When you’re sick or injured, feeling stressed and vulnerable, you turn to health professionals for care and comfort. Having people around you who understand your language and culture can make a difference.

Imagine how difficult it would be to tell a doctor about your symptoms if you don’t speak the same language, or how hard it would be to follow directions on the prescription bottle if you don’t read English. Think about how intimidating it is for a woman to be alone with a doctor if she has been brought up to think that a family member should always be present, or that only her husband should see her bare head.

Culturally competent care – health care that takes language needs and cultural differences into account – is easier to achieve if health care professionals themselves represent the races and ethnicities they serve.

What do you want to be when you grow up? The Health Trust hopes that more youngsters from diverse backgrounds will pick the health professions.

To help achieve more diversity among individuals working in the health professions in Santa Clara County, The Health Trust is investing in a “pipeline strategy” designed to recruit students from diverse backgrounds into health care fields.

The Health Trust is working with the Stanford University Medical Youth Science Program to develop curriculum for high schools in the East Side Union High School District, starting with Overfelt High School, that will enhance students’ interest in science and increase the number of students pursuing health related careers. A video featuring interviews with local, ethnically-diverse science and health professionals is being made available to teachers to show in high school classes.

The Health Trust also awarded an $80,000 grant in 2008 to Mission College to support its LVN to RN program with the goal of increasing the number of ethnic minority nurses in Santa Clara County.

“The pipeline strategy is an exciting and promising concept,” said Paul Hepfer, Vice President of Programs at The Health Trust and Director of the Healthy Communities Initiative. “It is terrific to see high school students consider new opportunities for a career, and witness their excitement about improving health in their local communities.”

Race/Ethnicity of Health Professions in Santa Clara County
(By percentile)

Source: Census Bureau, Census 2000 Equal Employment Opportunity File
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If President Barack Obama is up-to-date on his mail, he has read a letter from The Health Trust touting its Chronic Disease Management workshops and offering to share information on how they are improving the health status and lowering health care utilization – saving costs – for people with chronic conditions.

“We are proud of this program and would like to help other communities develop a peer education model that is successful in reaching diverse populations,” said Frederick J. Ferrer, CEO of The Health Trust.

The Health Trust will offer health education programs at the new Mayfair Community Center in San Jose.

Last year The Health Trust enrolled almost 300 individuals in Chronic Disease Management workshops, and the goal is to serve 600 clients in 2009. This will be aided by the selection of The Health Trust as a Core Community Partner at the new Mayfair Community Center in San Jose. The Health Trust will offer both the Chronic Disease Management workshops and oral health education at Mayfair.

The six-week workshops help participants learn how to manage their chronic disease through increased physical activity, better nutrition, stress reduction, and other self-management tips designed to reduce disease symptoms and reduce the need for hospitalization.
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A third dentist will soon be on staff at The Health Trust’s Children’s Dental Center in East San Jose, expanding even more the capacity of the center that was able to see 2,246 young patients in its first six months.
For many of the children, it’s their first time to see a dentist. About 80 percent are from low income families and are enrolled in public insurance programs like Healthy Kids, a locally-funded, county-based health insurance program for children.

For appointments and information, call (408) 240-0250.
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Making the transition from incarceration to a return to living independently can be difficult, especially for individuals with HIV/AIDS who don’t know where to go and who to trust with information about their health.

The LINKS program offered by Health Trust AIDS Services provides support to individuals recently released from jail and connects them to community-based services that will help them manage their disease while they re-establish their life.

AIDS Services staff members visit the Elmwood and County Main jail to discreetly provide information to prisoners with HIV/AIDS and to encourage them to get in touch when they are released.

That is exactly what “Sam” did. With no possessions except the clothes on his back, he came to the Neil A. Christie Living Center where he was welcomed with a hot meal, bus tokens, and a backpack containing a hygiene kit and sweatsuit. Staff helped him refill his medications at Lenzen Pharmacy and set up appointments with a doctor at PACE Clinic and a benefits counselor to help him find housing. Sam also learned he could get groceries from the Food Basket program.

The LINKS program is supported by a grant from Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara.
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The Health Trust is asking high school students, teachers and administrators for ideas on how healthier school communities can be promoted on campus – and giving them a financial incentive for sharing their best thoughts.

Three types of grants will be awarded:

• Student Project Mini Grants – up to 20 grants of $500 each to support student-driven educational, community service or advocacy activities to promote a healthier school community.
• Healthy School Awards – $2500, $1500 and $1000 will be awarded to three area high schools that best demonstrate a commitment to a healthy school environment.
• Student Wellness Champion Awards – 20 grants of $500 to the first high schools to submit a nomination packet for the Healthy Schools Award. Each school will select one of its students to be named a Student Wellness Champion.

Grant recipients will be announced this spring.

Neha Chandra, Homestead
Olivia Coburn-Flynn, Los Gatos
Patrick Crowley, St. Francis
Oraly Heras, Fremont

Patricia Ho, Palo Alto
Simran Klair, Mount Pleasant
Joe Mijangos, Mount Pleasant
Preethi Panyam, Lynbrook
Catherine Peng, Lynbrook

Akshay Ravi, Monta Vista
Denzil Sikka, Harker
Karen Troung, Silver Creek
Kartik Venkatraman, Harker

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Now in its 15th year as a national event, Dining Out For Life will debut in Silicon Valley on Thursday, April 30, when everyone in the community is invited to visit a participating restaurant and help raise money for The Health Trust AIDS Services.

A list of participating restaurants will be posted on The Health Trust website www.healthtrust.org/dining. Each will have pledged to donate a percentage of the day’s food sales to AIDS Services.

Local sponsors of Dining Out For Life include Out Now Magazine. If you would like to host a restaurant or participate, contact TanyaC@healthtrust.org.
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