Community Health Promotion Program

FUNDING FOR STUDENT INTERNSHIPS/PROJECTS

Improving Public Health in Southern California

The UCLA School of Public Health announces an exciting opportunity for students wishing to obtain funding to work on public health problems affecting local communities. This program was established with the goal of enabling UCLA public health students to develop a wide range of community service projects that will benefit poor and underserved communities in Southern California. With this new program, students may apply for funding to plan and implement innovative public health projects in conjunction with local community agencies.

• The total amount of funding available per year is $100,000. The awards are expected to average $5,000, but proposals requesting greater and lesser amounts will be considered.
• Projects should be a minimum of 6 months in duration.
• Student compensation is an allowable and expected expense, but faculty support is not permitted.
• Funding for international projects is not allowed.

The next cycles's applications will be due on a date to be announced soon.

For more information about this program, please contact Kirstin Chickering, MPH at (310) 794-7028.



See summaries of accepted proposals from Fall 2000 Max Factor Family Foundation, Spring 2000, Spring 1999, Fall 1998, and Spring 1998.


See other funding opportunities.

Fall 2000 Max Factor Family Foundation*

*All projects listed are in the form "Name, Department, Degree Objective, Name of Project, Description of Project."

• Kevin Riley (CHS) and Marcella Flores (EPI) "UCLA Mobile Clinic Project: Services for the Mentally Disabled."
  
  Mr. Riley and Ms. Flores are working with the UCLA/Greater West Hollywood Homeless Food Coalition Mobile Clinic Project. This is a student-run, street-based effort to provide basic health care and social support services to the homeless population in West Hollywood and surrounding areas. Although this project is successful at providing basic acute care, personal items and referrals, there is a tremendous unmet need for mental health support services. Mr. Riley and Ms. Flores plan to conduct a thorough mental health needs assessment of the clients and design a program to address those needs.



• Katharine Hayward (CHS) "Employment of Performers with Disabilities in the Entertainment Industry."
  
  Ms. Hayward plans to work with the National Arts and Disability Center (NADC) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) to study issues related to employment of performers with disabilties in the entertainment industry. The goals of her project include: (1) providing and a forum for open and honest discussion of the challenges confronting performers with disabilities, (2) providing producers, casting directors, and agents with opportunities to explore innovative approaches that are inclusive of performers with disabilities, and (3) to educate the entertainment industry and general public about this issue in order to raise awareness and enhance employment opportunities.



• Rachel Oakes (CHS) and Cathy Taylor (CHS) "Tattoo Removal for Gang Members."
  
  Ms. Oakes and Ms. Taylor plan to work with Jobs for a Future/Homeboy Industries to evaluate their tattoo removal program. Tattoo removal is an essential step for gang members in cutting their ties to gang life (emotionally and physically) and for gaining employment. In particular, Ms. Oakes and Ms. Taylor hope to attain a better understanding of what leads gangs member to redirect their lives. The information will be used to increase public awareness about this issue and to encourage more gang members to drop their gang affiliation.







SPRING 2000 CHPP AWARDEES*

*All projects listed are in the form "Name, Department, Degree Objective, Name of Project, Description of Project."

• Myra Bastidas (CHS) "Health Rescue/Rescatando Salud Promotora Immunization Project"
  
  Myra Bastidas is providing technical assistance to the Health Rescue Immunization Project in South Central Los Angeles, where immunization rates are extremely low. The project uses a promotora model to recruit and empower Latina women to serve as advocates for timely immunization in their communities. Myra will assist in training the promotoras using a teaching methodology known as Popular Education Methods. It is hoped that this teaching method will have an empowering effect on the promotoras by helping them to become aware of how their personal experiences are linked with larger social problems; ultimately, this approach will help the promotoras to become more effective agents for social change. Myra will also be assisting project staff with the project evaluation.



