Wayne Pediatrics' Child Health Collaborative and Wayne State University School of Medicine's student organization Healthy Hearts teamed up to educate children about heart and lung health in schools and community organizations across the Detroit metropolitan area in 2023 .
The sessions were held at elementary schools, high schools, summer camps, and after-school programs throughout Southeast Michigan. The children first received a presentation on general information about the heart and lungs, and then received a series of her three interactive stations. Stations include a pig lung specimen that children can inflate in a PVC tube and touch with gloved hands, and a stethoscope that allows children to listen to each other's heart sounds and explore an anatomically correct heart model. stations, a nutrition station focused on common sugar levels. drink.
Healthy Hearts has been offering these sessions in schools for several years, but thanks to CHC's involvement, the collaborative nature of the project added an element of community support not seen in previous presentations. Introduced.
“The Children's Health Collaborative is an initiative of the (WSU) Department of Pediatrics and Wayne Pediatrics aimed at addressing the social determinants of health for children and families across Detroit. Based on feedback gathered from community listening sessions, We saw an opportunity to collaborate with Healthy Hearts,” said Megan Dwyhy, MD, Healthy Hearts faculty advisor and CHC program manager.
“Parents and caregivers who participated in these listening sessions said they wanted more health education on topics such as nutrition, physical activity, and healthy behaviors. Healthy Hearts already provides this type of education in schools. “As a result, we were able to easily partner with community organizations such as Brilliant Detroit, Care of Southeast Michigan, and Goal Line to meet the needs of our community,” she added.
The program successfully addressed community needs through two tactics. First, CHC expanded its existing Healthy Hearts program to community organizations. Next, CHC and Healthy Hearts addressed Detroit's diverse population by incorporating bilingual elements into their sessions.
Spanish-speaking medical students led by Molly Dahl provided translation and interpretation services for Brilliant Detroit Southside sessions that also included Spanish-speaking parents. All slides were translated into Spanish, and interpreters spoke with parents at the event and answered questions about heart and lung health, nutrition, and physical activity.
“Dr. Dweich has been instrumental in supporting the Healthy Hearts organization in expanding our mission to introduce medicine to students in the Detroit area and start conversations about healthy eating and lifestyles. Previously , it was even more difficult to find schools that could work with these students. But through these partnerships, we are now able to connect with more communities.” , said Neha Chava, a medical student in the Class of 2026 and recent Chair of the Healthy Hearts Board of Directors.
Healthy Hearts will continue to visit schools and community organizations in 2024, and the Children's Health Collaborative looks forward to working with other medical student organizations to expand the health education provided to the Detroit community .
“One of Healthy Hearts' goals is to make the field of medicine more accessible to students who don't necessarily know about the profession. There are still many underrepresented minorities in medicine, and I We hope that through these early interventions and sessions, we can stimulate curiosity about medicine and even encourage students to pursue medicine as a future career option,” said Chava.
