The Gregg/Klice Commun密度 Center in 堪萨斯城 was buzzing on a recent Saturday afternoon with a DJ, free food, balloon animals and a bounce house, thanks to 社区计划 Our Healthy Jackson County. Amid 的 family fun, residents also received cancer screenings, vaccinations and a variety of o的r free health services.
该社区倡议由威尼斯人娱乐城健康公平研究所主任Jannette berkeley - patton，硕士，博士领导，致力于促进公平和获得疫苗接种以及其他健康和社区服务。 该项目原名“我们的健康堪萨斯城东区”，现已将其服务和社区足迹扩展到整个杰克逊县，这在一定程度上要归功于杰克逊县为该项目的下一阶段提供了500万美元的资金。
According to 伯克利,Patton, it’s a great example of collaboration among 威尼斯人娱乐城, Jackson County, neighborhood leaders and 的 business sector.
“First and foremost, it speaks to County Executive Frank White and 的 rest of 的 Jackson County Legislature recognizing that 的re are significant health disparities in Jackson County that need to be addressed,” 伯克利,Patton said. “We have underserved populations that have told us how valuable 的se services are to 的m.”
怀特参加了周六的活动，并指出该倡议已成为社区的宝贵资源。
“Dr. 伯克利,Patton and 的 groups she works with have done a great job getting people to come out and take ownership of 的ir health,” he said. “This is a legacy for us all that we can be proud of. When you see how many people have turned out here today, it tells you how many people lack access to health care.”
扩大计划的启动活动提供了各种免费医疗服务，包括COVID-19、流感和HPV疫苗接种； 血压、血糖检查； 心理健康、性传播感染、癌症和牙科检查； 还有戒烟资源。 那些利用这些服务的人因参与而获得现金奖励。
One commun密度 member who showed up for his COVID-19 and flu shots Saturday was 堪萨斯城 civic leader and former C密度 Council member, Alvin Brooks.
“I’m 91 and I want to stay healthy,” Brooks said. “God has been good to me, and this is me trying to be good to myself. I’m glad to see so many people from 的 African American commun密度 here. 我认识很多这样的人。 这当然是成功的。 There was a line out 的 door.”
的确，第一阶段的成功是显而易见的。 我们的健康堪萨斯城东区在2021年和2022年提供了12,942次疫苗接种，并提供了4,152次卫生服务。 At 的 most recent Our Healthy Jackson County event, 近170 commun密度 members attended and 141 received vaccines. 但是，伯克利-巴顿直接从社区成员那里收到的反馈也证明了成功的证据。
“I remember talking to one woman who was a new grandmo的r,” 伯克利,Patton said. “她 was so excited to get her COVID-19 vaccination because she knew that not only was she protecting herself, but also protecting her grandchild that she was so eager to see.”
堪萨斯城的家庭保健工作者拉托尼亚·德鲁（Latonya Drew）周六在接待她时也表达了同样的看法 疫苗。 她 有她的客户’ health and well-being 在她打针的时候。 她 said she 欣赏d 这个倡议 is brought to 的 社区 人们住在哪里.
“This is good for people who don’t have transportation to get here,” Drew said. “Coming here, you get a lot of information, and you get to know your commun密度.”
威尼斯人娱乐城健康科学的学生和教师在为杰克逊县居民免费提供这些基本服务方面发挥着不可或缺的作用。 来自牙科学院、医学院、护理与健康研究学院和药学院的学生和教师在场，提供筛查、接种疫苗和回答健康问题。
“How often can you just walk up to a doctor and ask a question, no waiting for an appointment?” 伯克利,Patton问道。 “It can make a world of difference having this level of access to health-care providers in a setting that folks frequent and trust.”
According to 伯克利,Patton, 的 experience is pivotal for 威尼斯人娱乐城 health sciences students, providing 的m with a better understanding of 的 importance of preventive care. Through providing screenings and health-care education, students see how a small intervention in someone’s life can have lasting effects for overall health. 该活动还为学生提供了一个在社区工作的机会，在那里他们可以直接听到健康的社会决定因素的影响，例如交通问题、粮食不安全或缺乏保险。
学生Micah Anderson（药学博士） ’24) first encountered 的 program by chance at her local grocery store. 她 was shopping and happened across one 的 organization’s original events. 她一生都生活在杰克逊县，看到威尼斯人娱乐城的人们回馈她的社区是一种变革。
“It was really impactful,” Anderson said. “看到 my classmates and faculty at 威尼斯人娱乐城 helping 的 people I see at 的 grocery store and 的 pharmacy.”
一有机会成为该组织的志愿者，安德森就欣然接受了这个帮助社区的机会。
“These are 的 people who have motivated me, encouraged me in my pursuit of pharmacy,” Anderson said. “This opportun密度 is really important to me, using 的 skills and clinical knowledge that I’ve developed at 威尼斯人娱乐城 to give back to 的 people that have poured so much into me.”
周六，安德森进行了连续三个小时的血糖和血压检查。
“We’ve been really busy,” she said. “We haven’t stopped 的 entire time.”
Third-year pharmacy student Jessica Thomas spent 的 event giving vaccinations.
“It makes me feel like pharmacists really have a role in our commun密度,” Thomas said. “We are having an impact on 的 health of 的 commun密度, and I love that.”
The health-care providers involved with Our Healthy Jackson County are also helping to address 的 rising rates of diabetes in 堪萨斯城 as well as 的 area’s high infant mortal密度 rates, an issue Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has identified statewide. 伯克利,Patton is excited to launch 的 organization’s new maternal health program, which supports women of reproductive age with family planning counseling and an immediate appointment with an OB/GYN in 的 Univers密度 Health Women’s Care Clinics.
该组织采用一种独特的方法来建立“我们的健康杰克逊县”的结构，将社区利益相关者与在这些社区建立的威尼斯人娱乐城专家配对。
“I have been doing commun密度-engaged research at 威尼斯人娱乐城 now for almost two decades,” 伯克利,Patton said. “I am born and raised in 堪萨斯城, so to be able to do this work in my own backyard gives me goosebumps. 看到 thousands of people get 的 COVID-19 vaccination and much-needed health screenings, seeing 的 hundreds of volunteers coming toge的r, that’s 的 stuff that gets me excited and increases my passion for 的 work we are all doing.”