• Heidi Behm (CHS) "Evaluation of Shelter Nurse Program"
  
  Victims of domestic violence suffer multiple short and long-term physical and psychological injuries. Furthermore, 65% of domestic violence shelter residents in L.A. County are children, and the health status of this group is largely unknown. The Shelter Nurse Project places a registered nurse in each associated shelter for 4 hours a week to address the health needs of shelter residents. Health education classes are also offered through the program. Heidi will work with the Shelter Nurse Project to conduct several evaluations for the project including: the curriculum, the health education classes, the project itself. She will also help the project staff to design a database to track basic statistics regarding health status and health outcomes of the patients.



• Katie Eilers (CHS) “Promotion of Folic Acid use Among Low-Income Pregnant Women”
  
  Studies indicate that consumption of folic acid before and during the first trimester of pregnancy can significantly reduce the risk of neural tube defects (spine and brain abnormalities) in the baby. Latinos have a higher risk for all neural tube defects than any other racial/ethnic group. Katie plans to study barriers to folic acid vitamin use among poor, underserved pregnant women in Southeastern Los Angeles. She will also conduct focus groups with pregnant women and perinatal health professionals to ascertain their level of knowledge regarding folic acid use and gain a greater understanding of barriers to use. Finally, Katie plans to write an article summarizing her findings for a newsletter that will be distributed broadly to health care professionals in Southern California.



• Anne Farrell (CHS) “Development of a Comprehensive Educational Program for the Community Coalition for Substance Abuse and Treatment in South Los Angeles”
  
  The Community Coalition for Substance Abuse and Treatment is a grassroots organization formed in 1990 in response to the declining quality of life for residents of South Los Angeles. The Coalition was established to increase the power of South Los Angeles citizens through community involvement, advocacy, leadership development, education and training. Now entering its tenth year, immense discrepancies still exist in social and economic conditions in South Los Angeles compared to the rest of L.A. County. Anne will assist the Coalition in developing position papers for presentation at the Coalition’s tenth year conference. In addition, she is going to create an orientation curriculum for the Coalition.



• Rachel Gonzalez (CHS) and Mehrnaz Davoudi (CHS) “The Anti-Tobacco E.M.P.A.C.T. Program”
  
  Studies indicate that tobacco use among adolescents actually increased during the 1990s. Rachel and Mehrnaz plan to implement a program to prevent and/or reduce the prevalence of tobacco use among teens by providing media literacy and tobacco resistance skills to 9th grade level students. The general aim of this program is to reach students before they begin to consider tobacco use. Rachel and Mehrnaz have selected a small school district located in the San Gabriel Valley School district to implement the E.M.P.A.C.T. (Empowerment, Media, Prevention, and Advocacy Coalition for Teens) Program. The program consists of five main components divided into two phases: literacy and advocacy. The program incorporates media literacy, resistance skills building, and community involvement elements.



• Koy Parada (CHS) and Kevin Riley (CHS) “Basic Support Program for Homeless Individuals”
  
  The Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition is a non-profit organization that (1) collects food donations for hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, and other businesses, and (2) provides a full six-course meal to 100-200 people every day of the year. A majority of clients are unsheltered homeless who are regular attendees, receiving at least 3 meals per week. As a result, the Food Coalition is interested in offering support to their clients beyond basic nutrition - perhaps medical and dental care, legal services, substance abuse treatment, job training, or even a haircut. Koy and Kevin will work with the Food Coalition to help them plan and implement a basic client support program by coordinating services and recruiting volunteers. This project not only benefits a significantly underserved population in Los Angeles, but it provides a unique opportunity to mobilize university faculty and student resources to build capacity and collaboration within the community.



