Thursday, October 16, 2008
PRINCESS ANNE, MD — The United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation and the National Library of Medicine recently funded a program proposed by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to help eliminate the negative effects of health disparities within the African American community.
Under the auspices of the UMES School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, the e-Health Access Project will provide online health and medical resources at UMES and in the surrounding tri-county communities for the purpose of creating and increasing awareness.
“The School will continue our community partnerships and involve additional community partners in research, training and educational opportunities to increase the awareness of health disparities,” said Dr. James Heimdal, principle investigator and chair of the Department of Exercise Science.
The project promotes disease prevention and wellness on HBCU campuses and in their surrounding communities through the use of National Library of Medicine (NLM) online resources. Consequently, curriculum will be developed for the purpose of training students in the use of NLM resources. For UMES faculty, health care professionals and community stake holders, formal and informal NLM resource training sessions will be conducted on campus, as well as at 12 public libraries, health departments, hospitals and medical centers and at other convenient corporate/community locations. A minimum of 24 informal community trainings will be provided at participating partner s facilities, and service learning opportunities will be developed by UMES students to increase awareness of health disparities and to educate community members.
The goals of the project are to equip each participant with the skills necessary to successfully use the online health and medical resources, to encourage participants to commit to using the resources in the future, to help assure that information acquired by participants will be carried back to family and friends, and to have participants indicate that they have the necessary information to make positive lifestyle changes.
The School of Pharmacy and Health Professions comprises four academic departments: Exercise Science, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant and Rehabilitation. Undergraduate programs offered within the four departments include exercise science, physician assistant and rehabilitation services. Graduate programs offered within the departments lead to a master s in rehabilitation counseling and a doctorate in physical therapy. The pharmacy program, which leads to a doctoral degree, is slated to begin fall 2010.
For more information about the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions e-Health Access Program, please call 410-651-8141.
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Suzanne Waters Street, director, UMES Office of Public Relations, 410-621-2355, sstreet@umes.edu.
