A Public & Environmental Health Community Partnership
January 14, 2008University of Maryland School of Nursing
What is H3?
A Public Health Nursing Center Helping build bridges to a healthy community
Vision: Safe, healthy, vibrant, & sustainable Pigtown
Mission: To provide public health nursing interventions that strengthen the health of people, places, and spaces in Pigtown
Objectives:1. Healthy People
2. Healthy Homes
3. Healthy Community
Key H3 Strategies
Bridging Public & Environmental Health
Social Embeddedness
Social-Ecological Theory
Community Collaboration
Service Learning Model
Unbound Clinical/Practicum Experiences
Bridging Public & Environmental Health
Helping faculty, students, and the community understand the relationship among:
• health status
• health behavior
• social and physical environment assets
• social and environmental hazards
Social Embeddedness
Refers to how closely a university is connected with the community that surrounds it.
H3 is trying to build community connections as two-way relationships
It seeks mutually beneficial partnerships so that the university and the community are equal stakeholders and beneficiaries in any collaborative project.
Socio-Ecological Theory
Examines the multiple effects and interrelatedness of social elements in an environment. Allows for engaging in multi-level, multi-sector partnerships and activities that are more likely to sustain promotion & prevention efforts over time than any single intervention.
a continuum of activities that address multiple
Community Collaboration
Collaboration is a mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship entered into by two or more organizations to achieve common goals.
The relationship includes: a commitment to: a definition of mutual relationships
and goal; a jointly developed structure and shared responsibility; mutual authority and accountability for success; and sharing of resources and rewards.
Service Learning
A structured learning experience that combines community service with preparation and reflection.
Students engaged in service-learning provide community service in response to community-identified concerns & learn about the context in which service is provided, the connection between their service and their academic coursework, and their roles as citizens.
Clinical experiences that do not confine student experiences to one site
Focuses on a population (geographic &/or phenomenologically
Rather than structured “lock step” approaches, encourages students to identify and follow pathways to solutions beyond boundaries
Encourages students to work with a wide array of key informants, organizations and agencies
Unbound Clinicals
Property
Residential Property:
Majority are rental; increasing numbers of evictions; high rates of vacant properties; large portions of income spent on rent; some new upper income development occurring
Commercial Property:
Long history of industrial use and soil contamination; many vacant/few being rehabilitated; stadiums are here; slots are coming
Who lives in Pigtown?
Population – 5,700 residents
Racially diverse- a community equally comprised of African Americans and Caucasians.
Poor- Household incomes far below Baltimore City, Maryland and the nation.
Unemployed- Rates higher than Baltimore City and Maryland.
Undereducated- Lower rates of high school graduates and GEDs; higher dropout rates.
How is their health?
Teen birth rate doubled between 2000 and 2004.
LBW, pre-term births, lack of prenatal care rates are high
High rates of drug addiction.
Student performance significantly declines in middle and high school (high absentee and dropout rates)
Elementary school children not receiving equitable quality education
High rates of youth involvement in criminal justice system
High rates of domestic violence
Assets
Pride in neighborhood history and sense of community Diversity: racially, economically, socially Plethora of non-profit community service organizations Inter-agency collaboration Neighborhood associations Carroll Park Early childhood education, elementary and middle
schools, community schools
Community Partners
H3 Initiative
Health
Diggs-JohnsonMiddle School
St. Jerome'sHead Start
PowerhouseChurch
U of MarylandSchool of
Social Work
WPNPC
George WashingtonElementary
School
Paul's Place
Sister'sAcademy
People's CHC@ Open
Gates
Friends ofCarrollPark
System Partners
Baltimore City Health Department
Baltimore City Sanitation Department
Baltimore Recreation and Parks Department
Maryland Department of the Environment
Others
Sampling of Initiatives
Environmental Justice Grant from EPA with WPNPC Clean It Like You Mean It Campaign Green It Like You Mean It Campaign Redeem It Like You Mean It Campaign Earth Day Celebration Workshop (Baltimore City, Md Dept
of Environment & WPNPC)
Pigtown Pocket Parks (WPNPC, PP, GWES)
Pigtown Power Kids Health Screening (GWES, PP, Head Start, Sisters Academy)
Green Thumb Project (George Washington Elem School)
And a few more
Nurses Wednesday Clinic at Paul’s Place Outreach Center
Evening Harm Reduction Clinic (Power House Church)
Pigtown Festival Screening and First Aid (Citizens of Pigtown)
National Night Out Violence Prevention Event (WPNPC)
Sisters Academy Life Skills Classes
Head Start Annual Classroom Environmental Assessments (St. Jerome’s HS)
In the Planning Stages• EH PACE (BCHD Office of Healthy Homes & WPNPC)• Walkability Map• Community Schools Health Festival & B&O RR Museum