Public health officials in Philadelphia are tackling the common public health concerns plaguing the U.S. in their own specific ways. With an emphasis on improving healthcare access and child safety and welfare, the City of Brotherly Love is tackling its most pressing woes in unique ways. Here are three of the primary programs public health workers and officials in Philadelphia are undertaking in an effort to improve the lives of Philadelphians.
National Health Corps
The National Health Corps is an AmeriCorps program dedicated to a small handful of underserved parts of the country where improvements like increased healthcare access, health education and promotion, the development of more healthcare professionals and a reduction in healthcare costs all stand to dramatically and effectively better the lives of the people. There are currently four National Health Corps initiatives in the United States located in Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and North Florida. AmeriCorps volunteers and staff in these four regions currently serve over 60 community health sites including county health departments, public schools, health centers and the like.
In Philadelphia, the National Health Corps works in partnership with the Health Federation of Philadelphia in an intersecting program called the Philadelphia Health Corps. This joint effort allows young, service-minded volunteers in the AmeriCorps program to perform health outreach, health education workshops, health screenings, patient advocacy, social service provision and more on behalf of the citizens of Philadelphia, not only helping to improve the lives of those they serve, but gaining invaluable experience of their own in the process.
Multiplying Connections
Multiplying Connections,another effort of the Health Federation of Philadelphia, is a training and policy initiative undertaken by the city with the hope of lessening the impact of trauma on the children and families of Philadelphia. Violence, poverty, substance abuse and other stressors can severely affect a young child’s development. Because of this concern, in 2004, a group of healthcare leaders and officials began looking to reduce the impact of those stressors on some of the most vulnerable children in Philadelphia. After funding was secured in 2007, Multiplying Connections was formed. Multiplying Connections has a number of benchmarks and aims they try to reach in order to achieve their goal of lessening trauma’s influence. Current emphases are:
- Develop a system to train service providers on prevention and treatment of childhood trauma.
- Develop policies, protocols and standards regarding trauma services for children and families.
- Evaluate change through measurable outcomes in children over 5- and 10-year timelines.
- Build a workforce trained and skilled in understanding early childhood development and the effects of trauma.
Philadelphia ACE Task Force
Another program aimed at helping families and children under stress, the Philadelphia ACE Task Force was started in 2012 by the Institute for Safe Families. It develops policies, practices and research around young children to mitigate the conditions arising from systemic and chronic stressors and ACEs, or adverse childhood experiences. Violence, poverty, substance abuse, neglect, abuse, mental illness, crime and other destabilizing forces all contribute to impairments in young children ranging across social, emotional, cognitive, physical andeconomic spheres. Children who are in environments with these kinds of stressors are at an increased risk for poor health, bad behavior, violence, victimization, disease, disability, criminality and even early death. The goals of the Philadelphia ACE Task Force are to study the effects of these conditions by understanding the role adverse childhood experiences play in economic and racial health disparities across the span of a person’s lifetime.
Like every city in America, Philadelphia has its share of public health concerns, and while issues like cancer, diabetes and obesity are on its to-do list, Philly’s public health officials have their sights set on more systemic issues. From improving the lives of the poor and vulnerable by providing them with more access to health care to assisting in the lives of young children who are impacted by trauma, the City of Brotherly Love is trying to get to the bottom of what will makes its citizens healthier, happier and more productive.
