By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Aqui Para Ti
Aqui Para Ti (APT) was created in 2002 to support Latino adolescents who are often raised in a different culture than that of their parents. APT became a certified Health Care Home in2010, and a certified Behavioral Health Home in 2016.
The program serves to consult and educate teens and families about topics such as health, relationships with family and friends, concerns with weight/height, mental health, abuse of drugs and/or alcohol, family planning, and sexual health. The program provides complete physical exams, pregnancy tests, treatment of common diseases, pregnancy care testing, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
This program works closely with the staff of the Family Medicine department and the Whittier Clinic where the program is located. The program is funded by the Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative of the Minnesota Department of Health. Aqui Para Ti is also closely affiliated with the Between Us Initiative, another Latino teen focused program that helps build communication between teens and their parents.
Aqui Para Ti currently has 300+ active patients with 70 new patients added each year.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Food for Health
In partnership with a health clinic, UNM screened diabetic patients who had a HGA1c over 7 (indicating that their diabetes is not under control) for food insecurity. Patients who screened positive were considered to be food insecure, and were referred to a healthy food center. The goal was to educate patients on healthy eating to see if diabetes can be better controlled.
Hospital resources used for this program included a community health worker who did the screenings during clinical visits. The hospital also worked with Roadrunner Food Bank and Healthy Foods Center, who provided patients and their families with food on a weekly basis.
The program resulted in consistent access to fresh fruits and vegetables for patients and families, allowing for increased intake of healthy food. Program surveys saw a 33% increase in reports of eating fruits/vegetables “more than once a day”. Surveys also showed increased self-reported health outcomes (from 78% poor/terrible to 80% very good/good), and improved quality of life indicators (27% increase in reports of “never” being kept from usual activities due to poor mental of physical health).
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on The Food Shelf @ HCMC
The Food Shelf @ HCMC was started to address hunger and food insecurity among patients and families, with a long-term vision of creating a hunger-free hospital where all patients have the healthy food they need for their well-being.
The program serves patients and families who receive care at the primary care and specialty care clinics located within the hospital and/or at one of the hospital’s community clinics. Volunteers help package inventory and fill sturdy bags with healthful groceries. The bags are then delivered to the each participating clinic and are available for staff to give to patients/families in need.
The Food Shelf @ HCMC staff work closely with clinic staff in different departments to make sure they provide options that meet patients’ nutritional needs related to specific health conditions. The staff work with a variety of community partners to make sure they are able to provide both non-perishable foods for those with limited access to food storage as well as fresh produce and other foods to those with adequate food storage options. A major partner is Feeding America’s Second Harvest Heartland, which distributes food to food shelves throughout the state. Food is packaged in sturdy, handled bags which can be managed on public transportation, and are filled with items tailored to specific patient populations.
The Food Shelf @ HCMC serves nearly 30,000 households composed of approximately 90,000 individuals each year. More than half of the individuals served are children.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on West 25th Street Community Transformation
MetroHealth’s mission is a healthier community. In addition to good health care, for individuals and families to become healthier they need affordable and safe housing, access to fresh nourishing food, and employment. MetroHealth is taking steps to revitalize the neighborhood surrounding the hospital campus. As MetroHealth embarks on a multi-million-dollar campus transformation that includes a new hospital, it is focusing on the growth of residential, commercial, and retail development in the area. The five-year goal is to revitalize the neighborhood to attract new residents and commerce by improving public transportation, offering a mix of moderate and market rate housing, and stimulating job growth so current residents can move on up, not out.
The largest concentration of Hispanics in Ohio is in the neighborhoods surrounding MetroHealth Medical Center, and median incomes are close to the federal poverty level for most families. MetroHealth, a primary anchor in the community, is the largest employer on the west side of Cleveland. To accelerate revitalization, MetroHealth is creating the CCH Development Corporation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), which will secure funding from private and public sources. It will acquire land and other assets, construct residential and commercial buildings, own and manage real estate, and have the authority to form legal partnerships with private and public entities.
Many hospital departments, such as Arts in Medicine, Aamoth Family Wellness Center, and specific specialties will provide programs and care to enhance lives and ensure better health. MetroHealth also is working with private, governmental, and nonprofit partners to promote economic and community development.
