tel: 912-478-5322 • Fax: 912-478-5349