Erie Family Health Center

Erie Family Health Center’s outreach services bring Erie’s mission into the community

If you want to witness some of the exceptional services Erie Family Health Center provides, all you have to do is take a seat in  an Erie waiting room.  You’ll see patients moving in and out, taking with them a reassurance they’ve found a place that truly cares about their health.  If you wander throughout the clinic, you’ll see case managers working diligently alongside patients, educators teaching about the importance of exercise and healthy eating, providers listening to patients’ stories, and support groups learning and offering guidance to one another.

The amazing thing about Erie is that these wonderful services extend beyond the Erie walls. Outreach workers travel throughout Chicago communities to schools and social service agencies, educating and informing Chicagoans about a variety of health issues. By informing others on topics such as oral health, HIV/AIDS, depression, wellness and many others, these outreach workers not only teach participants about how to improve their health, but also spread the word on how Erie Family Health Center can help guide them to a healthier life.

Lauren Ranalli MPH, Manager of Community Programs, sees Erie’s outreach program as a vital part of bringing the message of health into Chicago communities.  “Outreach presentations are a great opportunity for Erie to engage with community members,” says Lauren. “They are a way for us to tell Chicago residents about the comprehensive programs and services offered at Erie.”

Outreach services also offer audiences the chance to focus on a particular topic or facet of their health. Whether it’s demonstrating the proper way to exercise, giving a cooking lesson, or using models to demonstrate the pathways of medication, presentations take a new spin on standard health lessons. “Participants at our outreach presentations can increase their knowledge on a new health topic, such as how to better manage their diabetes or protect themselves from contracting HIV.  They can also gain a new skill, such as how to talk to their child about sexual health or how to read a food nutrition label,” says Lauren.

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Beats this week: 

1) While this might not be surprising to some, here’s a piece that is most definitely good news: Illinois Health Connect saved Illinois millions in FY2008! This program, which links Medicaid patients with a medical home, where treatment and patient referrals are coordinated centrally, saved Illinois approximately $140 million, according to the Robert Graham Center.

2) And now here is more good news! Illinois has just begun providing new high-risk insurance pools for individuals with pre-existing conditions who are without medical covered. The program, Illinois Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, was implemented as part of health care reform and works on a first come, first serve basis.  

3) Have you been eating your leafy green veggies lately? Well, if not then you should! According to a study released recently by the University of Leicester, people who add more green leafy vegetables to their diet may significantly reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Bring on the spinach!  

4) In a sign that the recession is continuing to hit home for Illinois families, birth rates in Illinois have dropped by approximately 5% according the data made available by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the National Center for Health Statistics. The results compare birth data from similar months in 2007 and 2009.

5) And finally to round out Health Beats this week, let’s talk about eggs. Are you unsure what eggs were recalled? Want to keep up to date on all the recent news related to the egg recall to ensure you throw out recalled eggs? Then be sure to check out these links for the latest news and updates.   

Beats this week:

1) In September you will begin to see health clinics in Targets throughout Chicago and the suburbs. This announcement follows the expansion of health clinics in CVS and Walgreens stores across the country. 

2) Earlier this week, community health centers received some exciting news: the Corporation for National and Community Service decided to fully fund the Community HealthCorps at the requested level for the very first time. With uninsured patient visits up by 21% at community health centers, the $6 million in funding for Community HealthCorps will help to meet this intense demand for care.

3) Celebrity chefs recently took on a challenge: they ate lunch at public schools in the DC area. Through this experience they all came to the same conclusion: schools lunches lacked nutrition, variety and taste. Now months later, these chefs are taking action by teaching cooking classes to students and parents and getting on the front lines for the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Initiative.

4) We are a little late to the news on this one but last month Australian researchers released a study that found a link between diabetes and family history. The study was fairly basic: they took families with and without history of diabetes and overfed them. The results were very interesting, with those with a family history gaining more weight on average and demonstrating a greater resistance to insulin.

5) This week Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the release of $83.9 million in grants to support the expansion of health information technology. Erie was thrilled to be among the list of grant recipients, accepting on behalf of the Alliance of Chicago Community Health Services.

Beats this week:

1) Did you know that this week is National Infant Immunization Week? Well, it is! Illinois public health officials took this week to remind everyone to get their infants vaccinated. In Illinois, approximately 80% of children receive the recommended vaccinations by age two.