The economic and community development activities will contribute to population health. There will be “placemaking” enhancements to improve the quality of life of residents and those who come to work, visit, shop, and play in the West 25th Street neighborhood.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on VIDA!
Recognizing the health disparities present in neighborhoods surrounding The MetroHealth System’s main campus, a community coalition of residents, community organizations, and Latina faith leaders came together to envision a “healthy community.” The VIDA! program resulted from this engagement, with an initial focus on promoting healthy cultural cooking practices in the local Hispanic community. The goal of the program is to train representatives from local Hispanic congregations as Community Health Cooks, who then go forward to educate others within their networks about healthy cooking practices and foundational healthy lifestyle principles.
This is a train-the-trainer program, focused on training Latina women from local Hispanic churches as Community Health Cooks, emphasizing healthy and culturally appropriate meals. MetroHealth works with a local Hispanic female chef and health coach to implement the program. This cadre of trained, lay leaders then extend the lessons of healthy cultural cooking practices to individuals and families throughout their faith community networks. The program emphasizes affordable, accessible, nutritional, and culturally appropriate meals that bring people together around a family table. MetroHealth provides staffing to coordinate the program and covers the costs of training the Community Health Cooks (instructor, food, supplies, curriculum). Participating churches provide food, space, and other in-kind support once the cooks are trained.
In a venture related to VIDA!, MetroHealth began a farm stand on its main campus to provide fresh produce to employees and local residents, working with the same Latina chef that trained the Community Health Cooks. Various internal departments were involved with this effort including Strategy and Nutrition Services. MetroHealth’s Center for Reducing Health Disparities was also integral in the planning and launch of the VIDA! program. Externally, a coalition of residents and community organizations, including the Hispanic Alliance, Cleveland Department of Public Health, Family Ministry Center, and others helped to design the program. Numerous local churches are partners in implementing the program.
Eleven women from four churches have been trained as Community Health Cooks in the initial cohort. Pre- and post-tests were administered to assess health behaviors, consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, and cooking attitudes and efficacy. Participants reported positive impacts including weight loss, blood pressure and blood glucose control, and adoption of healthier lifestyle practices around eating and active living for themselves and their families.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Better Health Through Housing
The Better Health Through Housing pilot grew out of an awareness by UI Health leadership that in order to realize its Health Equity mission, they need to take on the challenge of improving the health of whole communities on the west and south sides of Chicago. UI Health is located about 2 miles from downtown Chicago on the near Westside, in the Illinois Medical District, in one of the highest concentrations of city homelessness. With six other nearby hospitals, the chronically homeless hop from one Emergency Department (ED) to another. The goals of their program are: to create a healthcare-to-housing pilot using the Housing First model; to evaluate the effect of housing on health outcomes, cost, and utilization (this includes studying homelessness as a heath condition); and to promote and advocate for more healthcare-to-housing programs in the Chicago area using a collective impact approach
UI Health pays their partner, the Center for Housing & Health (CHH) $1,000 per member per month. CHH created a housing collaborative consisting of over twenty housing agencies that manage 125-150 one-bedroom apartments scattered throughout the city, as well as three single room occupancy (SRO) facilities that serve as bridge units until permanent supportive housing is located. The agencies work with individual landlords that accept and tolerate patients with mental illness and/or substance abuse. There are two program staff: The Program Director and a Care Coordinator, a licensed clinical social worker who specializes working with the homeless. UI forecasts this will provide housing for between 20-30 chronically homeless patients for a year (last year’s program referred 27 homeless individuals). Identification and referral of homeless patients takes a considerable amount of care coordination, not only internally but with community-based partners. In order to strike a balance between healthcare utilization and medical vulnerability, the program utilizes a “Tumor Board” multidisciplinary team consisting of ED, oncology and psychiatry social workers, ED and psychiatry attending physicians, as well as a CHH program coordinator and an Outreach Worker who locates the patients on the street once they are referred into the program. The program consists of $250,000 of internal annual funding (a combination of both operational and philanthropic dollars).
