Written in collaboration with the St. Louis County Department of Public Health At least one out of every 100 St. Louis County adult residents had an active COVID-19 infection earlier this fall, while about five out of every 100 adults had contracted the disease at some earlier point, according to test results of a representative […]
Tag: St. Louis
Community partnership seed funding awarded
The Center for Community Health Partnership and Research and the Institute for Public Health have awarded two project teams with up to $7,500 each in Community Partnership Seed Funding. The aim of the Community Partnership Seed Funding is to foster and deepen community-academic partnerships. By invitation only, researchers and community organizations request funding to support initial […]
Next steps in sexual health
Sexual health is now a regional priority for St. Louis, as identified by the regional coalition, St. Louis Partnership for a Healthy Community. Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to increase in St. Louis as well as nationally, while public health funding continues to decline. Missouri’s congenital syphilis rates have increased 218 percent (from […]
St. Louis bus tour reveals history of racial disparities
Written by Brittany Calkins, BA candidate at Emory University and participant in the 2019 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public & Global Health Track I am from St. Louis, so when I saw we had a bus tour, I assumed we would be visiting the “classic” St. Louis areas, such as the […]
How funding and collaboration can address violence: Lessons from the past
According to a 2017 U.S. Department of Justice report, the City of St. Louis experienced a notable decrease in homicides in the year 2003 but the rate has subsequently rebounded. As we continue to see violence in our city and search for what works to prevent it, can we learn from the past? A community-academic […]
Joining forces to stop cycle of violence in St. Louis (Links to an external site)
The Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis will launch the regional St. Louis Area Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (STL-HVIP), which will aim to promote positive alternatives to violence, thanks to a $1.6 million grant from Missouri Foundation for Health.
Clinica de Migrantes documentary screening and panel discussion
Written by Kyle Smith, undergraduate in economics and computational biology at University of Rochester and participant in the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program On July 10, Casa de Salud, a local organization offering affordable or no-cost healthcare, welcomed community members for a viewing of Clinica de Migrantes: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of […]
St. Louis bus tour
Written by Delphine Zhu, undergraduate in neuroscience and anthropology at Smith College and participant in the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program After getting to know one another on the first day of the program, we had the opportunity to learn more about St. Louis on a bus tour. The bus tour was led […]
Youth and gun violence: NOW is the time for action
Saint Louis Story Stitchers youth hosted a second video-taped discussion on November 10th at Kranzberg Arts Center’s Black Box Theater to reopen topics explored in last year’s discussion. Stitchers Teen Council Co-Chairs Aniya and Toryon, both seniors in high school, led guest high school youth from University City High School, McCluer High School, Central Visual […]
Ending gun suicide: A personal and professional movement
Written by Sylvia Ogilvie, graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis Gun violence is inarguably one of the most divisive issues in the United States, whether we are arguing with family members around the holiday table, or watching political candidates point fingers at each other like children in the school yard. It almost seems […]
Assistance requested from local service providers
The St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Collaborative has been working to advance the goal of identifying, mapping and coordinating resources in our region as they relate to critical services and programs that support the reduction of gun violence. These include, but are not limited to, behavioral and mental health, social, afterschool recreational, education, employment, housing, […]
Public health challenge: Reducing gun violence in St. Louis
Washington University’s Institute for Public Health and Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship partnered to host a three-day immersive public health challenge. Held September 16-19, 2016, multidisciplinary teams of students developed social and entrepreneurial concepts to reduce gun violence in St. Louis. More than a dozen students participated in the event which included an ideation session […]
Speed networking for community health
The Institute for Public Health’s Center for Community Health Partnership and Research hosted a speed networking for community health event on June 17. The event drew participants from diverse organizations working with residents of St. Louis city and county and Illinois. The 18 organizations included those addressing clinical healthcare needs, general health and wellness, and healthcare and public health workforce […]
