"We have come to count on working with Bridging the Gaps interns every year … our interns have significantly contributed to the research, writing and advocacy in which PCCY engages that has, in turn, touched the lives of many children in the region."
Students/Projects/Sites: 152 students participated in 69 projects at 68 sites in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Professional Disciplines: Medicine, public health, dental medicine, veterinary medicine, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology, creative arts in therapy, pharmacy, and law.
Service Days: Students provided 3,985 days of health-related service.
Participating Institutions: Drexel University, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Temple University, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, and University of the Sciences. The Lehigh Valley students participated in Philadelphia’s core curricular sessions.
Types of Sites Served: Community organization offices, day camps, community health center/clinics, in the field/community, recreation center, shelters (homeless or other), geriatric activities center/living facility, and in the hospital clinic.
Student Activities:* Health-related client education, planning health activities, community social activities, research on health issues, assessing community resources, community outreach, advocacy activities, development or administration of surveys, literacy activities, and linking clients with health resources.
Population Demographics: Mixture of females and males; all ages (project dependent); mixture of races/ethnicities, but predominantly African-American; principally English-speaking.
Community Health Issues:* Diet and nutrition, exercise, cardiovascular health, mental health, oral health, access to health care, poverty, and communication.
Community Preceptor Orientation: The Community Preceptor Orientation took place on June 6, 2016, at The Salvation Army’s Divisional Headquarters in North Philadelphia. In addition to providing attending preceptors with core curriculum, highlights and program updates, this year a veteran community preceptor led an interactive session about Community Preceptors' views.
Didactic Sessions: Students from across the city received a full-day orientation on June 22, 2016, and spent each subsequent Wednesday in didactic sessions. Orientation and core curriculum sessions included the following: Program Overview; Mural Arts; SHARE; Safety; Introduction of Resource Fair; Risk Management & Social Media; Rationale and Resources for Two Focus Areas: Cardiovascular and Dental Diseases; Bridging the Gaps Evaluation Overview; Workshop: Class Consciousness; Healthy People in a Healthy Philadelphia; Professional Practice with Cultural Humility; Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Service Center; Health Literacy; Mandated Reporting; “I’m just a patient": Two Perspectives on Healthcare; The Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic: An Opportunity to Impact Safer Prescribing for Our Patients and Communities; Addressing the Consequences of Substance Abuse: The Nuts and Bolts of Harm Reduction and Syringe Exchange; Firearm Violence: A Public Health Issue; Building Resilience; and None of Us Are Home Until All of Us Are Home.
In addition, on the morning of June 29, 2016, all students attended one of seven skill-building workshops designed to help students acquire skills directly relevant to their projects: Engaging Youth in Summer Programming; Fostering Resilience Through Art Making; Understanding the Families We Serve; Homelessness/Mental Health/Addiction; Observing, Listening, and Sharing: Ideas for Working With Older Adults; The Impact of Immigrant Culture and Status on Access to Health Care; and Working with Adolescents.
Community Resource Session: To give students an understanding of how to access the many existing resources in the city, community organizations were invited to the orientation lunch to share information about their work. Participating community organizations included College of Physicians/Mütter Museum; Lutheran Settlement House (Domestic Violence); Oral Health Resources – University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine; Philadelphia Corporation for Aging; NewCourtland Senior Services; Food Buying Club (APM); The Attic Youth Center; the National Kidney Foundation; PACE.
Oral Health Activities: A dental mentor and registered dental hygienist from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine offered information and resources so that students could conduct oral health education activities at their sites as appropriate. Students continued to have access to oral health supplies. Students reported that 58.8% of community sites participated in oral health activities. Students estimated that they provided health education to 458 children (aged 13 and under), 97 youth (aged 14 to 20) and 433 adults.
Cardiovascular Health Activities: One hundred fifteen (115) out of the 152 BTG CHIP Philadelphia student interns who completed the program and responded to BTG’s cardiovascular activity questionnaire reported to have engaged in cardiovascular educational activities in Philadelphia. This equates to 75.7% of community-based projects throughout the city.
Philadelphia’s Annual Heart Smart Event took place on July 13, 2016, at Thomas Jefferson University. The event provides a way to raise awareness and understanding of cardiovascular health, while celebrating community involvement in BTG. Students, faculty, community preceptors and some clients from participating community organizations attend. In the weeks leading up to the event, BTG students work with community partners (except at sites where the activity is not appropriate) developing colorful posters that illustrate a heart smart theme. On the morning of the event, all the posters created by the community organizations are displayed and attendees vote on their favorites. Winning sites are offered a $100 award. This year, SHARE Food Program, Inc. and To Our Children’s Future with Health had the winning posters.
Annual Symposium: The BTG 26th Annual Symposium took place on September 16, 2016, at The Salvation Army Kroc Center. See details.
Dr. Bernett L. Johnson Jr.
To Our Children’s Future with Health, Inc.