• Julia Prentice (CHS) “VCHC/COPE Family Assessment”
  
  The Venice Community Housing Cooperation (VCHC) builds and provides low income housing for 110 low income families in the Venice area. The Community Outreach for Prevention and Education (COPE) agency provides health education and outreach to at-risk families in low income areas of Venice and Santa Monica. COPE has historically attempted to alleviate the increased risks of children by providing psychosocial services to at-risk families including tutoring, mentoring, and structured activities for children, as well as parenting classes. Five years ago, COPE began providing outreach to several of the buildings owned by VCHC. The community responded favorably and requested other similar services including job training, expanded psycho-social services, and financial services. VCHC has asked COPE to address needs beyond children focus on all family members. Julia will conduct a needs assessment in the community to determine which services are most needed and, based on the results, she will develop a culturally sensitive program to deliver lacking services and improve access to existing services.



• Stephanie Surbida (HS) “Study and Analysis of Barriers to Medical Participation and Retention in a Small, Non-Profit Community-Based Clinic”
  
  The Los Angeles Department of Health Services (DHS) serves as the primary health care provider for many of the County’s uninsured. However, with all the political changes over the years, DHS is moving toward a more outpatient system of care, by increasing its reliance on comprehensive health centers, public health centers, and private non-profit community based clinics. The T.H.E. Clinic, located in the heart of the Crenshaw district, like many other clinics in the County is experiencing lower MediCal beneficiary rates, which means it is not receiving the same amount of patient revenues as in the past. This threatens the financial viability of the clinic since Medical payments help offset the burden of providing charity care to the community. Stephanie will work with the T.H.E. clinic to study the barriers to Medical participation and retention in the Crenshaw District and will present the results to the Clinic in a written report. The report will include barriers perceived by the patients, providers, and administrative staff. This information will help the clinic staff to develop an intervention to increase the number of MediCal beneficiaries who utilize the clinic.



• Fumihiko Yokota (CHS) “Child Abuse and Neglect Education and Prevention Outreach Program”
  
  Child abuse and neglect are often hidden problems in the Japanese-American community. Due to cultural values and beliefs, few Japanese Americans seeks help when necessary and families tend to keep problems to themselves. In particular, problems that pertain to child rearing and discipline are kept private and children are taught to keep family problems within the family. Fumi plans to work with the Little Toyko Service Center in making household visits and conducting educational workshops to help parents and caretakers of children better understand child abuse and reduce the amount of abuse and neglect that is occurring. These visits and workshop will also help both English and Japanese speaking families to better understand child abuse prevention and the American system.




SPRING 1999 CHPP AWARDEES*

*All projects listed are in the form "Name, Department, Degree Objective, Name of Project, Description of Project."

• Isabelle Barbour (Community Health Sciences), "Teen Violence Prevention Project in the Mid San Fernando Valley"
  
  This program addresses the problem of interpersonal teen violence, which is rapidly escalating into a major public health problem. Specifically, Ms. Barbour is working to facilitate the implementation of a violence prevention curriculum in L.A. Unified schools in the San Fernando Valley. Ms. Barbour plans to contact schools, teachers, counselors, administrators, and parents in a systematic manner and educate them about the In Touch with Teens curriculum, developed previously by the Los Angeles Commission for Assaults Against Women (LACAAW.) By increasing awareness about teen violence and promoting the curriculum, Ms. Barbour hopes to increase the number of schools offering violence prevention curricula.



• Ruth Betru (Health Services), "Ethiopian Health Fair Expo"
  
  Ms. Betru plans to organize a series of events to promote the concept of preventive medicine among the Ethiopian immigrant community in Los Angeles. Approximately 20,000 Ethiopians reside in the Los Angeles area. Ethiopians are often completely unfamiliar with the concept of preventive medicine, because they come from a country with one of the poorest health care systems in the world. Once in the U.S., they are faced with many cultural and linguistic obstacles in accessing health care. Ms. Betru hopes to organize a series of health fairs in the Ethiopian community. These health fairs will provide the opportunity for basic health screenings as well as health education and promotion.



