263617 Community Partnership: Developed programs to provide English Acquisition students the opportunity to explore health care careers

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM

Victoria Montero, MPH , Community Health Department, St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network, Bethlehem, PA
Melissa Craig, RN , Community Health Department, St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network, Bethlehem, PA
George Maunz, M Ed , Community Health Department, St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network, Bethlehem, PA
Isairi Sanchez, AAS , Community Health Department, St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network, Bethlehem, PA
Background: English as a Second Language (ESL) high school students who have difficulty acquiring needed English language skills lack opportunities to pursue meaningful careers in a health care setting. Purpose: Out of the partnership that was developed between the Bethlehem Area School District, St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network, and the Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board, Inc., a School-To-Work (STW) program and other health career exploratory programs, the Health Career Exploration (HCEP) and Next Step(NSP) programs, were developed to provide an avenue for at-risk students to increase graduation rates, improve English language skills, explore healthcare careers, provide work experience, develop job seeking and job keeping skills as well as to diversify the healthcare workforce. Significance: Over the past 14 years the partnerships have been committed to improving educational achievement for at-risk youth, and the programs have grown into a multi-year step approach that is aimed at academic achievement, career exploration, and job skill development. Findings/Results: 95% of the STW participants graduated high school. 74% enrolled in post-secondary education, with 27% having completed college degrees and 43% employed in health related careers. 100% of the HCEP participants graduated from high school and 45% of the NSP participants have obtained unsubsidized employment. Since the programs inception, twenty-one former participants are currently employed by St. Luke's Hospital. Conclusion: As a result of these partnerships, ESL students have been given the opportunity to explore a wide variety of careers in the healthcare field, pursue higher education, and have diversified the healthcare workforce.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Diversity and culture
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health administration or related administration

Learning Objectives:
1.Describe the development of the St. Luke’s Hospital Adolescent Career Mentoring Programs. 2.Identify strategies to develop a partnership targeting at-risk youths in collaboration with a school district and local workforce investment board, and other local organizations. 3.Identify effective strategies to work with at-risk English as a Second Language Students. 4.Demonstrate the long-term effect of the St. Luke’s Hospital Adolescent Career Mentoring Programs upon the target population.

Keywords: Partnerships, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have a masters degree in public health and I am the program coordinator of the St. Luke's Hospital Adolescent Career Mentoring Programs presented in this abstract. I have presented nationally on adolscent and youth health and have published in numerous peer reviewed professional journals on this topic.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.