Online Directory Will Increase Access to Care and Services for the Underserved in Charlotte

From February 2013

MAPPR has partnered with two local organizations to work on a project that will increase access to care and services for those that are underserved, including Internationals here in Charlotte.   Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee, Community Building Initiative, and Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research (MAPPR) are answering the call put out by these communities by collaborating to create an online database of resources and service providers available to help these vulnerable populations.

“We have been working with these communities for a while now,” says Annetta Foard of Community Building Initiative.  “What we were hearing was that there was a need for a centralized place where people could go to find the information they were looking for.  Initially we were compiling social service information and working independently from MAPPR, but when we got word that they were working on a database focused on health care  - it made sense to partner with them and try to do something comprehensive.”

The new website will allow users to input search criteria specific to their needs, and match them to organizations providing these services.  Additionally, there are social networking features allowing users and organization administrators to communicate directly with each other on the website.

As word is getting out, enthusiasm is building.  Thus far more than 70 organizations have registered to be included on The MAP. During this initial phase of development, only government agencies and not-for-profit organizations are populating the database.  The MAP will initially be tested by these service providers, but the goal is for the portal to be available to the general public.  Participation is free of charge for both the service providers and for the users seeking services.

Organizations are still being recruited to join the website!  If you or your organization would like to learn more about The MAP, please contact Brant Aycock at Brant.Aycock@carolinashealthcare.org.

Share Decision Making for a Better Quality of Life

From September 2012

Asthma is a hard chronic condition to treat due to the high costs of healthcare, lack of compliance and disparities in health costs.  It is important for patients to be responsible for their own healthcare and a good way for doing this is through the use of Shared Decision Making (SDM).  The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is the lead Federal agency charged with improving the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care in the United States.  AHRQ is working with our asthma research team to implement comparative effectiveness research methods to improve outcomes for patients with asthma - in other words, finding better ways for patients to live with their asthma.

One of the goals is to improve the health of school-aged children by using a centralized data base in the school system and throughout the Carolinas Healthcare System.  This will continue even after the study is complete and improve the communication between school nurses and providers.  Preliminary results show that overall medical emergencies have decreased, fewer students are missing school, medical costs have decreased and their asthma is better controlled. 

For more information about this asthma study, please contact Tami Alkhazraji at thamara.alkhazraji@carolinashealthcare.org.

Partnership for Success

From August 2012

Collaboration with the Mecklenburg County Health Department (MCHD) began in 2006 when they joined the MAPPR Community Advisory Board.  "It was simply a natural fit," said John Levin, MCHD Health Promotion Manager.

Since then the partnership has been instrumental for initiatives to end healthcare disparities and increase access to primary care services for the Hispanic/Latino community in Mecklenburg County.  The MCHD has served as a critical partner for the obesity project.  The community made it clear that it was important to enhance already existing programs that promote a healthy lifestyle. 

Together with MAPPR, Karina Gonzales, a Registered Dietician at MCHD, set out to evaluate the departments already formed program "Hispanos Saludables".  Ms. Gonzales taught classes about nutrition, exercise and well-being.  Preliminary results show changes in health habits, and weight loss has occurred.  Additionally, the curriculum developed for the Hispanos Saludables classes was also the basis of the media campaign portion of the research study. 

The MCHD participation in the creation and production of the Radionovela "Reencuentro" intervention was led by Gary Black, Public Information Specialist for Mecklenburg County.  The MCHD expertise about public health in Mecklenburg County is invaluable to the success of MAPPR and our community participatory approach.

Research: Dissemination Forum Results

From July 2012

In June, the Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research held a results forum in regards to two of the network research interventions developed and implemented over the past four years.  Over 40 community members and stakeholders from various agencies around the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area turned out to learn about the positive results of the "Hispanos Saludables" program that MAPPR evaluated for the Mecklenburg County Health Department, the community developed radionovela "Reencuentro", and The Mecklenburg Access Portal (The MAP). 

Forum attendees included members from organizations such as Community Building Initiative, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee, Crossroads Charlotte,  the Mecklenburg County Health Department, as well as actual community members who participated in the development and implementation of these interventions.  Many of those attending shared their personal experiences working on each project, and how they perceive the benefits of each intervention - not only within the Hispanic/Latino community, but the city of Charlotte as a whole. 

The "Hispanos Saludables" program resulted in decreased BMIs (body mass index) and weight loss among the majority of women who participated, and the results of the Radionovela marked a fourteen percent increase in knowledge regarding nutrition and exercise within the Hispanic/Latino community studied. 

MAPPR is proud of the hard work that went into these programs and looks forward to working with the community to sustain these programs.  If you would like more information about MAPPR and its projects, please contact Brisa Hernandez at brisa.hernandez@carolinashealthcare.org or call 704.304.7148.