• Zinat Choudhury, MD (Community Health Sciences), "Diabetes and Diet"
  
  Dr. Choudhury plans to conduct a needs assessment and develop a more effective diabetes education program for diabetic patients at California Hospital Medical Center (CHMC.) CHMC is located in downtown Los Angeles and serves the multicultural and economically depressed areas of Pico-Union and South Central Los Angeles. Since a diabetic patient can maintain a normal, healthy lifestyle (with proper medication and diet), Dr. Choudhury hopes to reduce complications and hospitalizations among diabetics by providing them with proper education about their disease.




• Brenda Goldhammer (Community Health Sciences), "Hepatitis B and C Education for the Homeless"
  
  Ms. Goldhammer plans to work with Homeless Health Care Los Angeles, a local non-profit agency seeking to improve the health of homeless people through direct service, education and advocacy. Homeless individuals are at high risk of contracting Hepatitis B and C, yet few programs exist for the education and prevention of Hepatitis in L.A. County. Ms. Goldhammer plans to develop and provide a training program to educate the staff of various shelters in the Skid Row area about Hepatitis B and C.



• Caroline Guillebard, Lisa Sabin, Derek Shendell, MPH, and Naomichi Yamamoto (Environmental Health Sciences, Environmental Science and Engineering, Epidemiology), "Study of Personal, Indoor, and Outdoor Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter, Acid Aerosols, and Air Toxics."
  
  The goal of this project is to study the correlation between outdoor, indoor, and personal exposures to particulate matter from various sources. Several studies report a higher prevalance of asthma, respiratory infection, and bronchitis among low-income and minorioty groups in inner-city environments. The study cohort will be selected from underserved communities adjacent to heavily traveled freeways and surface streets. Exposure to particulate matter will be measured and evaluated. The results of the study will produce recommendations for the EPA and other agencies on how to improve risk management and exposure prevention, especially among underserved communities and highly susceptible populations (e.g. children).



• Susan Kim (Community Health Sciences), "Feeding Our Children"
  
  The program is a nutritional education program designed for children and parents of homeless families in transition. Ms. Kim plans to work with Upward Bound House, a community- based organization in Santa Monica that provides transitional housing for homeless families with minor children. Ms. Kim plans to offer classes that will address issues such as availability of supplemental food sources (food banks and pantries) as well as food safety and preparation methods. Participants will also be taught about healthy food choices and prepare and taste-test various low-cost, nutrient dense foods.



• Kami Lo (Biostatistics), "Comprehensive Health Assessment of Riverside County."
  
  Riverside County is the fourth largest county in California, with an estimated population of 1.5 million. It is also the fastest growing county in California. To keep pace with the rapidly growing population, the Riverside County Department of Health is developing a new database and health information system as part of a strategic planning effort. Specifically, they hope to complete a comprehensive community assessment of the health status of the county's population, particularly the most vulnerable population groups. Ms. Lo will be assisting the Chief of Health Statistics with the analysis of large datasets. This large- scale assessment will provide valuable information to the residents of Riverside County and impact how health care services are organized and delivered.



• Fiona O'Kirwan (Biostatistics), "Investigating the Incidence of Asthma and Respiratory Diseases in Schools Situated in Southeast L.A. Industrial Zones"
  
  Residents of Southeast L.A. are disproportionately exposed to environmental dangers, especially toxic air emissions. Industrial emissions pose significant health risks to adults and children. Ms. O'Kirwan plans to conduct a survey to study the effects of toxic emissions on schoolchildren in Southeast L.A. She hopes that, by documenting the prevalence of asthma and respiratory disease in this population, she will be able to affect health policy and legislation to curb the environmental injustice in this poor community.



• Lisa Patel and Jasbir Virk (Community Health Sciences), "Empowering the South Asian Community in L.A."
  
