The goals of the partnership are: to support community advocacy and programs that empower community members to become active participants in their own health and their community's health; to foster health promotion and protection in the community based on a collaborative, interdisciplinary health team approach; and, to develop among health professions students' knowledge, skills, and values in community-based approaches to health and in working with communities and community groups.
The partnership has undertaken various activities: a) documented the community's health status by having medical students analyze medical records at a nearby community health center; b) nursing students conducted a community health needs' assessment; c) dentistry students conducted a survey on the community's oral health knowledge and practices; d) health education and occupational therapy students have performed their practice at the HPU site offering workshops on numerous topics to individuals and groups: and, e) based on community concerns and at their request, medical students have conducted surveys to determine residents' satisfaction with the HPU's work, and to assess the use of alternative medicine in the community. A community health fair offered by the faculty and students from the six schools at the UPR Medical Sciences Campus (public health, nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and allied health) in conjunction with the HPU is being planned for the spring of 2000. In addition, for the past four years, community members have come to campus to present their community development work to students as a viable model for community empowerment and action.
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the community-academic partnership between the Cantera community and the UPR School of Public Health; 2. Discuss the partnerships'development, objectives and activities; 3. Assess to what extent the partnership model can be replicated to address health needs in other poor Latino communities
Keywords: Community Participation, Community Outreach
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.