Urban Service Track Events and Activities

Community Service Opportunities

• Spring Forward - Don?t Fall Back -  Engage older adults in fall prevention learning activities that are fun and relevant for seniors.
  Team Lead: Michelle Pheng (Michelle.Pheng@uconn.edu)
• From Wheeze to Breeze -  Community education around understanding asthma and COPD, triggers, and medication.
  Team Lead: Shamsul Arif (Shamsul.Arif@uconn.edu)
• CT Mission of Mercy -  March 23-24, 2012, Danbury, CT.  Students participate in medical triage, dental clinics, and pharmacy. Over 2,000 patients are treated, and nearly a million dollars worth of free dental care is provided over the course of two days.
  2012 Team Leaders: TBD
• KEEP (Kidney Early Evaluation Program) - Students provide blood pressure, blood glucose, pulse, BMI to patients in underserved areas. Over $800 of free testing services are provided to each patient screened. Occur 3-4 times annually.
  2012 Team Leaders: Ermir Xhimitiku (ermir.xhimitiku@uconn.edu), Sean Ghassem-Zadeh (sghassem-zadeh@student.uchc.edu) and Lauren Grandpre(lgrandpre@student.uchc.edu)
• Healthy Hartford Campaign -  Health promotion activities provided to residents of the greater Hartford area.  Activities include basic screenings, health education and health promotion, as well as risk assessments.
  2012 Team Leaders: TBD
• HeartStrong Program -  An inter-generational education program about stroke and heart disease prevention which specifically focuses on the role of nutrition and oral health care in overall health.
  2012 Team Leader: Julie McNeish (JMcneish@student.uchc.edu)
• National Primary Care Week -  Six community health fairs and clinical primers are supported by UST. Community screenings encompassing blood pressure, blood glucose, and health promotion education including oral health awareness.  The National Primary Care Week day of service occurs Wednesday, October 19, 2011.
  Team Leaders: see the 2012 NPCW website at   http://publichealth.uconn.edu/npcw.php.
• Health Careers Awareness -  UST Scholars work with students K-16 through a variety of programs to expose children to opportunities in Health Careers. Programs include Middle School and High School Clinical Skills, Take Your Work Day, College Health Service Corps Symposium, Louis Stokes Alliance Minority Participation, Rowes Scholars, and UConn Public Health Learning Community.
  2012 Team Leaders: Elizabeth Kaminsky (EKaminsky@student.uchc.edu), Brenna Czudak (Brenna.Czudak@uconn.edu), Kristen Pepin (KPepin@student.uchc.edu) and Allison Robinson (ARobinson@student.uchc.edu)
• Smiling Seniors -  Oral health education provided to older adults that is fun and engaging.  Utilizing inter-professional teams of Urban Health Scholars, Smiling Seniors teaches participants proper hygiene techniques as well as the role played medications, nutrition, adaptive appliances and chronic disease in oral health care.  Six to eight sessions provided annually.
  2012 Team Leaders: Christine Crawford (ChCrawford@student.uchc.edu) and Robert Yau (RYau@student.uchc.edu)
• National Association for Community Health Centers (NACHC) Policy and Issues Forum -  A UST sponsors a group of Scholars are selected to attend the NACHC Conference, March 21-23, 2012 in Washington DC. Students have the opportunity to attend the Forum as well as participate in Hill Visits to state representatives.
  2012 Team Lead: Elizabeth Chasse (Echasse@student.uchc.edu)
• Community Garden Initiative -  Promoting community gardening, better nutrition and health promotion activities within the Hartford Asylum Hill and North End neighborhoods.  Urban Health Scholars work with community agencies and the public to plant, maintain, and nurture multiple community gardening beds.  Activities begin in the spring and culminate in early autumn.
  2012 Team Leaders: Sarah Dougherty (SDougherty@student.uchc.edu), Barbara Ruf (BRuf@student.uchc.edu) and Allison Robinson (ARobinson@student.uchc.edu)
• Hispanic Senior Center - Utilizing Spanish language skills, students provide special health promotion and fun activities with older adults at the Hispanic Senior Center of Hartford. Activities run the gamut from holiday treats for diabetics, oral health and pharmacy education, to bingo!
  Team Leaders: John Paul Shoup (JShoup@student.uchc.edu) and Elizabeth Flatley (Elizabeth.Flatley@uconn.edu)
• CCMC/UCHC HIV/Peds/Family Holiday Social -  Join families/children for the annual holiday social by coordinating arts and crafts activities.
  Team Leaders: Wenhui Sun (Wsun@student.uchc.edu) and Paulina Gorecki (paulina.gorecki@uconn.edu)
• Pathways Sendaros Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program -  Working with the Pathways Sendaros staff to deliver health careers awareness programming for 6th-12th graders after school. Topics include: nutrition for health teens, oral health tips and careers in dental medicine, health careers Jeopardy game, poison control/awareness for babysitters, etc.
  Team Leaders: Elizabeth Chasse (Echasse@student.uchc.edu), Robert Yau (RYau@student.uchc.edu) and Kristen Pepin (KPepin@student.uchc.edu).