Tobacco 21/STL
The Center for Community Health Partnership and Research is supporting the fast moving initiative Tobacco 21/STL. Support includes getting the word out to community-based organizations and community members concerned about the health risks for kids and young adults related to tobacco use. Tobacco 21/STL is a movement spreading across the state of Missouri. Kansas City and Columbia, […]
Institute supports Ferguson Academic Seed Fund projects
The Institute for Public Health is pleased to offer additional support to projects, that have the potential to impact public health, funded by the Ferguson Academic Seed Fund (FASF). We provide matching funds to support the projects described below. The FASF was established by the Washington University Chancellor and Provost’s offices to provide support for addressing […]
Get to know the Center for Community Health Partnership & Research co-directors
Written by April Houston, MSW/MPH, graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis; and Hilary Broughton, MSW, co-manager of the Center for Community Health Partnership & Research The Center for Community Health Partnership & Research—a joint endeavor of the Institute for Public Health and the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences at Washington University in […]
The Discharge Summary Tracking System project: Ensuring community health center providers can care for patients after hospital discharge
Written by the Discharge Summary Tracking System project team [1] Our local community health centers are bustling with the activity of primary care providers answering their patients’ vital inquiries. But what happens if their question regards a hospital visit of which the provider was never informed? “My patient exclaimed, ‘I’ve been shot!’” said primary care doctor […]
Keys to community health partnerships: Lessons learned at Becker Library
Over the years, the Becker Medical Library at Washington University School of Medicine has worked with various institutions and programs across the St. Louis metro area to provide credible health information resources to the community. Our projects have included training public school librarians on reliable health information resources, working with community health fellows on campus, […]
Interaction design: Understanding health and well-being
Written by Enrique Von Rohr, MA, director of research & technology and senior lecturer at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts In the spring of 2016, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis offered a design class titled “Interaction Design: Understanding Health and Well-Being” to […]
Using art museum resources to make an impact
Written by Allison Taylor, head of education and community engagement at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis This post explores two initiatives at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum that connect visual art to healthcare. These programs illustrate the interdisciplinary ways in which medical professionals and those in their […]
Supporting partnerships to improve health outcomes in St. Louis
The Community/University Health Research Partnership (CUHRP) Initiative was formed to help community organizations and academic researchers at Washington University and Saint Louis University work together to address some of the most critical health problems in St. Louis. Overview: Listening to community concerns The St. Louis Community/University Health Research Partnerships (CUHRP) Initiative was formed after a series […]
Not Another One! An urgent call to action on gun violence
Written by Susan Colangelo, founding president of Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective The Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to serving the St. Louis region through inventive, collaborative arts and culture. Members collect local stories, reframe and retell them through art, writing and performance to promote understanding, civic pride, intergenerational […]
Alaina Maciá and MTM generously support public health
Alaina Maciá and her husband Daniel have been supporting public health at Washington University for several years. She is the president and CEO of Medical Transportation Management (MTM) Inc., and serves on the National Council of the Institute for Public Health. Alaina and MTM, Inc. have made a five-year pledge to the Leading Together campaign […]
Health equity series
The Missouri Foundation for Health has compiled five reports on health disparities within the state as part of their Health Equity Series, assembling a variety of data sources in an effort to document inequities impacting minority groups. African American Health Disparities in Missouri provides evidence that African Americans are trailing the state’s white population on […]
Economics, policy, and racial disparities
Health disparities has been an important topic for public health researchers for years, with much or most of the focus on disparities across racial groups in the US, where we see wide disparities on almost every outcome measure. In the St. Louis area and region, health disparities remains a critical topic where if anything the […]
“Where did you graduate from high school?” Insurance as education reform
