| Community Service |
Community Outreach Activities |
|
Office of Community & Educational Outreach |
 |
| UT-Houston Home |
| Planning Office Home |
The Office of the Vice President for Community & Educational Outreach was developed in 2001 to consolidate InterCon activities previously funded through the Office of Equal Access and Equity, and activities of the former Office of Community Outreach & Education. The office also serves to expand the university’s community-based educational and outreach activities in both the greater Houston area and in the state of Texas.
InterCon
Texas Mexico Border Health Services
Greater Houston AHEC
Health Education Training Center Alliance of Texas
Acres Homes
Texas-Mexico Border Health Services
The Texas-Mexico Border Health Services projects were designed to assist with desperately needed medical and dental services, health professional education, health promotion and disease-prevention education. These health care projects are serving a major segment of the Texas population that would otherwise not have access to such services. The overall impact of this initiative is a health care delivery system that is exceeding the initial goals of serving the unserved and underserved population along the border. The Texas-Mexico Border Coordinator’s Office provides daily management of the projects and serves as a liaison among UT-Houston, UT System Administration and other relevant persons and agencies located along the Texas-Mexico border who are affiliated with the project. The coordinator has chaired the UT System Texas-Mexico Border Health Advisory Council for four years. Following are some of their achievements:
The Starr County Services Project has led to the identification of a major gene that predisposes Mexican-Americans to adult-onset diabetes. This discovery promises earlier and better treatment. The project provides free intensive physical exams and follow ups involving glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and hypertension screening, specialized eye exams and ultrasound evaluations to Mexican-Americans along the border.
The Medical Mobile Clinic is nationally known for health care services and education provided along the border to residents in the colonias. The mobile clinic gives UT-Houston medical, nursing and nurse practitioner students valuable clinical experience while providing much needed health care to this federally designated Medically Underserved Area and Health Professions Shortage Area. In FY 2002, the clinic provided primary health care and health education to 4,711 patients and gave 2,366 immunizations to children. Thirty-two UT-Pan American nursing students participated in clinical rotations on the van.
The Interactive Distance Learning Project for elementary students in border colonias was initiated in January 2002. Physicians who are academic fellows in the UT-Houston Medical School’s department of family practice presented health education programs via videoconferencing to over 150 fifth graders on topics including hygiene and nutrition, birth and heredity, death and dying, skin care and drug and alcohol abuse. The fifth graders are located 385 miles away in the colonia of Las Milpas, three miles from the Mexico border. The program is being expanded due to its success.
A joint project between UT-Houston and UT-Pan American led to the development of low-literacy, culturally sensitive health promotion brochures in Spanish and English on the topics of anemia and menopause. These brochures are being distributed to the clinics and hospitals throughout the border region to provide patient education in areas that had a serious lack in health promotional materials in Spanish.
Through the Dental Branch Public Health Program, Dental Branch residents provide dental care and education to the underserved in the colonias.
The School of Nursing developed seven research-based diabetes patient education videotapes (English and Spanish) for Hispanic diabetic adults. The tapes are distributed free to border community/migrant health centers and hospitals. In addition, the videotapes have been digitized and placed on the UT-Houston web site for broader dissemination to patients and health care providers. Since 1986, continuing education offerings have been presented by the School of Nursing through a coordinated effort with 15 Rio Grande Valley health care agencies. Nurses and other health care professionals residing along the Texas-Mexico border receive monthly educational programs. Continuing nursing education contact hours are provided to participants at no cost. A border project initiated through the School of Nursing is assisting hospitalized Hispanic patients in pain management. Prior to this project, little research had examined pain experiences in Hispanic patients although reports indicated they are at higher risk for poor pain management and receive less medication for reported pain.
Activities of the School of Public Health Binational Border Health Database Project include coordinating efforts of UT-Houston and community and political border organizations to define health problems, health service use and barriers to health service along the border.
Greater Houston AHEC
Through a partnership with the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston’s East Texas Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program, and the Greater Houston AHEC, the office’s health services improve the supply and distribution of health care professionals with an emphasis on primary care, and increases access to quality health care through community/academic partnerships, especially for the medically underserved. AHEC has a great sensitivity to community needs with special attention given to improving the representation of minorities and the disadvantaged in the health professions and meeting the needs of populations with inadequate access or availability of primary care services. The Greater Houston AHEC includes Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery and Waller counties, and provides services such as needs assessment, health careers promotion, continuing education, information dissemination services and community-based education for students in allied health sciences, dentistry, medicine, nursing, nurse practitioner and nurse midwife program, physician assistant studies and social work programs.
Health Education Training Centers Alliance of Texas
Health Education Training Centers Alliance of Texas (HETCAT) is the state-wide collaborative effort of all the medical schools in Texas, along with other educational institutions involved in health professions education. HETCAT membership also includes agencies that have a direct impact on health services in Texas. To date, there are 21 participating educational institutions and 15 state health agencies and organizations in the HETCAT Council. With a federal mandate to serve an area as far as 300 miles from the Texas-Mexico border, HETCAT is committed to the principles of community-determined needs and program priorities.
Acres Homes
To focus community services and educational efforts in the Houston area, UT-Houston established a partnership with the community of Acres Homes. This partnership benefits Acres Homes residents, while providing invaluable learning experiences for UT-Houston students and faculty. The interdisciplinary learning for dental, medical, nursing and public health students fosters sustainable health promotion and disease prevention projects resulting from residents’ input and community needs.
Source: Kathleen Becan-McBride, Office of Community & Educational Outreach