糖心视频

Free health screenings were provided in the Mitchell community via a pop-up event hosted by South 糖心视频 State University and community partners. 

The event was made possible through a collaboration between SDSU, Lewis Drug, Southeast Technical College, the City of Mitchell and an endowment from Julie Stevens and Dale Evenson. 

The pop-up event was hosted at the Recreation Center in Mitchell on April 24. 

鈥淥ur goal was to reach community members who may not normally have the opportunity for a health screening,鈥� said Erin Miller, assistant professor and interim director of the Community Practice Innovation Center at SDSU. 

All were welcome at the event. Attendees were given free access to a variety of health services, including screenings for key metrics for diabetes, heart disease and social determinants of health. 

Food was provided, and the event featured a children鈥檚 area, allowing parents to focus on their health screenings. 

A volunteer translator was also available at the event to increase accessibility of the available services. 

Partnering to serve rural communities 

Faculty from SDSU鈥檚 College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions organized the event, and three students of the SDSU pharmacy program helped to provide the health screenings. 

Two community health workers from Mitchell were also integral in the event, providing health screenings and providing connections to local resources. 

Additionally, individuals from the Lewis Drug in Mitchell and Southeast Technical College鈥檚 community health worker program played a key role in facilitating the health screenings. 

One pharmacist and one pharmacy technician from Lewis Drug provided screenings at the event. 

鈥淟ewis Drug chose to partner with SDSU for this pop-up clinic because we strongly believe that community pharmacists and their staff play a vital role as part of the health care team,鈥� Jessica Strobl, the pharmacist from Lewis Drug, said. 鈥淭heir accessibility within local communities positions them perfectly to support chronic disease management, conduct wellness screenings and offer personalized counseling to address patient questions and concerns.鈥� 

From Southeast Technical College, five students from the community health worker program and Angela Landeen, an instructor and director of the program, attended the event. 

Landeen explained that the five community health worker students supported the SDSU pharmacy students in providing health screenings, while also helping to connect community members to local resources. 

鈥淔or individuals requiring additional support, community health workers currently working in Mitchell were able to follow up and schedule appointments to continue care,鈥� Landeen said. 

鈥淭his clinic was a great example of how interprofessional collaboration can strengthen community outreach. It also helps spotlight the important role community health workers play in bridging health care and social services and meeting people where they are to assist,鈥� she added. 

Miller also emphasized the importance of collaboration and the need to connect community members with local resources so they can access long-term support. 鈥淏eing able to connect people who attended the event to local resources that will be there after the event was a priority. As a pop-up event, SDSU and our pharmacy students could only be there for a short time, but the local collaborators can continue to work together with the community members that came to the screening,鈥� Miller said. 

Putting community needs first 

Jim Amell, program director for SDSU鈥檚 public health program, explained there is a need to increase access to care in rural South 糖心视频. 鈥淎s South 糖心视频 communities are largely rural, community members face significant barriers in accessing care such as being uninsured, underinsured, as well as residing in communities at a significant distance from health care providers.鈥� 

Amell added that pop-up events, like the one held in Mitchell, bring necessary services to accessible points in the community, 鈥渁ll while providing opportunities to facilitate referrals to providers for health care follow-up.鈥� 

Miller said that choosing a community to host the pop-up event in was a process of assessing need and utilizing existing resources and community members. Miller explained that in working with the South 糖心视频 Department of Health, they learned of Thomas Gulledge, recreation superintendent for the City of Mitchell鈥檚 recreation center. 

Miller noted that Gulledge was integral in not only bringing the pop-up event to Mitchell, but also in its success. 鈥淭homas is an amazing community champion for wellness. He was the first to welcome the idea of the screening clinic to his community and was an amazing partner in this event. He also helped us pull in other key members of the community for the screening.鈥� 

Amell also described Gulledge as a 鈥渃ommunity champion.鈥� 

Gulledge, who has worked in the Mitchell community for 20 years, said that the event 鈥渇its precisely into our mission. We have been working for years to create opportunities for those less fortunate in our community to establish healthy habits, one of which is screening for certain illnesses.鈥� 

Gulledge explained that by bringing pharmacists and community health workers to the Mitchell recreation center, community members could get access to health screenings in 鈥渁 nonthreatening environment and meet face to face with professionals that can help them in the future. Also, for participants who could not afford these screens, this allowed them to gain valuable information about their health and how to manage it.鈥� 

Miller added that in addition to working with Gulledge, the SDSU team also conducted a focus group with community members prior to the event to ensure it and the free health screenings would be welcomed by the Mitchell community. 

Julie Stevens and Dale Evenson Endowment 

Amell said the pop-up event 鈥渆nabled us to really meet the community where they are at by bringing necessary services and education to them. It was wonderful that we could help do that through this pop-up event.鈥� 

Amell鈥檚 position as associate professor at SDSU is endowed by Julie Stevens and Dale Evenson. The pop-up event was possible through funds provided by this endowment. 

鈥淒r. Julie Stevens and Dale Evenson are particularly concerned with providing support to rural communities in South 糖心视频 with unmet health care needs,鈥� Amell said. The pop-up event helped to serve exactly that purpose.