Healthcare in a community is successful when it incorporates many healthcare professionals, leading to a holistic approach to not just the individual, but also community health. There is a reason there are different degrees that professionals acquire, it is because there are different jobs that each professional is taught to accomplish. Cayuga County, founded under the Cayuga County health department and medical society, has an amazing preventative medicine program called Cayuga Community Health Network (www.cayugahealthnetwork.org) that is a collaborative team of healthcare professionals and human service leaders who work together to set up preventative programs and improve access to care. I think this is a great example of how important a healthcare team can be, even outside of the traditional sense of a healthcare team in a physician's office. The board consists of doctors, RNs, MPHs, those who facilitate child medicare enrollment, licensed mental health counselors, as well as many coordinators to carry out programs.
Their main programs include Diabetes prevention, a Tobacco free partnership, and farmer's market. The Diabetes prevention program is based on a funded state program that was cancelled in 2009 due to lack of funds, but continues in Cayuga county thanks to sponsors and donations. They provide cooking classes, support groups, educational lectures, and more. The network even collaborates with other initiatives outside their immediate realm of services-- for example they are currently collaborating with the Oral Health Initiative Project to improve access to dental care, a great preventative service which can drastically influence overall health.
I am proud that such a great preventative program that really has a loud voice exists in a rural county such as Cayuga County, and I believe that this type of a program is something that NEEDS all healthcare professionals to execute correctly-- the entire process including collaboration, planning, reaching out to sponsors and gaining support, as well as executing programs and services.
www.cayugahealthnetwork.org
A good prevention program seems to be one that includes a large variety of professionals attacking the problem from various angles. Not every problem has a strictly medical solution, and inclusion of people who can address broad societal needs is very important.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that in many blogs this week I am seeing a trend of healthcare teams working towards a more holistic treatment strategy. I was encouraged to see that not only practitioners, but "tobacco free," and "farmer's market," organizations are getting involved in rural health.
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