My service learning requirements was completed with the class PH3100 “Social and Behavioral Aspects of Public Health” with Dr. Dillaway. Throughout the course, we learned about social determinants and other factors that could affect someone’s access to a healthy life. Split apart into small groups, we each chose topics that interested us within the Healthy Dearborn coalition. This is a group that came about due to the identification of the top 4 health concerns of the community; heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and access to care. We looked at their branches of community; schools, worksites, foods, transportation and recreation.
I was interested in how health and educations are related, especially at the elementary school age. We sent out a general survey to the school to Henry Ford Elementary School in Dearborn to estimate an understanding of what the parents of students know about their child’s health and available options within their school. Me and my group also went to the school to interview their principal. We were interested in understanding what specific programs and policies were put into place to promote health within the school.
From our survey results and answers provided by the administration, we essentially learned that while there are programs being offered at the school, such as , they are not being communicated efficiently to the parents and students, because they are either unaware of the presence of them or do not understand their benefits. This can be related to health literacy, another topic we learned throughout the course. If parents and students are not knowledgeable on health topics then they will not be able to benefit from them.
Overall, I learned a great deal from PH3100 with Dr. Dillaway and from working with Healthy Dearborn and Henry Ford Elementary School. I learned that while some communities have the problem of not getting offered the proper services to care, other communities have the problem of not knowing how to access that care, or are unaware of it being there. Implementing new policies and programs and working on increased communication throughout the community would be a step in the right direction to improving the health of the community.
I was interested in how health and educations are related, especially at the elementary school age. We sent out a general survey to the school to Henry Ford Elementary School in Dearborn to estimate an understanding of what the parents of students know about their child’s health and available options within their school. Me and my group also went to the school to interview their principal. We were interested in understanding what specific programs and policies were put into place to promote health within the school.
From our survey results and answers provided by the administration, we essentially learned that while there are programs being offered at the school, such as , they are not being communicated efficiently to the parents and students, because they are either unaware of the presence of them or do not understand their benefits. This can be related to health literacy, another topic we learned throughout the course. If parents and students are not knowledgeable on health topics then they will not be able to benefit from them.
Overall, I learned a great deal from PH3100 with Dr. Dillaway and from working with Healthy Dearborn and Henry Ford Elementary School. I learned that while some communities have the problem of not getting offered the proper services to care, other communities have the problem of not knowing how to access that care, or are unaware of it being there. Implementing new policies and programs and working on increased communication throughout the community would be a step in the right direction to improving the health of the community.
The above is the research presentation that me and my group partner, Cedric Mutebi, completed at the end of the semester. We researched past research done on health education and opportunities present within the school system. The question we were attempting to answer was “Do the health policies and services offered within Dearborn Public Schools promote healthy behaviors and lifestyles at the elementary school level?” After research and analysis, we deduced that although the school has made strides to towards implementing programs and policies to help improve their students health behaviors, there is a disconnect among the parents and what the school has put into place. The parents are not really aware of what the school is doing to improve the health of their students, due to either a lack of health literacy or poor communication between school and the parents. Greater family and community involvement can help improve this and promote healthy lifestyles.
My involvement in this service learning has been interesting and I hope to continue to work with Healthy Dearborn to hopefully educate others on the importance of health policies and increasing health literacy.
My involvement in this service learning has been interesting and I hope to continue to work with Healthy Dearborn to hopefully educate others on the importance of health policies and increasing health literacy.