Written by William F. Tate, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis “My ear hurts.” “It’s hard to breathe.” “I feel afraid and it won’t go away.” Imagine learning to read or doing a science project with otitis media or asthma. Picture taking a major exam […]
White fear creates white spaces and exacerbates health disparities
Written by Melody Goodman, PhD, assistant professor at the Washington University School of Medicine “White fear has manifested itself in outright violence post-slavery through the imposition of Jim Crow segregation. White fear has manifested itself legislatively via redlining laws and cruel lending practices barring blacks from owning property in ‘white neighborhoods.’ White fear has manifested itself […]
Joining forces with United Way on gun violence prevention
Washington University in St. Louis and the United Way of Greater St. Louis have formed a joint partnership that aims to provide support and resources to local initiatives that are uniting in their efforts to combat gun violence in the region. The St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Collaborative will work to reduce violent crime in […]
For the Sake of All project update
For the Sake of All recently released an “Evidence in Action” update, detailing the progress that has been made since the release of its signature report eighteen months ago. The initiative began in 2013 as an effort to investigate the health and well-being of African Americans in the St. Louis region, with an eye toward […]
Working to connect and coordinate local HIV/AIDS efforts
Written by Matthew Brown, MPH, manager of the Center for Community Health Partnership and Research at the Institute for Public Health The Center for Community Health Partnerships continues to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders working in HIV/AIDS in St. Louis. The group first met last December, and assembled again in September 2015. At […]
Saint Louis Effort for AIDS engages community through World AIDS Day event
On December 1, 2015, Saint Louis Effort for AIDS organized its annual World AIDS Day event. This year’s event was titled “Getting to Zero”: Remembering the impact of HIV/AIDS on our community, and took place at the Missouri History Museum. It included live music, exhibit booths, a names project, HIV testing and other health services, […]
Food Outreach helps local HIV/AIDS patients through nutrition and education
Written by Jessica Healey, marketing and event specialist at Food Outreach For more than 27 years, Food Outreach has continued to be the only nonprofit organization in the greater St. Louis area that focuses on providing vital nutritional support to low-income men, women and children with HIV/AIDS or cancer. An impassioned staff, along with 600 […]
A regional approach to improving STI care
In November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released two reports detailing the increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections in the US. As a provider of care for patients with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV, increasing rates of all STIs are a great concern to me. National STI data indicates that rates […]
A legacy of environmental health concerns in St. Louis
Written by Faisal Khan, MBBS, MPH, director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health The St. Louis region played a significant role in the development of America’s atomic weapons program in the 1940s, and the impacts of this legacy continue to be felt today. Brief history From 1942 to 1957, the Mallinckrodt Chemical Plant extracted […]
Preparedness resource guide
In conjunction with Prepared for Peril: Readiness and Recovery for Public Health Threats, the Institute prepared this guide with a variety of resources relating to the conference theme. General emergency preparedness All-Hazards Preparedness Guide, 2013 Best Practices for Communicating with the Public During an Outbreak, 2005 Clinician Outreach and Communication Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication […]
Linking community members to key resources with 2-1-1
Written by Regina L. Greer, vice president of community response at United Way of Greater St. Louis Imagine being a first responder that saves a family from their severely damaged home; a concerned citizen witnessing devastation and grief on the faces of your neighbors on TV; or a parent seeking food, water, and toiletries for […]
Emergency preparedness planning on a regional Level
Written by Dominic “Nick” Gragnani, executive director of the St. Louis Area Regional Response System Since 2003, there has been a little-known emergency and disaster planning agency that has been diligently working to improve St. Louis disaster response capabilities of first responder and general healthcare agencies. The St. Louis Area Regional Response System, better known […]
Art, guns, & rebooting the conversation
Written by Liam Otten, news, arts and humanities director in the Office of Public Affairs at Washington University in St. Louis Art is disruptive. It can fracture entrenched positions. It can restart conversations. This fall, the Sam Fox School is presenting Guns In The Hands of Artists. Organized by the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New […]
Bite your tongue. (I’d rather be offended than shot.)
