Collaboration links schools to health resources

When a Catholic school needs a guest speaker to talk about eating well, a demonstration of how science is used every day or even aid for unemployed parents of students, one group may be able to help: the Diocesan Community Health Alliance.

A collaborative effort of representatives from Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese, the Catholic Schools Office, and area Catholic hospitals, colleges and schools, the alliance is helping people to stay healthy and gain knowledge.

The steering committee of the Diocesan Community Health Alliance, set up in 1994 by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, meets several times a year to work on getting health and education services to people who need them. The committee works through collaboratives in Albany, Schenectady and Troy.

Needs

"They identify schools with more needy students," explained Cathy Golas, director of prevention services for the Catholic Schools Office and a member of the collaboratives.

For example, she said, students from a lower-income area might need free or reduced-price lunches or health care. The collaboratives help match the needs to the agency or organization that can meet them.

"I'm always pushing for dental service," Ms. Golas noted, because children whose families are struggling to make ends meet are often neglectful when it comes to dental care. She urges the healthcare organizations in the collaborative to help.

Areas of interest

Each collaborative has its own areas of specialization:

* In Troy, said Ms. Golas, the collaborative has worked with Catholic schools on getting guest speakers. If a school requests a speaker on asthma, nutrition or puberty, for example, a Catholic hospital or college might be able to provide one.

* In Schenectady, St. Clare's Hospital has offered health programs on issues like nutrition for children -- a rising need, since studies show that more and more American children are overweight -- and gave manuals to local schools on drugs to beware of. The Schenectady collaborative also helped to start a Saturday-morning recreation program for area children.

* In Albany, St. Peter's Hospital created a newsletter called "Healthy Habits" and distributed it to Catholic school students to bring home to their families. When one Albany school wanted to start a basketball team despite not having a gym, the collaborative found a Catholic Charities site with a gym that could be used.

Meeting needs

The collaboratives' efforts can be touching: When a Catholic school student needed medication but the child's parents were temporarily without health insurance, Ms. Golas said, a collaborative found a resource to provide the medicine until the new insurance took effect.

Some activities cover more than one area. At every collaborative meeting, for instance, whoever is representing Catholic Charities brings applications for Camp Scully, the Albany Diocese's summer camp for underprivileged children, to distribute to school representatives. Catholic Charities may also use grant money to fund a program like job coaching for unemployed or underemployed parents of students.

Because of the alliance, Catholic hospitals have begun to provide meeting space for different parenting programs. Catholic colleges may send teachers or students to do science demonstrations in Catholic elementary or secondary schools.

Science

The most significant offshoot of the alliance so far may be the "Spring into Science" project. Held in April, it sought to boost young people's interest in health-related careers. Maria College, The College of Saint Rose and St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, along with Siena College in Loudonville, put on a program for eight schools.

Each college sponsored demonstrations of everything from forensics to occupational therapy. For the 150 students who attended, said Ms. Golas, the event was a huge success.

She hopes that young students who complain about science or math classes got "a sense of where this all leads to: `Oh, if I want to do this neat stuff, these are the kinds of things I need.'"

"Spring into Science" will definitely be held again, Ms. Golas said, adding that it's far from the only activity created through the steering committee of the Diocesan Community Health Alliance.

"There are a lot of things going on," she said, "and it's nice that we're trying to work together for mutual benefit and get services to people."

(5/22/03) [[In-content Ad]]