As a result of the program internal healthcare costs have come down 21% (removing one patient in end-of-life care and the reduction is 67%), ED utilization is down 45% and inpatient admissions have been reduced by 55%. UI Health has also begun identifying the homeless in their patient population, and since 2008 have found over 1,300 homeless patients.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Screening, Mobile Markets, Nutrition Education
Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) includes the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Provident Hospital of Cook County, Oak Forest Health Center, and 16 ambulatory and community health care clinics in the greater Chicago area and suburban Cook County. CCHHS launched a pilot program in 2015 that connected food-insecure patients to fresh produce resources through the Greater Chicago Food Depository. CCHHS uses a two-question food insecurity screening tool during patient intake, and patients who screen positive are given vouchers for fresh produce at mobile produce markets called “FRESH Trucks.” CCHHS also connects food-insecure patients in need of permanent assistance to local Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) resources. CCHHS has also piloted culinary and nutrition education programs to teach patients about healthy eating.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Road to Better Health
The Road to Better Health Coalition (RTBH) was formed in 2008 following a community health assessment that identified serious needs in the areas of teen pregnancy, access to care, obesity and other health-related issues. It also confirmed that the community faced significant health disparities related to race, income and education. Leaders took action and formed RTBH, a coalition of over 70 partners and stakeholders, to identify health priorities for Spartanburg County and improve health outcomes through data-driven decision-making. The current priority areas are access to care, adult oral health, behavioral health, birth outcomes, health equity, obesity prevention and tobacco cessation.
The RTBH Coalition is guided by an Advisory Board that includes key leaders from 18 organizations. The Advisory Board provides leadership and strategic input on the operations and activities of RTBH and serves as the collective decision-making body. RTBH taskforces have been formed to establish goals and monitor progress across each of the priority areas. The hospital and participating organizations leverage partnerships and resources and equally share the expenses of the coalition. Although the RTBH focuses on all residents of Spartanburg County, particular emphasis is placed on disparate populations.
The RTBH Coalition strives to connect and mobilize partners who are working to improve local health outcomes. The hospital along with representatives from academia, non-profits, government, philanthropy, and the business community offer their skills, expertise, and resources to the coalition and are committed to bringing about positive change as engaged members of RTBH taskforces and initiatives.
RTBH stakeholders come together every three years to review and prioritize the critical health issues identified in the Spartanburg Community Indicators Public Health Report. They also convene annually to assess progress toward collective goals. The following initiatives serve as select examples of successful efforts to address community health concerns and reduce healthcare costs.
AccessHealth Spartanburg (AHS) connects uninsured residents to a network of donated care, a medical home, and other services including behavioral health care. The success of AHS has contributed to the decrease in charity costs at Spartanburg Medical Center from $116 million (2008) to $64 million (2016). For every $1.00 invested in AHS, there is $12.62 returned in benefits.
Collaborative efforts among local institutions and multiple community partners have led to a remarkable reduction in teen birth rates. The overall teen birth rate for 15-19 year olds in Spartanburg County decreased by 50% from 2010 – 2016. The most substantial decline occurred among African American females; decreasing by 68% from 2010 to 2016.
Spartanburg County’s County Health Ranking improved from 21st in 2010, to 18th in 2014, to 14th in 2017.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Preventive Food Pantry
Boston Medical Center (BMC) created its Preventive Food Pantry in October 2001 to address hunger-related illnesses and malnutrition among its low-income patient population. Shortly before the Pantry’s opening, a survey found that 1 in every 10 families served at BMC did not know where their next meal was coming from. The Pantry first served Pediatrics and the Women’s Center, as children and pregnant moms were the target population. The other clinical areas were gradually added over a five-year period. It now serves patients from all departments at BMC who have a physician’s referral, a prescription for supplemental food that best promote physical health, prevent future illness, and facilitate recovery.
Striving solely on philanthropy, the Food Pantry provides food to approximately 7,000 people per month. It is open Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, and families can visit twice per month. They receive three to four days’ worth of food each visit, based on their household sizes and dietary restrictions. A key feature is the provision of perishable foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, milk, cheese and eggs – items that are costly and therefore often lacking in a low-income family’s diet.
The Pantry works closely with the Greater Boston Food Bank, receiving an average of 15,000 pounds of food each week. It also benefits from partnerships with companies, local schools, churches and temples that donate food.
Recipient of the 2012 James W. Varnum National Quality Health Care Award, BMC’s food pantry has helped change the lives of many patients and families in a personal and dignified manner. This is evident in the pantry receiving a satisfaction rate of over 90 percent by its clients over the course of its existence.
