You are here: Home / Latest News

Rising Freshmen Gear Up for High School Health Careers!

August 26, 2010 By Erin Leave a Comment

Twenty-six rising freshmen from the Gear Up Program at Fairfield University participated in some rousing games to gain knowledge about health careers. They played a game of Health Careers BINGO, discovering the names and general responsibilities of various medical specialties, such as Cardiology, Audiology, and Podiatry.  Health Careers Jeopardy was played with such categories as No Bones About It, First Aid, Health Careers, and Safety, forcing students to recall information from previous studies and make conjectures about things they will learn in the future.

Students were also given a quiz to test their basic knowledge on the passing of germs and the importance of hand washing.

Do you know how many bacteria and viruses are there on a human hand at any given time? There are 5,000!  Pretty gross!

Students then studied and practiced the proper hand washing techniques and a black light was used to show the germs that were left behind, even after washing their hands!

Many of the students now show an interest in health careers!  There are some future doctors, nurses, and various technicians in this group of students, and AHEC will continue to work with them during their high school years.

Southwestern AHEC Introduces SMILES Custom Software

August 26, 2010 By Erin Leave a Comment

The feather in Give Kids A Smile® (GKAS) Coordinator Vani Anand’s cap was presenting (along with Director of Programs Joan Lane) at the American Dental Association’s Give Kids A Smile® Symposium in Chicago, on July 23, 2010. Her demonstration of Southwestern AHEC’s SMILES Custom Software, as an invaluable tool in implementing an efficient GKAS, was well received. It was the icing on the cake for our GKAS program which has been recognized as the most successful in CT for the past 3 years in a row! After attending the ADA’s GKAS symposium for the past three years, it was fitting that Joan and I got to be presenters of GKAS best practices, in keeping with Southwestern AHEC constant pursuit of excellence.

It’s Health Fair Season!

August 23, 2010 By Erin Leave a Comment

Spring and summer offer Southwestern AHEC many opportunities to provide health information to the community.  Local health and faith-based organizations take advantage of the good weather to invite area residents to learn about the services available through their own and partner agencies.  Many of the health fairs include screenings as well as health and social services information.

Southwestern AHEC participates in many such events, offering information related to our programs on childhood, adolescent and adult immunization; oral (dental) health; and health careers.  This year, staff have already attended fairs at Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love, Southwest Community Health Center, the Church of God and the Cathedral of Praise, all in Bridgeport.  We also participated in a fair at Abdul-Majid Karim Hasan Islamic Center in Hamden, assisted by 4 college students involved in our health careers programs.  We will be participating in the annual health fair of the Hispanic Advisory Council of Greater Stamford in September.

Community health events are an excellent channel for Southwestern AHEC to conduct outreach into the community, as well as to showcase the breadth and success of our various programs.

Keeping young children up to date with their vaccines

August 3, 2010 By Erin Leave a Comment

Keeping young children up to date with their vaccines. . . A significant public health concern, this is one of Southwestern AHEC’s primary program areas.  Under a contract with the State of CT Department of Public Health, Southwestern AHEC supports local pediatric and family practices in their efforts to make sure that children receive their vaccines according to the schedule recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.  Many of these vaccines are also required for day care, school and even college entry.

Southwestern AHEC staff members Joan Lane and Millie Seguinot are currently working with several pediatric groups that have requested “late lists” of their 2 year old patients who are not currently up to date with vaccines, according to the CT Immunization Registry and Tracking System (CIRTS).  Millie and Joan are pleased to be part of this very important effort to keep our community’s children protected from many preventable diseases.

CT DPH Immunization Program

AHEC Displays Dedication Through CHW Training

July 28, 2010 By Erin Leave a Comment

Mid-June, AHEC’s Community Health Worker (CHW) Project Coordinator, Millie Seguinot, succumbed to a debilitating knee injury, and underwent surgery.  Only five days later, she  was conducting a mini-training to new Community Health Workers from two local Community Health Centers.  The training consisted of a review of the curriculum used to conduct the initial training of 28 Community Health Workers from 9 Federally Qualified Health Centers, MCOs, and staff of CHCACT and Southwestern AHEC.  It was very beneficial to have so many minds sharing thoughts, ideas, questions and concerns, generating feedback to each other that helped clear up many doubts.  Millie’s dedication to the community through CHW is infallible, and AHEC is lucky to have her!

High School Seniors Take the First Step Toward Obesity Prevention

July 28, 2010 By Erin Leave a Comment

Upward Bound students 2010On Monday, July 26th, Health Careers Coordinator Bobbi Kulas concluded a five week summer program with Upward Bound at Fairfield University. Twelve high school seniors spent those weeks creating, researching, and delivering a Learn & Serve project, centered around “Childhood Obesity and Nutrition” to 64 YMCA campers.  By bringing in speakers, and creating games and activities to engage them with, students were taught an immense amount of information on the hot topic these and were able to share what they learned with younger children from their community.  The hands on activities they conducted with the campers showed the youth how much fat is in fast foods and how much sugar they consume by drinking soda and fruit juices.   The campers were taught how to take their pulse at rest, and after playing a rousing game of Simon Says. The youngest campers had a coloring activity focused on identifying various fruits and vegetables. Hopefully, this has been the kick-start all students and campers needed to the correct their food choices now and in the future to make a small dent in the increasing obesity rate our youth today faces.

First-class Service: Bridgeport and Stratford Teens Go Above and Beyond!

July 12, 2010 By Erin Leave a Comment

The Southwestern AHEC Youth Health Service Corps (YHSC) Class of 2010 raised the bar of service to a whole new level.  This year, the YHSC curriculum focused on service learning projects, as opposed to individual volunteerism as it had in the past.  Four local high school Corps – Stratford, Bunnell, Central and Bassick – created, developed and implemented 6 outstanding service projects to enlighten and engage their communities.

