A Public & Environmental Health Community Partnership

January 14, 2008University of Maryland School of Nursing

What is H3?

A Public Health Nursing Center Helping build bridges to a healthy community

Vision: Safe, healthy, vibrant, & sustainable Pigtown

Mission: To provide public health nursing interventions that strengthen the health of people, places, and spaces in Pigtown

Objectives:1. Healthy People

2. Healthy Homes

3. Healthy Community

Key H3 Strategies

Bridging Public & Environmental Health

Social Embeddedness

Social-Ecological Theory

Community Collaboration

Service Learning Model

Unbound Clinical/Practicum Experiences

Bridging Public & Environmental Health

Helping faculty, students, and the community understand the relationship among:

• health status

• health behavior

• social and physical environment assets

• social and environmental hazards

Social Embeddedness

Refers to how closely a university is connected with the community that surrounds it.

H3 is trying to build community connections as two-way relationships

It seeks mutually beneficial partnerships so that the university and the community are equal stakeholders and beneficiaries in any collaborative project.

Socio-Ecological Theory

Examines the multiple effects and interrelatedness of social elements in an environment. Allows for engaging in multi-level, multi-sector partnerships and activities that are more likely to sustain promotion & prevention efforts over time than any single intervention. 

a continuum of activities that address multiple

Community Collaboration

Collaboration is a mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship entered into by two or more organizations to achieve common goals.

The relationship includes: a commitment to: a definition of mutual relationships

and goal; a jointly developed structure and shared responsibility; mutual authority and accountability for success; and sharing of resources and rewards.

Service Learning

A structured learning experience that combines community service with preparation and reflection.

Students engaged in service-learning provide community service in response to community-identified concerns & learn about the context in which service is provided, the connection between their service and their academic coursework, and their roles as citizens.

Clinical experiences that do not confine student experiences to one site

Focuses on a population (geographic &/or phenomenologically

Rather than structured “lock step” approaches, encourages students to identify and follow pathways to solutions beyond boundaries

Encourages students to work with a wide array of key informants, organizations and agencies

Unbound Clinicals

Pigtown/Washington Village

Washington Village/Pigtown

Property

Residential Property:

Majority are rental; increasing numbers of evictions; high rates of vacant properties; large portions of income spent on rent; some new upper income development occurring

Commercial Property:

Long history of industrial use and soil contamination; many vacant/few being rehabilitated; stadiums are here; slots are coming

Who lives in Pigtown?

Population – 5,700 residents

Racially diverse- a community equally comprised of African Americans and Caucasians.

Poor- Household incomes far below Baltimore City, Maryland and the nation.

Unemployed- Rates higher than Baltimore City and Maryland.

Undereducated- Lower rates of high school graduates and GEDs; higher dropout rates.

How is their health?

Teen birth rate doubled between 2000 and 2004.

LBW, pre-term births, lack of prenatal care rates are high

High rates of drug addiction.

Student performance significantly declines in middle and high school (high absentee and dropout rates)

Elementary school children not receiving equitable quality education

High rates of youth involvement in criminal justice system

High rates of domestic violence

Assets

Pride in neighborhood history and sense of community Diversity: racially, economically, socially Plethora of non-profit community service organizations Inter-agency collaboration Neighborhood associations Carroll Park Early childhood education, elementary and middle

schools, community schools

Community Partners

H3 Initiative

Health

Diggs-JohnsonMiddle School

St. Jerome'sHead Start

PowerhouseChurch

U of MarylandSchool of

Social Work

WPNPC

George WashingtonElementary

School

Paul's Place

Sister'sAcademy

People's CHC@ Open

Gates

Friends ofCarrollPark

System Partners

Baltimore City Health Department

Baltimore City Sanitation Department

Baltimore Recreation and Parks Department

Maryland Department of the Environment

Others

H3 Financial Support for Initiatives

Sampling of Initiatives

Environmental Justice Grant from EPA with WPNPC Clean It Like You Mean It Campaign Green It Like You Mean It Campaign Redeem It Like You Mean It Campaign Earth Day Celebration Workshop (Baltimore City, Md Dept

of Environment & WPNPC)

Pigtown Pocket Parks (WPNPC, PP, GWES)

Pigtown Power Kids Health Screening (GWES, PP, Head Start, Sisters Academy)

Green Thumb Project (George Washington Elem School)

And a few more

Nurses Wednesday Clinic at Paul’s Place Outreach Center

Evening Harm Reduction Clinic (Power House Church)

Pigtown Festival Screening and First Aid (Citizens of Pigtown)

National Night Out Violence Prevention Event (WPNPC)

Sisters Academy Life Skills Classes

Head Start Annual Classroom Environmental Assessments (St. Jerome’s HS)

In the Planning Stages• EH PACE (BCHD Office of Healthy Homes & WPNPC)• Walkability Map• Community Schools Health Festival & B&O RR Museum