  The South Asian community in California has been growing at a rapid pace for over 25 years, yet little is known about the health risks and needs of this population. The South Asian Helpline and Referral Agency (SAHARA) offers some services specific to this population, but they requested the UCLA School of Public Health's assistance in conducting a needs assessment and developing a program plan. Accordingly, Ms. Patel and Ms. Virk will be providing SAHARA with technical assistance in prioritizing, operationalizing, and implementing various public health programs in the local South Asian community. In particular, they hope to design culturally appropriate education materials, develop innovative activities, and complete a better profile of community problems, priorities, and resources among South Asians.



• Sarika Thakur (Biostatistics), "Assessing Demography of Latina Women Who are Victims of Sexual Assault and/or Domestic Violence."
  
  Ms. Thakur plans to work with ADVANCE, a local social service agency that created the East Los Angeles Rape & Battering Hotline (the first-ever 24-hour Spanish language crisis hotline for survivors of sexual assault and family violence in L.A.). ADVANCE has collected data on the women who have come into the agency requiring medical services and/or counseling; however, due to a lack of funds to hire a statistician, limited resources, and absence of statistical expertise, the data have never been analyzed. Ms. Thakur will be providing this service to the agency, enabling them to gain valuable information about domestic violence and to better define the high-risk population that utilizes their services.




FALL 1998 CHPP AWARDEES*

*All projects listed are in the form "Name, Department, Degree Objective, Name of Project, Description of Project."



• Linda Barthauer (Health Services) and Sarah Thomas (Community Health Sciences), "Understanding and Promotion of Breastfeeding in High-risk Women with a History of Chemical Dependence."
  
  The objective of this project is to identify and address the barriers to breastfeeding among women with a history of substance abuse. In general, women with substance abuse problems tend not to breastfeed their babies, even when they have stopped using drugs. The breastfeeding rate among eligible, non-HIV positive female clients at Prototypes (the partner agency) is very low. Dr. Barthauer and Ms. Thomas will conduct focus groups with a group of eligible, non-HIV positive women, to determine barriers and facilitators to breastfeeding. Based on the information they gather, they will design an intervention to increase breastfeeding rates in this population.



• Susan Diaz (Community Health Sciences), "Increasing Access to and Utilization of WIC Services in South Central and South East Los Angeles."
  
  Ms. Diaz plans to assist REI WIC in analyzing their data and determining how the clinic can be more responsive to the needs of the surrounding community. In particular, the clinic would like to encourage more African American families to participate in the program. However, welfare reform has enabled more mothers to go to work, and the clinic may need to be open longer hours to accommodate these families. Ms. Diaz will analyze data the clinic has collected in attempt to identify preferred days and times for appointments as well as perceptions of the clinic among African American women. She will use these findings to augment customer satisfaction and outreach efforts, make recommendations for expanded program services and hours, and to improve breastfeeding rates among the clinic's African American clients.



• Heidi Frith-Smith (Community Health Sciences), "Native American Outreach Program for the PHFE-WIC Program."
  
  Ms. Frith-Smith is going to work with PHFE-WIC to increase the utilization of WIC services by eligible American Indians in Los Angeles. Currently, less than 1% of the Native Americans who qualify for WIC services actually participate in the WIC program. Ms. Frith-Smith will distribute culturally sensitive guidelines to WIC clinics and conduct trainings for clinic staff about the special needs of Native American clients. Further, American Indian WIC posters will be hung outside the clinics to welcome new Native American clients. Ms. Frith-Smith will also conduct outreach at sponsored events such as powwows and health fairs to further encourage WIC visits by Native Americans.



• Todd McNairy (Community Health Sciences), "Emergency Preparedness Training for Underserved Elementary School Children."
  
  Mr. McNairy will be teaching elementary school children in East Los Angeles about earthquakes and disaster preparedness. Specifically, the children will be taught how to prepare their classroom and homes for an earthquake by identifying and mitigating hazards. Students will also learn how to make their own emergency kits and how to conduct a drill with their family.



• Sara Mirza (Epidemiology), "Using Home-Blood Glucose Testing to Improve Diabetic Patients Health."
  
