Mid-term Service Learning Blog

What are you currently doing with this organization and how do you see it evolving as you sustain your commitment to them?

I have continued my commitment with Early Childhood Partnerships of Adams County (ECPAC) this semester. I began working with this non-profit community organization in January of 2011 for my application to practice hours. As you may recall, my capstone project developed out of a grant project that this organization was developing. ECPAC's goal was to implement the referral and tracking system in Adams County preschools. My project goal was to measure the outcomes of preventive care and health care access related to the referral system through a medical home approach. Our two goals have complemented each other since the initiation of the project.

This semester I am working on measuring the outcomes of the referral system project. The referral system was successfully implemented in ten, private preschools throughout Adams County. The referral system reached 900 children and families and offered them assistance in the Medicaid/CHP+ application process and also offered assistance in finding medical, dental, and mental health facilities for their children. Although only two families indicated the need for medical assistance, approximately 136 families were assisted in finding dental and mental health facilities for their children. Once the families indicated a need for these services in the preschool, a release was faxed directly to the partnered facility. The facility would then contact the family and schedule an appointment so children would not fall through the cracks during this process. I am currently working with a statistician to assess whether the referral and tracking system had any impact upon health care access and preventive care for these children. My results should be in by next week! I plan to disseminate the results to the organization and to several other non-profits involved around the beginning of May.

During these past 15 months I have had the opportunity to work closely with ECPAC, Partnerships for Healthy Communities, Kids in Need of Dentistry, Community Reach, and Community Health Services. I am fortunate to now have a job that will involve working with these organizations almost on a daily basis. During this time I have built strong relationships with these organizations that will improve the outcomes of the adolescents I am currently working with in my clinic. I am currently obtaining approval at the school based health clinic were I am employed to initiate the referral and tracking system for incoming freshman to identify a need for preventive care and access. I feel I have sustained my commitment to these organizations in this way. However, I have let ECPAC know that I will continue to help them a few hours a week collect data for grant projects and community assessments.

What do you envision being the shortcomings and strength of your service learning commitment?

I feel a major strength is being able to sustain my relationships with these organizations through my current job. Although, I was a bit dismayed about finding only two families out of 900 needed medical assistance, I found a major strength of my project was the relationships I built with the community. I feel I also built a foundation for the initiation of future projects in the community to measure outcomes related to preventive care, access, and patient centered medical homes.

Unfortunately, the lack of time always gets in the way of best intentions. My goal is to be able to commit at least 2 hours a week to ECPAC and Partnerships for Healthy Communities to help with data collection and marketing their services. However, I feel I can keep this commitment especially since I am able to combine it with my current job.

Thanks,
Joanna