Taking Health Care to the People

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Despite the combined efforts of government agencies, health care providers and community leaders, a large gap or disparity still exists between populations regarding health outcomes and access to medical care.

To address that gap, the Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities (CTSA) is joining the Center for Minority Health (CMH) at the University of Pittsburgh in a unique program called 'Take a Health Professional to the People Day' that sends teams of physicians, nurses, pharmacists and health educators to selected barber shops and beauty salons in Pittsburgh to deliver lifesaving information and health screenings to customers along with their haircut or manicure.

Why barber shops and beauty salons? Because they are familiar and trusted institutions in the community where people gather to connect and exchange information. "Far too many African Americans have no 'medical home' to access health care services, so government programs that promote 'taking a loved one to the doctor' are not as effective for this community," explains Stephen Thomas, Ph.D., director of the Center for Minority Health. "Therefore, CMH created Take a Health Professional to the People Day. By focusing our efforts on a single day, we believe we can help generate a greater understanding of the importance of regular health screenings while at the same time reaching people who tend to have the least access to health care."

Now in its fifth year, Take a Health Professional to the People Day has also become a classroom of sorts for health professionals and educators. For this year's event on Sept. 20, CMH will again welcome colleagues from Mayo Clinic to observe and take part in the outreach effort. This year's event also inaugurates Mayo's Urban Immersion Program, which provides education and real-life experience for students and faculty with an interest in health disparities research.

"The first step to addressing the significant health disparities that plague minority and underserved populations in the United States is building trust by reaching out to them in a familiar environment — their own communities," says Sherine Gabriel, M.D., director of Education Resources for the Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities. "We created the Urban Immersion Program in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Thomas and the CMH to help our students, faculty, researchers and physicians learn and apply these innovative community outreach strategies here at Mayo Clinic. We believe these strategies will make us more effective in reaching everyone in our service area."

Farah Ramirez Marrero, Ph.D., an anesthesia researcher from the University of Puerto Rico who is working on a postdoctoral master's degree in Clinical and Translational Science at Mayo Clinic, will be one of eight Mayo staff members traveling to Pittsburgh this year. "I'm looking forward to gaining some experience and confidence in delivering health services to people in a nontraditional setting," says Dr. Ramirez Marrero. "Whether I'm working with urban minority populations here in the Midwest or with disadvantaged patients in Puerto Rico, it's important to build trust and really listen to what people want and need in regard to health care. Not everyone has the money, transportation or support to come to a large medical center like Mayo Clinic, so we need to find ways to take Mayo Clinic to them."

For more information about the Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities (CTSA), visit http://ctsa.mayo.edu.

For more information on the Urban Immersion Program and other Mayo Clinic CTSA Education Resources activities, contact Karen Weavers at (507) 284-1275 or visit http://ctsa.mayo.edu.

For more information about Take a Health Professional to the People Day and other activities of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Minority Health, visit www.cmh.pitt.edu.
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