  Ms. Mirza is working with the UCLA-Drew UMMA Free Clinic in South Central L.A.. The majority of the patients at this clinic are African American and Hispanic/Latino, and diabetes is the second most common diagnosis at the clinic. Ms. Mirza plans to distribute glucose monitors to 150 diabetic patients with the goal of enabling them to use the monitors to understand the importance of diet and exercise. The hope is that the patients will use the machines as a form of biofeedback to better understand the impact of their diet and lifestyles choices on their disease. Since the patients will be able to see connections between their behavior and their body, it is hoped that this awareness will create healthier habits.


• Lisa V. Smith (Epidemiology), "Characteristics of adolescents and women seeking STD-related services at the T.H.E. Clinic in Los Angeles County."
  
  Ms. Smith plans to help the T.H.E. Clinic in South-Central Los Angeles analyze some of their medical data. Most of the clients of the T.H.E. Clinic are uninsured and infected with sexually transmitted diseases; clinic staff are so busy treating clients that they have little time to study their data and plan expanded outreach efforts. By analyzing their data, Ms. Smith hopes to help the clinic better understand the problems of the population they are serving and develop new, targeted outreach efforts. Ms. Smith will disseminate the results of her analyses via public service announcements in the hopes that this will further call attention to the problems of sexually transmitted diseases in this high-risk, underserved population.




SPRING 1998 CHPP AWARDEES*

*All projects listed are in the form "Name, Department, Degree Objective, Name of Project, Description of Project."



• Alina Bueno, CHS, M.P.H., "Shoot Back with Cameras, Not Guns."
  
  Alina will work with fifth-grade Latino schoolchildren attending Hawaiian Avenue Elementary School in Wilmington, CA. This is a photojournalism project in which the children will be given cameras to help them identify and document the factors contributing to poverty in their community. Discussion will occur one hour a week during class time, and the students' photos, along their descriptions of them, will ultimately be exhibited at a local community center.



• Tina Christapolous, CHS, M.P.H., "Health Rescue/Rescatando Salud."
  
  Tina will work with the Los Angeles County Immunization Program to empower women and mothers to promote timely immunization in an extremely underserved area of South Central Los Angeles. A group of 12 Latino women from the local community will be recruited and trained to become community health promoters and encourage new mothers to get their children immunized on schedule. It is hoped this program will have an empowering effect on the women in the community.



• Heather Corliss, CHS, M.P.H., "Factors Influencing High-Risk Behaviors And Service Utilization of Transgender Youth."
  
  Transgender youth are at especially high risk for HIV infection, sexual abuse, homelessness, suicide, and a whole range of mental, emotional, and social problems associated with stigmatized populations; however, this population is poorly understood. Heather will work with the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Childrens' Hospital Los Angeles to conduct a needs assessment and develop a program plan for more effective outreach to this population.



• Alexandra Ellis, CHS, M.P.H., "Fighting Cancer with Fitness."
  
  Alexandra will work with the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Jack's Gym in the mid-Wilshire district to develop a fitness and nutrition program for overweight African-American women.



• Shoko Ishikawa, CHS, M.P.H., "TB Workshops in the Asian and Pacific Islander Community in L.A. County."
  
  To reduce the transmission of tuberculosis (TB), it is critical to identify and treat individuals with active TB and prevent infected cases from converting to active ones. However, lack of culturally competent services often makes it difficult for immigrant groups to seek and receive care for health problems. Health care providers may have limited training in treating patients with cultural values different from their own. This program will provide TB and cultural competency education workshops to health care providers. The objective is to increase knowledge about TB among health care providers who serve the Asian community.



• Sarah Kochly, CHS, M.P.H., "Teen Relationship Violence Prevention."
  