I am standing here at the door of my studio in the Clinton-Peabody housing projects (“the Peabodies”), looking across St. Ange Street to the playground. J’Nylah Douglas’ grandma used to live right there, across the way, her front door facing the playground, just a couple car lengths from my studio. In 2011 J’Nylah was visiting […]
Firearm injuries: A pediatric public health crisis
Written by Robert M. Kennedy, MD, pediatric emergency medicine physician; Martin S. Keller, MD, director of trauma services; Angela Lumba-Brown, MD, pediatric emergency medicine physician; and Fahd A. Ahmad, MD, MSCI, pediatric emergency medicine physician at St. Louis Children’s Hospital As pediatric emergency and trauma physicians at St. Louis Children’s Hospital we are alarmed by the growing epidemic of firearm-related injuries that […]
St. Louis gun violence and the real Ferguson effect
By the standards of St. Louis in 2015, the last weekend of September was an island of calm. Readers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the Monday after learned that a 20-year-old woman, shot in the hip while driving down Interstate 70 early Sunday morning, would quickly recover. A fatal shooting at Carondelet Park on […]
Fighting gun violence in and out of the courtroom
Written by Jennifer M. Joyce, circuit attorney for the City of St. Louis The landscape in St. Louis and across the country is very different today than it was even just a year ago. Gun violence is the number one issue this community faces today. Too many people are dying. In 2014, 138 people were […]
City of St. Louis Youth Violence Prevention Partnership
Written by Carl Filler, MSW, director of strategic policy initiatives in the Mayor’s Office of the City of St. Louis Cities across the United States have been grappling with endemic violence—often manifested in gun-related violence. While homicide rates—the most extreme form of violent crime—increased drastically from the 1960s through the early 1980s and sustained through […]
Pilot program seeks to help child victims
Written by Margie Batek, MSW, LCSW, social work supervisor in the Emergency Department at St. Louis Children’s Hospital The Victims of Violence program at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital seeks to curb the re-occurrence of interpersonal violence in the lives of children who have been shot, stabbed or assaulted, involved in domestic violence, and Fit […]
A coordinated effort may be the solution to gun violence in St. Louis
Written by Poli Rijos, coordinator for the Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis initiative at Washington University in St. Louis. As of September 15, 2015, the City of St. Louis has been affected by over 145 murders. During recent conversations with law enforcement officials, I learned that most gun violence can be localized to specific […]
Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) partnership in St. Louis
Written by Kara Lubischer, MUPPD, community development specialist at University of Missouri Extension The HEAL Partnership is working to reduce obesity in the City of St. Louis by increasing access to healthier foods. The problem How close do you live to the nearest grocery store? If you live in the City of St. Louis, chances are […]
Engaging older adults in shaping Ferguson’s future
Nancy Morrow-Howell, director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging, was awarded one of the Ferguson Academic Seed Fund Grants for the spring 2015 cycle. Her project, titled “Engaging Older Adults in Shaping Ferguson’s Future,” aims to document the experiences of older adults in the recent events in Ferguson and nearby communities in north […]
Students tour Better Family Life
Recently the students in our summer programs, SPRINGH and PHASE, had the opportunity to experience first-hand Better Family Life. The tour included an interactive introduction to the organization’s mission and activities from CEO Malik Ahmed, a tour of the historic, renovated headquarters building in north St. Louis, and interactions with the Vice Presidents for Community Outreach; Youth, […]
Making a difference every day with St. Louis Earth Day
Written by Jen Myerscough of St. Louis Earth Day “Can I really make a difference when it comes to climate change?” St. Louis Earth Day says: “Yes!” Every glass bottle you keep out of the landfill, every carrot you purchase from a local farmer, every time you turn off the lights, you are lowering the average […]
New partnership process for Integrated Health Network collaboration
A new process has been developed for academic researchers to foster bi-directional community partnerships with the St. Louis Integrated Health Network (IHN) for network-wide collaborations. As an organization, the IHN collaborates with hospitals, community health centers, and other safety-net institutions to increase access to high quality, affordable healthcare for all residents of the St. Louis […]