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HRET Health Research & Educational Trust of New Jersey
ResearchHRET Community Outreach Awards
| Category 1: | | Preventing Disease and Injury | | Winner: | | Broadway House for Continuing Care - Newark AIDS Consortium | | Program Name: | | A.C.E. - AIDS Community Education | | Contact Person: | | Jeanine M. Reilly, RNC, LNHA
Executive Director
298 Broadway
Newark, NJ 07104
Phone: 973-268-9797
Fax: 973-268-1314
E-Mail: reillyje@umdnj.edu
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Description Of Winning Program:
The A.C.E. – AIDS Community Education Project is a four-session HIV/AIDS prevention education program delivered annually to a minimum 1,000 at-risk Newark public school 4th-12th grade students and their teachers. The program is being implemented by the Broadway House for Continuing Care, an affiliate of University Hospital/UMDNJ in collaboration with the Newark public school system, American Red Cross of Metro N.J., the United Way of Essex and West Hudson and the N.J. AIDS partnership. The program, which was developed in response to an identified community need, targets a vulnerable population of children and helps increase their sensitivity and knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS, reduce their unsafe sexual and substance abuse practices and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, which is a rising epidemic in New Jersey. The program teaches better decision making strategies and uses didactic training by the students’ trained teachers on HIV/AIDS prevention health topics and on-site experimental education with BHCC staff and residents. The program’s positive outcomes have led to its expansion beyond the pilot phase. Standardization of the program’s curriculum and materials has created opportunities for its replication statewide. The lack of HIV prevention education in Newark public schools and elsewhere in New Jersey, coupled with the rising incidence of HIV/AIDS, have made replicability of the program a high priority.
| Category 2: | | Improving Access and Quality of Care |
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| Winner: | | Hunterdon Healthcare System |
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| Program Name: | | Latino Healthcare Initiative of Hunterdon Healthcare System |
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| Contact Person: | | George Roksvaag, MD
Vice President - Physician Practices
2100 Wescott Drive
Flemington, NJ 08822
Phone: 908-788-6575
Fax: 908-237-5439
E-Mail: Roksvaag.george@hunterdonhealthcare.org
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Description Of Winning Program:
Latino Healthcare Initiative of Hunterdon Healthcare System was designed to improve access of Latino communities to healthcare services through minimizing their barriers to accessing care, identified by a task force created by the county freeholders. The five major healthcare barriers of Latinos were lack of: translation services, knowledge of available services, trust in healthcare agencies, primary care physicians and healthcare coverage. To overcome these barriers, Hunterdon Healthcare System developed an initiative that bundled five programs targeting Latino patients, including Latino Well Child Clinics – Medical Home Model (in Lambertville and Flemington), Latino Prenatal Health Literacy Initiative, Latino Diabetes Patient Education and Nutritional Counseling Program, Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center Latino Outreach program and Hunterdon Regional Community Health Latino Outreach Program. The successful outcomes of these programs included: over 700 child well visits; increased awareness in Latino communities about available services; increased enrollment of Latino children in Medicaid and NJFamilyCare; establishment of primary care medical homes; improved compliance with appointments; reduced language and transportation barriers; increased use of prenatal care and education on childbirth and infant care; improved weight loss management and daily exercise and reduced diabetes complications; increased cancer screenings and timely linkages to follow-up services,; increased community health awareness and education; and improved trust and quality care experience for Latino communities.
| Category 3: | | Reducing Healthcare Disparities |
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| Winner: | | South Jersey Healthcare: Regional Medical Center |
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| Program Name: | | Open Arms for Healthy Moms and Babies |
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| Contact Person: | | Michelle Torchia, MD
Director of Women's Health
1550 West Sherman Ave.
Vineland, NJ 08360
Phone: 609-247-3271
Fax: 856-455-3144
E-Mail: mtorchiamd@aol.com
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Description Of Winning Program:
Open Arms for Healthy Moms and Babies is a perinatal initiative designed to address health disparities in birth outcomes. Current health statistics show increasing and significantly high rates of infant mortality in Cumberland County, with Hispanic and African American newborns disproportionately affected. This program was developed through a partnership between South Jersey Healthcare Regional Medical Center and Community Health Care (a federally qualified health center) to address this problem and target its root causes. The Women Centers of Bridgeton and Vineland provide comprehensive obstetrical care to approximately 1,500 medically underserved women annually, as well as care for poor and uninsured families that are predominantly African American, Hispanic and migrant farm workers. The complex social, economic and healthcare needs of these women are addressed through a carefully crafted network of providers and services, including easy entry to prenatal care and comprehensive medical/dental/pharmacy services. The program addresses problems of teen pregnancy, substance abuse and other issues through culturally competent outreach, education and support. Women are given incentives to seek early prenatal care, be compliant with prenatal tests and visits and return after the birth for postpartum and pediatric care. The program has shown dramatic impact in the community, including unprecedented increase in attendance at family centers as well as increasing number of mothers seeking post-partum care for their families.
| Category 4: | | Programs with Budgets Less Than $50,000 |
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| Winner: | | Princeton Healthcare System - University Medical Center at Princeton |
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| Program Name: | | Community Vision Services Outreach |
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| Contact Person: | | Alan Axelrod
Director, Community Education and Outreach Program
253 Witherspoon Street
Princeton, NJ 08540
Phone: 609-688-2790
Fax: 609-924-7621
E-Mail: aaxelrod@princetonhcs.org
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Description Of Winning Program:
Community Vision Services Outreach was developed by the Princeton Healthcare System’s Community Education and Outreach Program (PHCS/CEOP), following a major community need identified regarding a shortage of vision services accessible to the area’s uninsured and underinsured populations, especially in Mercer County. During community health fairs, they found vision exams were the most sought-after services offered and that no resources were available for free eyeglasses for people who received prescriptions at vision screenings. The PHCS/CEOP developed a partnership with the Latin American Task Force and the N.J. Commission for the Blind Project Prevention Unit and Lens Crafters Gift of Sight Program to meet the need for vision and eye exams in the community. The program put together a coordinated plan with the help of area faith-based groups and social service organizations to take vision screenings out to the uninsured and underinsured. Through many screenings held during 2006 and 2007, over 700 people were screened and about 300 eye glasses were delivered. Also, many individuals suspected of having glaucoma were identified and referred to appropriate service sites. As a result of this vision screening program, PHCS became the only N.J. Commission for the Blind “fixed site” in Mercer County.
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