  Sarah will work with KCET Television, the Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles (VPC), and the Los Angeles commission on Assaults Against Women (LACAAW) to implement a family violence prevention campaign that seeks to address the intergenerational nature of the cycle of violence. Sarah will be responsible for conducting preliminary focus groups with both parents and teens to develop a set of questions that will facilitate discussion of teen relationship violence. KCET, VPC, and LACAAW will use this information in the development of a workbook, a training workshop, and a 30-minute broadcast documentary.



• France Nguyen, CHS, M.P.H., "Students Health and Osteoporosis Understanding for Tomorrow" (SHOUT).
  
  Osteoporosis is a debilitating, chronic disease than can be prevented if the proper nutrition and exercise habits are developed early in life. France will work with the Los Angeles County Dept. of Health Services to increase teenagers' knowledge about osteoporosis. France will also make presentations in schools all over L.A. County to inform teenagers and parents about this issue.



• Koy Parada, CHS, M.P.H., "Community Outreach for Prevention & Education" (COPE).
  
  Koy will work with COPE, a non-profit organization linked with UCLA and the Venice Family Clinic. COPE provide health education outreach and children's programs to low income and homeless families in the Santa Monica/Venice Beach area. Teams of student interns and health professionals act as positive role models, lead discussions, and provide structured activities aimed a breaking the ongoing cycles of homelessness, improving family cohesion, increasing health awareness and elevating self-esteem. Koy's role on the project will be to increase the numbers of people participating in COPE interventions as well as the quality of education provided. She hopes to do this, in part, by creating a more collaborative effort with VFC and UCLA.



• Kathryn Pitkin, HS, Ph.D., "Increasing the Capacity of Chaplain Services at King Drew Medical Center to Provide Culturally Competent Care for the Poor and Underserved."
  
  King Drew Medical Center is located in the heart of South Central L.A, and serves a highly distressed community. Chaplain services are widely regarded as an integral part of patient care; in addition to "spiritual" care, chaplains often provide assistance to patients facing severe financial, emotional, and social challenges. The hospital chaplain service at King Drew is run almost completely on volunteer efforts. Kathryn, who is about to become an ordained minister herself, has developed a project that will provide assistance to the administration and operation of the chaplain program at King Drew. Her project includes: workshops for chaplains on a wide range of issues, conducting outreach to local faith communities in an effort to recruit additional volunteer chaplains, and increasing the linkages between King Drew and local community based organizations, such as churches.



• Lara Shing, CHS, M.P.H., "Teaching Love and Compassion" (TLC).
  
  Lara will work with SPCALA Humane Education program to expand their TLC Program, currently in place at Hawthorne Intermediate School. This 3-week workshop is designed to prevent violence and promote self-esteem and respect for all living creatures in high-risk youth aged 11-13. In this program, groups of children work together to train shelter animals; during the process they develop compassion, responsibility, and patience towards both animals and fellow humans. Lara will help SPCALA to increase the number of institutions involved with the program, and to develop and institutionalize an instructor training program in the local community.



• Lisa Smith, EPI, Ph.D., "Characteristics of Medically Underserved Populations Utilizing a Mobile HIV Testing Van."
  
  Mobile HIV testing seems to be an effective method for screening hard-to reach uninsured populations; however, very little about this service has been made available to the lay and scientific communities. Lisa will be working with the Los Angeles County Sexually Transmitted Disease Program and King Drew Hospital to increase the awareness and use of mobile HIV screening services. She will do this by disseminating valuable information about the effectiveness of these efforts to the scientific community and service providers and by developing newletters and public service announcements for the lay community.



• Patrice Wagonhurst, CHS, M.P.H., "Complementary Medicine for Indigenous Populations."
  
  This project will work to improve utilization of health care services by indigenous Mexican and Central Americans in L.A., many of whom treat Western medicine with suspicion. Working with the Clinica Monsenor Oscar A. Romero, Patrice will develop complementary medicine protocols incorporating traditional folkways for the provision of primary health care to indigenous peoples.




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Page last updated on June 16, 1999.