最近一个周六的下午，堪萨斯城的格雷格/克利斯社区中心(Gregg/ kice Community Center)因一位DJ而热闹异常, free food, balloon animals and a bounce house, thanks to community initiative Our Healthy Jackson County. Amid the family fun, 居民还接受了癌症筛查、疫苗接种和各种其他免费保健服务.
Led by Jannette Berkley-Patton, M.A., Ph.D., director of the UMKC Health Equity Institute, 社区倡议致力于促进公平和获得疫苗接种及其他保健和社区服务. Formerly Our Healthy Kansas City Eastside, 该计划已将其服务和社区足迹扩展到整个杰克逊县, thanks in part to Jackson County, which awarded $5 million in funding for the next phase of the program.
According to Berkley-Patton, it’s a great example of collaboration among UMKC, Jackson County, neighborhood leaders and the business sector.
“First and foremost, 它向县行政长官弗兰克·怀特和杰克逊县立法机构的其他成员说明，杰克逊县存在着需要解决的重大健康差距,” Berkley-Patton said. “我们有服务不足的人群，他们告诉我们这些服务对他们有多重要.”
怀特参加了周六的活动，并指出该倡议已成为社区的宝贵资源.
“Dr. Berkley-Patton和她合作的团体在让人们走出来，拥有自己的健康方面做得很好,” he said. “This is a legacy for us all that we can be proud of. When you see how many people have turned out here today, it tells you how many people lack access to health care.”
扩大倡议的启动活动提供了各种免费医疗服务, including COVID-19, flu and HPV vaccinations; blood pressure and blood sugar checks; mental health, STI, cancer and dental screenings; and smoking cessation resources. 那些利用这些服务的人因参与而获得现金奖励.
周六来打COVID-19和流感疫苗的一名社区成员是 Kansas City civic leader and former City Council member, Alvin Brooks.
“I’m 91 and I want to stay healthy,” Brooks said. “God has been good to me, and this is me trying to be good to myself. 我很高兴在这里看到这么多非洲裔美国人. I know so many of them. This is certainly a success. There was a line out the door.”
Indeed, the success of the first phase has been clear. Our Healthy Kansas City Eastside provided 12,942 vaccinations and delivered 4,152 instances of health services in 2021 and 2022. At the most recent Our Healthy Jackson County event, nearly 170 community members attended and 141 received vaccines. 但是，伯克利-巴顿直接从社区成员那里收到的反馈也证明了成功的证据.
伯克利-巴顿说:“我记得我和一位刚当上祖母的女士聊过。. “她对接种COVID-19疫苗感到非常兴奋，因为她知道她不仅在保护自己, but also protecting her grandchild that she was so eager to see.”
堪萨斯城的家庭保健工作者拉托尼亚·德鲁(Latonya Drew)周六在接待她时也表达了同样的看法 vaccine. She had her clients’ health and well-being in mind as she got her shot. She said she appreciated that the initiative is brought to the neighborhoods where people live.
“This is good for people who don’t have transportation to get here,” Drew said. “Coming here, you get a lot of information, and you get to know your community.”
UMKC健康科学的学生和教师在为杰克逊县居民免费提供这些基本服务方面发挥着不可或缺的作用. Students and faculty from the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, 护理与健康研究和药剂学在现场提供检查, vaccinations and answering health questions.
“你有多少次可以直接走到医生面前问个问题，而不需要等待预约?” Berkley-Patton asked. “在人们经常和信任的环境中获得这种程度的医疗服务提供者可以带来很大的不同.”
According to Berkley-Patton, the experience is pivotal for UMKC health sciences students, providing them with a better understanding of the importance of preventive care. Through providing screenings and health-care education, 学生们看到一个人生活中的小干预如何对整体健康产生持久的影响. 该活动还为学生提供了在社区工作的机会, where they hear first-hand the effects of social determinants of health, such as transportation issues, food insecurity or lack of insurance.
Student Micah Anderson (Pharm.D. 她第一次接触这个项目是在当地的杂货店里. 她正在购物，碰巧看到了该组织的一个原始活动. She has lived all her life in Jackson County, 看到UMKC的人回馈她的社区是一种变革.
“It was really impactful,” Anderson said. “Seeing 我在密苏里大学堪萨斯分校的同学和教职员工帮助我在杂货店和药房看到的人.”
As soon as the opportunity to volunteer with the organization came up, Anderson jumped at the chance to help her community.
安德森说:“这些人激励着我，鼓励着我追求药学。. “This opportunity is really important to me, 用我在密苏里大学堪萨斯分校学到的技能和临床知识来回报那些为我付出这么多的人.”
周六，安德森进行了连续三个小时的血糖和血压检查.
“We’ve been really busy,” she said. “We haven’t stopped the entire time.”
Third-year pharmacy student Jessica Thomas spent the event giving vaccinations.
“这让我觉得药剂师在我们的社区真的有一个角色，”托马斯说. “我们正在对社区的健康产生影响，我喜欢这一点.”
参与“我们的健康杰克逊县”的卫生保健提供者也在帮助解决堪萨斯城糖尿病发病率上升以及该地区婴儿死亡率高的问题, an issue Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has identified statewide. 伯克利-巴顿对启动该组织新的孕产妇保健项目感到兴奋, 为育龄妇女提供计划生育咨询，并立即预约大学妇女保健诊所的妇产科医生.
该组织采用一种独特的方法来建立“我们的健康杰克逊县”的结构, 将社区利益相关者与在这些社区中建立的UMKC专家进行配对.
“I have been doing community-伯克利-巴顿说:“我在UMKC从事了近20年的研究. “I am born and raised in Kansas City, so to be able to do this work in my own backyard gives me goosebumps. 看到成千上万的人获得COVID-19疫苗接种和急需的健康筛查, seeing the hundreds of volunteers coming together, 这是让我兴奋的东西，增加了我对我们所做的工作的热情.”