2) Reports and sex education experts have drawn one conclusion about the sexual health of Illinois residents: sexual transmitted infections remain high (and have increased) while sexual health knowledge continues to decrease. For example, Illinois currently ranks 8th out of 50 states for highest rate of gonorrhea infections. A 2009 survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy seeks to explain these alarming rates of STIs and points to a variety of misconceptions people have about sex, pregnancy and preventing STIs.

3) A  free clinic in Los Angeles treated 1,200 people on the opening day of the clinic. The clinic, which is a temporary clinic set up for one week in the Memorial Sports Arena, utilized around 300 medical volunteers to provide health, dental and eye care.

4) A study released this week reported that parental involvement is key in maintaining the health status of adolescents with Type I diabetes. The study found that when parents did not closely follow their child’s condition, the child often experienced complications related to their disease.

5) Governor Quinn and other Illinois legislators are working to move thousands of people with mental illnesses out of nursing homes and into community settings in order to provide them with better quality of care. This move would provide these individuals with the intensive counseling and other treatment they need in order to lead more independent lives.

Beats this week:

1) UnitedHealthcare is teaming up with the YMCA to create a program that will work to prevent at-risk individuals from developing diabetes. The program will focus on prevention and the improvement of health status in order to delay or completely prevent the onset of diabetes. UnitedHealthcare hopes that this program will help reduce many of the costs associated with diabetes.

2) The doctor shortage crisis continues to create discussion across the country. Here is the newest solution to the shortage: expand the role of nurse practitioners. Some are calling for fewer restrictions on nurse practitioners, such as barring them from prescribing controlled substances in order to make up for the shortage of doctors.

3) For the very first time Illinois has published hospital mortality rates for all Illinois hospitals. The data includes death rates for stroke, pneumonia, hip fractures and congestive heart failure.

4) Do you have allergies? If so, you are probably already feeling the pain of the pollen season. Experts are claiming that this year is going to be a ‘monster of an allergy season.’ This will be especially true for the Southeast, where an unusually cold winter delayed plants from blooming as early as they normally do.

5) A British medical journal – The Lancet – released a paper on Sunday stating that the number of women dying in childbirth across the globe has dropped by 35% in the last 28 years. These findings are in contention with a recent United Nations study that found the maternal death rate worldwide to still be alarmingly high.

Earlier this week, Beats Per Minute took you into the world of a very important public health issue: health disparities in underserved communities. Cancer, diabetes and oral health – all of these issues hit very close to home for the communities served by Erie Family Health Center. For Erie, creating a healthier America begins at the community level, where care and prevention interventions are specifically designed to meet the needs of our patients and community members. Today, in honor of National Public Health Week, Beats Per Minute would like to give you the inside scoop on those Erie programs designed to reduce and eliminate health disparities experienced in our community.

Cancer

For the patients in Erie’s communities, early screening for breast and cervical cancer can be problematic, especially for those who are underinsured or uninsured and without the funds to pay for the procedures. Erie has a long-standing commitment to educating women on the importance of getting screened and working to provide better access for screening, either through Erie or external referrals. In early 2008, Erie became a lead agency for the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (IBCCP). Through this program, Erie can provide either through our facilities or outside agencies free screening for breast and cervical cancers to women who qualify for the program. In the first half of this fiscal year alone, Erie enrolled nearly 400 women in the IBCCP program and provided culturally competent education about the importance of screening to nearly 12,000 people.

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The American Public Health Association has designated this week National Public Health Week. Since 1995, the United States has used this week to highlight the importance of public health and the need for improved health in our country. This year’s theme is ‘A Healthier America: One Community at a Time.’  This theme resonates with community-based health organizations, like Erie Family Health Center. For Erie, creating a healthier America begins at the community level, where care and prevention can be designed specifically for the needs of the local community.

For Erie and other public health advocates around the country, one of the most important health issues facing America today are the  health disparities that exist in medically underserved communities. That means that certain groups of people in our country—like those with lower incomes—experience health problems at greater rates than the general population.  At Beats Per Minute, we would like to highlight a few of the health disparities that hit home in the communities that Erie serves.

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