Students’ Community Service in Health Care
Project HEALTH (Helping Empower, Advocate and Lead Through Health) is an innovative, student-driven project that attempts to bridge public policy with community service and to address the health and social needs of the local low-income community. It began as a pilot program of 10 volunteer students from Harvard University and has expanded to involve 230 students from universities in three cities.
One component of the project, FitNut, helps children exercise and learn about the importance of good nutrition, while helping to build their self-esteem. A pediatrician, dietician, and physical fitness specialist from Boston Medical Center (BMC) guide the student volunteers.
The Asthma Swimming Program is an effort to strengthen asthmatics’ lung capacity through exercise. According to a BMC pulmonologist, lung capacity increased an average of 26 percent among the 18 students who participated in the program during the past year.
Another program, the Family Information Source, is an online interactive computer kiosk in BMC’s pediatric clinic that allows parents to access information on illnesses, treatments, physicians, health care coverage, and social services. Other Project HEALTH programs focus on literacy, advocacy, and computer training.