Press Release
Date: 09-08-09Name: Terri Guess Phone: 973-972-7265
Email: guesstp@umdnj.edu
UMDNJ Nursing Professor Partners with Ironbound Community Corporation to Implement Latino Health Literacy Initiative
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NEWARK, N.J.—The UMDNJ-School of Nursing is partnering with the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) to implement a health literacy program for Latinos in the Ironbound section of Newark. The goal is to improve the ability of people in that community to make appropriate health care choices and to access needed health services.
The Latino Health Literacy Initiative, supported by a $247,500 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to ICC, targets individuals with limited English proficiency who may also have difficulty reading and writing in Spanish. The program expects to serve more than 600 Newark residents over three years.
Participants will attend Spanish-language community health fairs, workshops, classes and one-to-one coaching sessions offered through the ICC. Classroom learning will be combined with interactive activities and field trips to health care facilities, nursing simulation laboratories, pharmacies and supermarkets.
Frances Munet-Vilaró, Ph.D., RN, associate professor and director of the nursing school’s advanced community health master’s degree program, is co-director of the grant along with Petra Chavez, director of ICC’s Family Success Centers.
“Increasingly more programs and services are available in Spanish, but many Ironbound residents still lack basic health literacy levels in Spanish to meet their urgent health care needs,” said Munet-Vilaró. “Teaching in Spanish and emphasizing oral learning will allow participants to make the most rapid progress in learning to navigate the healthcare system and make appropriate health decisions for their families.”
The Latino Health Initiative will focus on four areas related to health literacy: verbal skills, numerical skills, reading and writing, and cultural and conceptual knowledge. Additionally, participants will be taught to measure and record their weight, height, waistline and blood pressure. The program will seek to train some participants as community health literacy promoters, thereby helping to sustain the program and establish a strong base of grassroots support.
“Health access and information are top priorities for people served by the ICC, said Joseph Della Fave, executive director of ICC. “They have challenges with calculating time and medication dosages, reading labels and instructions, describing symptoms, and completing paperwork. We are grateful for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s assistance in addressing these priorities.”
The Ironbound Community Corporation empowers residents of the Ironbound section of Newark -- a diverse neighborhood of 50,000 people – to build better lives for themselves. In collaboration with individuals and organizations, ICC addresses a range of neighborhood issues from education programs and social services for children, families and senior citizens to health care, affordable housing and economic development, and environmental justice. Today, ICC serves more than 800 residents daily.
With campuses in Newark and Stratford, New Jersey, UMDNJ-School of Nursing offers a comprehensive academic program and continuing education for healthcare professionals. The school’s community outreach programs include a mobile health project serving Newark, Irvington and Elizabeth; and a community health clinic in Camden.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.
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