Member Highlights: Southwest PA Area Health Education Center, Pittsburgh, PA

NNLM MAR is pleased to share successes of health outreach projects and activities in our region. Learn what your amazing colleagues are doing to increase access to quality health information for the communities they serve. Connections4Health Connections4Health is a program from the Southwest Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center (AHEC) designed to collaborate with community health centers, public libraries and other community-focused organizations to address the broader, unmet social health needs of their patients or patrons. These unmet needs may include food security, employment, housing, or utility assistance. The project began in 2013 when a public health student and AmeriCorps member working at the Birmingham Clinic in Pittsburgh noticed a need to address the social health as well as medical needs of patients during their visit. With the Birmingham Clinic as their initial site, Connections4Health recruited student volunteers, called Community Health Fellows, and began building a database of social service organization from which they could refer patients for support with their individual needs. Rooted in a person-centered philosophy, C4H has two broad goals as its foundation: (1) to help and empower marginalized populations in underserved neighborhoods access the services they need to live healthier; and (2) provide the next generation of health professionals with the tools and experiences to consider the social and environmental context that influences their patien...
Source: NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region Blog - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: Member Highlights Source Type: news