Reaching Out - Making a Difference
COBTH Home ---------------- Introduction ---------------- Resouces ---------------- Public Health Champion ---------------- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center ---------------- Boston Medical Center ---------------- Brigham and Women's Hospital ---------------- Cambridge Health Alliance ---------------- Caritas Carney Hospital ---------------- Caritas Saint Elizabeth's Medical Center ---------------- Children's Hospital Boston ---------------- Dana-Farber Cancer-Institute ---------------- Faulkner Hospital ---------------- Lahey Clinic Medical Center ---------------- Massachusetts General Hospital ---------------- Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary ---------------- Tufts Medical Center ---------------- VA Boston Healthcare System ---------------- COBTH Community Benefits Committee ---------------- COBTH Hospital Cancer Rides ---------------- COBTH Domestic Violence Council		Tufts Medical Center has several key community health collaborations that support programs to address specific health issues impacting Boston residents within the hospital’s catchment area. Two of them are grant-giving processes, with health priorities for each funding cycle identified by Advisory Committees comprised of community representatives, public health officials and community health providers. Among the almost 10 programs funded through the Asian Health Initiative in the last year, one program run by Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center addressed the physical and mental health needs of Chinese seniors, many of whom either live alone, or in communities where there are few Asians, thus leaving them linguistically, culturally and socially isolated and vulnerable to depression and with limited access to medical and social services. Among the case load was an elderly childless couple, living in one room at a poorly maintained boarding when the husband suffered a stroke and could no longer manage the stairs at the boarding house. Contacted by a project trained “gatekeeper,” project staff helped the couple with a priority application for public housing and provided case management services to connect them to support services to help with translations, medical appointments, and adult day services. Mrs. Y had this to say about the Chinese American Senior Care Helpline (CASCH) program: “When my husband had his stroke, I realized how alone and isolated we were. The staff at the CASCH program provided so much support and assistance – we’ve received help in addressing his medical needs, our housing situation and many other issues. We’re doing so much better, and we have such a wonderful support system now!” The Dorchester Health Initiative provided funding for the Boston Urban Asthma Coalition for the Asthma Safe Dorchester project to assess how well the community understood asthma and build the capacity of parent asthma leaders to conduct basic research and community advocacy. One major success of this project was the involvement of four parent leaders in the development of “TO BREATHE OR NOT TO BREATHE: A preliminary report on asthma and the environment in Dorchester.”