Field Placement: The Children's Clinic, Serving Children and Their Families
Location: Long Beach, CA
Preceptor: Elisa Nicholas, MD, MSP
Student Name: Monica Nickolas
Year: 2003

I conducted an assessment to determine the needs of women currently served, as well as those with the potential to be served, by The Children's Clinic (TCC). This needs assessment will be used as a first step in the design of a comprehensive women's health program to be implemented within TCC's existing structure, as well as the structure of two of the three satellite clinics.

The Children's Clinic, Serving Children and Their Families was founded in 1939 and is now a fully independent non-profit licensed community clinic dedicated to providing comprehensive health care, health promotion and disease prevention services to the Long Beach community. These services are provided in a culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate manner to medically underserved, low-income and high-risk populations. TCC has firmly established its role within the community as an important resource for the most needy children in Long Beach. Several years ago TCC began to focus on the provision of health care services, education, and health promotion of adults as well, which is where my field studies project fit in.

Due to the relatively recent focus on the health care and health promotion of adults, TCC has faced an increasing need to gain insight on the specific health and social issues facing current and potential adult patients of the clinic, particularly women. The needs assessment I performed serves as a tremendous asset to the clinic, and will guide the development and implementation of effective women's health promotion and disease prevention programs and activities of the clinic.

The needs assessment encompassed several key activities. I conducted several key informant interviews with TCC staff members, employees of relevant community agencies, and with community leaders. I also facilitated three focus groups which produced very valuable information. I designed a 14-page women's health questionnaire which will be administered to women currently served, as well as those with the potential to be served, by TCC. I performed an extensive review of the literature pertaining to women's health, visited key women's health websites, and familiarized myself with relevant health statistics of women in Long Beach. I also participated in community meetings and joined several community councils and coalitions to increase my knowledge of current issues facing women in Long Beach and to increase support for my project.

After the initial stages of my needs assessment, I developed a summary of potential activities that TCC can incorporate to improve the health and well-being of women currently served, as well as those with the potential to be served by the clinic. These activities are based on current issues present within the community, current and potential clinic resources, and innovative approaches to women's health. Several of these activities have already been incorporated into the clinic's current structure or are currently in the development stages. At the end of my internship, I also had the opportunity to hold a Women's Health Fair for 50 women and 105 children at Cesar Chavez Park in Long Beach. All of the activities for the day reflected several of the current needs of women in Long Beach (e.g. nutrition, self-esteem, and exercise) and most of these activities were coordinated by leaders which have emerged within the community during my time as an intern for the clinic.

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