The six projects – Risky Behaviors Health Fair, Don’t Let Your Life Go Up In Smoke Campaign, Prom Safety Campaign, Pennies for Patients,  Health & Wellness for the Aging Population , and Healthy Kids Day (partnered with the Bridgeport YMCA) – took the collaborative efforts of 174 students from the schools and targeted populations such as middle schoolers, Stratford Community members, other high school students and the elderly.

In total, students completed 6,892 service hours in just 10 short months.  In order to complete the YHSC program, 50 hours are required per student – but most of them do not stop there.  In fact, 13 students  met the requirements for the President’s Volunteer Service Award this year.  Of those 13, nine were recipients of the Bronze level (100-174 hours) – Alessandra Legaspi, Chanel Noblin, Colen Dyer, Eric Diaz, Jennifer Le, Joselyn Vazquez, Kourtney Zando, Lyneisha Dukes, and Shawn Boahene -  and four were recipients of the Gold level (250 hours+) – William Villa, Jessica Barragan, Pratibha Dhakshinamurthy and Robery Reilly.  Our top volunteer was William Villa with 350 hours of service!

Picture 058

Bunnell Students at Flood Middle School for the Risky Behaviors Health Fair

Central High Students at the Aging With Grace program

Central High Students at the Aging With Grace program

Stratford students picking up cigarette-related waste in area parks

Stratford students picking up cigarette-related waste in area parks

Bassick students kick off their cancer fundraiser!

Bassick students kick off their cancer fundraiser!

Southwestern AHEC’s Immunization Team Receives Kudos from State!

May 5, 2010 By Joan Leave a Comment

Southwestern AHEC’s Immunization Action Plan team – Community Outreach Coordinator Millie Seguinot and Director of Programs Joan Lane – were recognized by the State of CT Department of Public Health  for having “improved both the Bridgeport immunization rate from 75% in 2008 to 77% in 2009″, and having increased “5% in their ability to find and update children in the city who were at risk for being under-immunized.”  The letter of commendation states: “This makes the Bridgeport IAP [Immunization Action Plan] program the most improved IAP area in the state.”

The current statistics are even more dramatic when measured against those in effect when Southwestern AHEC assumed responsibility for the Bridgeport immunization program in 2004.  At that time, the percentage of children up to date for their shots at age 24 months was just 63% (compared to 77% in 2009).

“Our success is possible because of the excellent collaboration we get from other local agencies, and the cooperation of Bridgeport’s pediatric and family practices,” according to Millie, who has lent her outreach expertise to the program since 2006.  “In particular, the WIC office [Women, Infants and Children program] is a critical part of the process of identifying the physicians of children ‘lost’ to the CT Immunization Registry and Tracking System.”

Southwestern AHEC’s Executive Director expressed her delight with the recognition, adding, “We look forward to continuing to work with the medical community to attain the State’s targeted 81% immunization rate for 2 year olds.”

Central Students Provide Healthy Meals & Practices to the Aging Population

April 28, 2010 By Erin Leave a Comment

Central High School’s Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) Club students pulled together months of research, hard work and dedication at a culminating presentation event at the Aging With Grace Program at Hall Neighborhood House on April 14, 2010.  Seven students took 6 hours of the Wednesday right in the middle of their Spring Break to cater to an elderly population.  The students have worked with the group of 25 seniors in the past, helping take and record their blood pressures & pulses, serve breakfast and play bingo on March 17.  This time, however, the program – normally held at the St. Charles Urban Center – partnered with an existing program at Hall Neighborhood house to bring together over 50 senior citizens!

Throughout the early part of the morning, the Central students worked side by side two Sacred Heart University (SHU) students and their professor, to take blood pressures, pulses and blood sugar levels.   Following that, the students did an intake survey regarding the most commonly asked for and/or needed medical services for the population.

While the group munched on a healthy lunch, the SHU and Central students then did a presentation on healthy diet, the food pyramid, portion sizes and label reading.  This was followed by the Central students’ presentation of their Health Food Cookbook, containing over 30 fantastic – and healthy! – recipes for the seniors to use in the future.

After the days lesson in health, a rousing game of bingo began, as all enjoyed the delicious pumpkin bread dessert prepared by the students!  The seniors were trilled with the company the students provided, as well as the engaging presentation and cookbook to take home!

awg3awgawg2

Stratford Students Go Green for Anti-Smoking Campaign

April 28, 2010 By Erin Leave a Comment

jess2

On Global Youth Service Day, April 24, forty-five students from Stratford High School’s Volunteer Club and BuildOn program came together to clean up two local teen hangouts.  Students gathered at 8am at Pender’s Field (Longbrook Park) and Short Beach Park to form teams and clean up as much garbage as possible during a 3-hour time span.

The event was part of an anti-smoking campaign the Volunteer Club is engaged in.  For the last 3 months, research has been done on the effects of smoking on both the environment and the human body.  During the clean up, students were focused on the percentage of waste that was cigarette-related.  Butts, packaging, plastic, matches and lighters were all placed in separate garbage bags from the rest of the waste.

Volunteer Club President, Jessica Barragan, took the initiative to partner her Don’t Let Your Life Go Up In Smoke Campaign with the town’s Beautification Committee for Project Green Sweep (May 1, 2010). The clean up on April 24th was dubbed the “kick-off” event for Green Sweep, and as its part of the collaboration, the Town agreed to have all community participants separate their waste in the same manner as the students had.

After the event, the town will provide the Volunteer Club with the results of the clean up; total waste collected versus cigarette waste collected.  These results will be documented along with the student research and pulled together with an art display created from the garbage itself.  The display will be exhibited at the Stratford Garbage Museum, starting at the end of May.

« Older Posts