Camino Community Center - Providing Hope for Families in Crisis

From June 2012

Camino Community Center is an organization that serves low-income families and individuals who are in crisis.  Most staff members are Hispanic and bilingual.  This makes the center a more comfortable environment for members of the Hispanic community to come utilize resources.  By providing services such as the Bethesda Health Clinic, the Camino Community Store, Homeless Kitchen, and the Food Pantry - they assist families in need of basic health care, food and other resources.

The organization takes a holistic approach to health by promoting healthy eating and lifestyles through various activities and services such as dance classes, health education, screenings, case management, primary care and chronic care.  Through the selfless dedication of volunteers, the organization is able to host a Homeless Kitchen every other Saturday for men and women in the Charlotte community.  In addition, the Camino Community Center was able to provide a week's worth of groceries to 11,900 people last year!  This year, that number is expected to double.

The Food Pantry provided by the organization is a unique and helpful service that allows families to get groceries once a month for free.  None of these services would be available if it were not for the volunteers dedicated to making Charlotte a healthier community.

For more information about the Camino Community Center, please call 704.596.5606.

CMC - Biddle Point

From April 2012

Carolinas Medical Center at Biddle Point is located in Charlotte, NC near the campus of Johnson C. Smith University.  Adhering to the mission of Carolinas Healthcare System, Biddle Point strives to provide a comprehensive system of healthcare services, education and research opportunities that benefit the populations served.  Biddle Point is also the site of the Urban Residency Program, which is a learning and training environment for first to third year Family Medicine Residents.  Although this facility serves patients of all ages, races and cultures, African-Americans make up approximately 85% of the 29,000 patients seen annually.

As a Family Medicine facility, Biddle Point provides thorough patient education for smokers and individuals who may need colonoscopies and other preventive procedures.  CMC - Biddle Point is an active partner with the Department of Family Medicine in the Asthma Comparitive Effectiveness study, as well as the SPRINT study on patients with hypertension. 

This site is popular among underinsured and sliding scale patients who come mainly from West and Central Charlotte which are two low-income areas.  They accept Medicaid and Medicare as well as all major forms of health insurance. 

CMC - Biddle Point is located at 1801 Rozzelles Ferry Road, Charlotte, NC 28208.  For information regarding appointments or services, call 704.446.9987.

MAPPR Intern Experience

From March 2012

Since the beginning of September 2011, the Department of Family Medicine Research, specifically the Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research (MAPPR) team has been hosting two undergraduate interns from the University of North Carlina at Charlotte Public Health Sciences program:  Taja Allen and myself, Kendra Harris.  Under the supervision of Brisa Hernandez, Research Coordinator of the MAPPR team, Taja and I have had the opportunity to work on various research projects.

Our time has been spent using our academic background in public health to analyze data from a community intervention program targeted at obesity in Hispanic/Latino women, researching various health programs and intervention for literature reviews, transcribing focus group and key informant interviews, and writing for manuscripts and the monthly MAPPR newsletter.  Not only have we contributed to several projects, we have also had the opportunity to meet several community stakeholders and organizations and gain direct exposure to the community-based participatory approach to health care that is the foundation of MAPPR's mission statement.

Our professional and personal growth has been nurtured through a highly emphasized open-door communication style and team-orientation.  Our roles as interns have been emphasized as a vital part of the team, making us truly understand the value and importance of teamwork.  This experience has provided Taja and I with invaluable professional research experience that will help us become more rounded public health professionals.

- Kendra Harris

Through their eyes: Partnering with Youth from the Latin American Coalition

From February 2012

Recently for one of our studies looking at bettering health outcomes in specific neighborhoods around Charlotte, MAPPR partnered with the youth group, United 4 the Dream, from the Latin American Coalition.  These youth are incredibly bright and motivated and are making a difference in their community by publicly speaking out about social injustices aimed at the Hispanic/Latino community in Charlotte.

For this particular study, we wanted to gain a better understanding of the lived experience of a number of the neighborhoods with a higher number of Hispanic/Latino residents.  By partnering with the youth who live in the neighborhoods we were able to see through photographs the conditions and resources available (or not) for all residents of those neighborhoods.  The information the research team gained from the photographs the youth took were invaluable and very important to guide our study into its next steps.

MAPPR appreciates the time the youth and their coordinator Lacey Williams took in working with our research team. 

Contact Lacey if you would like to learn more about this group, at lwilliams@latinamericancoalition.org.

To learn more about this study, contact Brisa Hernandez at 704.304.7123 or email brisa.hernandez@carolinashealthcare.org.