{"id":2333,"date":"2024-12-10T04:50:04","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T04:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/happy-liskov.74-208-176-141.plesk.page\/2024\/?p=2333"},"modified":"2025-01-30T01:28:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T01:28:18","slug":"u-of-a-health-sciences-colleges-ready-willing-to-help-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annualreports.healthsciences.arizona.edu\/2024\/u-of-a-health-sciences-colleges-ready-willing-to-help-community\/","title":{"rendered":"U of A Health Sciences colleges ready, willing to help community"},"content":{"rendered":"

From mobile health units providing services to the uninsured to guiding \u201ctweens\u201d through life\u2019s growing pains,\u00a0University of Arizona Health Sciences<\/b><\/a>\u00a0faculty and staff impact the community in many ways.<\/p>\n

The depth and breadth of outreach isn\u2019t unusual considering public service is part of each college\u2019s mission and the U of A\u2019s mission as a land-grant university.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community is who we serve,\u201d said\u00a0Paloma Beamer, PhD,<\/b>\u00a0interim associate dean for community engagement at the\u00a0University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health<\/b><\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t think we matter if it weren’t for the public or the community. That\u2019s where our passion comes from \u2013 serving the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the U of A Health Sciences, community service and outreach is built into the daily operations of each college. For instance, the\u00a0U of A College of Medicine \u2013 Tucson\u2019s Thomas D. Boyer Liver Institute<\/b><\/a>\u00a0offers free hepatitis C testing and does regular local outreach, including at big, public events. The\u00a0Arizona Arthritis Center<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Sarver Heart Center<\/b><\/a>\u00a0conduct lecture series. Every year, the\u00a0U of A College of Nursing\u2019s<\/b><\/a>\u00a0Nurse Anesthesiology Doctor of Nursing Practice<\/b><\/a>\u00a0program chooses nonprofits to support in what is normally a one-day event, but last year\u2019s partnership with the\u00a0Veteran Village and Reintegration Center<\/b><\/a>\u00a0turned into\u00a0a yearlong project<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Engagement is essential<\/strong><\/p>\n

Community engagement is as vital for researchers and programs as it is to the public, said Dan Combs, MD<\/strong>, an assistant professor in pediatrics at the College of Medicine \u2013 Tucson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of good programs, but if people don\u2019t know about them, it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said. \u201cCommunity outreach is really critical to make sure people get the resources they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Combs, whose research focuses on the impact of sleep apnea and other disorders on children with Down syndrome<\/a>, regularly gives talks to groups such as the\u00a0Southern Arizona Network for Down Syndrome, or SANDS. As a clinical researcher, it provides him access to people who might want to participate in studies and gives parents the hope of new treatments.<\/p>\n

\u201cOutreach gets the awareness out and, in turn, families get more involved with you and that\u2019s where things happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Additionally, outreach gives patients a one-on-one chance to ask specific questions. People sometimes freeze up in a doctor\u2019s office or forget things. They feel freer to talk in a relaxed, informal setting, which also gives Combs much needed input on what is important to people.<\/p>\n

Perhaps at no time was the importance of outreach more evident than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Beamer, a past winner of the Zuckerman College of Public Health\u2019s Community Engagement Scholarship and Practice Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend so much time out in the community, we get to know people. During COVID, so many of the Public Health faculty jumped in,\u201d Beamer said. \u201cWe knew that the students and university would impact the surrounding community we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faculty members offered education<\/b><\/a>, provided guidelines and information about programs and trained and \u00a0implemented contact-tracing teams<\/b><\/a>. Students collaborated with health agencies and community organizations to provide support while mobile health units<\/b><\/a> delivered the vaccine to underserved populations, she said.<\/p>\n

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Mobile health programs are one way the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health helps underserved populations access health screenings and provides important information<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Serving the next generation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Outreach means engaging the next generation, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids deserve to be heard,\u201d said Lindsay Bingham, MPH<\/strong>, psychosocial wellness program coordinator at the \u00a0Zuckerman Family Center for Prevention and Health Promotion<\/b><\/a> in the College of Public Health. \u201cIn our society, kids don\u2019t yet have skills or tools in self-regulating the way adults do. Young people need help navigating these intense feelings with sensitivity and compassion from adults who can show them they\u2019re not alone, and that their experiences are valid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bingham oversees activities for 70-80 fifth and sixth graders that focus on wellness, friendship, bullying, self-esteem, body kindness, media messages and puberty \u2013 life skills to help them navigate their age-specific challenges. U of A students from different colleges serve as mentors.<\/p>\n

Some outreach programs are geared toward getting teens to consider joining health-care fields, such as the College of Medicine \u2013 Phoenix\u2019s<\/b><\/a>\u00a0Scrubs programs<\/b><\/a>, which give high school students the opportunity to explore different careers. Chip Young<\/strong>, who has coordinated the programs for six years, said there\u2019s a waiting list and students from across the state participate.<\/p>\n

In fact, Scrubs alumni have been admitted to the College of Medicine \u2013 Phoenix. The first students are due to graduate next year, said Young, program manager of Pipeline Initiatives for the College of Medicine \u2013 Phoenix.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur medical students and the physicians who volunteer with our programs are able to share their life experiences and show our participants they can get to the career they want,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n

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Thanks to an after-school program through the U of A Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, fifth and sixth graders at Estes Elementary School in the Marana Unified School District are learning valuable life skills.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A sampling of U of A Health Sciences outreach programs<\/b><\/p>\n

U of A Health Sciences colleges run many projects that give back to local communities. This is a sampling of the wide range of outreach programs that exist:<\/p>\n

Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health<\/b><\/p>\n