The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #50272

Kim Williams, MA, Vision for Health Consortium, 1137 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore, MD 21217, 410-728-8230, fmargolin@aha.org

Vision for Health Consortium (VFH) addresses health concerns in Sandtown-Winchester, an underserved African-American neighborhood in West Baltimore. Partners include the Baltimore City Health Department, the two major hospitals in the vicinity, a dental school and a nursing school, and a health plan. VFH also collaborates with partnerships focused on education and economic redevelopment in Sandtown-Winchester. When VFH began, programs focused on critically needed services such as immunizations, dental screening and prevention for neighborhood children, and door-to-door health outreach. In the last two years, these efforts have been expanded in response to community demand and newly targeted needs identified in local assessments. One major effort has been the creation of the nation's first health clinic for uninsured men. The clinic offers not only primary care and preventive services, but also dental care, addition counseling, pharmacy referral, and health education and wellness promotion. The community response has been greater than even expected. One result of its success has been the recognition by VFH of the need for services for men re-entering the neighborhood after incarceration. Under a new pilot program, a staff member begins working with individual men in the weeks prior to their release, to help them make a successful transition to life outside. Another relatively new VFH program area is violence prevention. Community residents came to VFH with concerns about violence, particularly related to youth, and have not only suggested but also designed and implemented activities for the neighborhood and the entire city, supported by VFH staff.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to

• Describe how an inner city neighborhood partnership has addressed questions of health and quality of life.
• List several effective methods for outreach within an urban community.
• Understand how a partnership can modify its agenda to respond to needs expressed by the community.

Keywords: Community Participation, Urban Health Care

Related Web page: www.communitycare.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.