Resident Advocacy Initiatives |
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UVA Residents Staff Boys and Girls Club Health Fair!
UVa Pediatric Residents participated in the Boys and Girls Club of Charlottesville/Albemarle
Drs. Arthi Krishnan and Kate Schrecengost Address VA AAP at Birdsong Conference! Dr. Arthi Krishnan, Dr. Kate Schrecengost, and Dr. Martha Hellems presented their experiences at the AAP Legislative Conference and their plans for developing and implementing a Virginia resident advocacy workshop to members and leaders of the Virginia Chapter of the AAP. The planned workshop will provide residents with the advocacy skills needed to participate in the legislative and policy-making processes which so greatly impact child health. The workshop will be the product of a Dyson Grant awarded to Dr. Krishnan and Dr. Hellems earlier this year, in collaboration with Dr. Schrecengost, who received an AAP John Lewy Scholarship. April, 2008. Dr. Mark Cummings Champions Louisa County Obesity Task Force! Over the course of the past year, Dr. Mark Cummings has focused on facilitating the development of a childhood obesity task force in Louisa County. He partnered with state leaders, attending the Governor's Healthy Student Summit in Richmond, where he met and developed working relationships with colleagues from across the state. He also collaborated with local leaders, especially school administrators, and principals and worked to identify existing community resources that may be helpful in the work of a task force.
The group has evaluated the performance of Louisa County schools using the Governor's Scorecard for Fitness and Nutrition Programs, identifying significant areas where meaningful change could be made, especially in the area of physical education offerings. They plan to continue to use this as a tool to measure progress. They also changed the drop-off location for school buses so that children are dropped off ¼ mile from school and finish the trip to school with a walk! Other plans are underway, including a family fun run. A local physician group has also joined the task force and will act as a medical liaison. The Louisa County Childhood Obesity Task Force continues to evaluate and refine their work in this rural community in order to promote healthy lifestyles and improve child health. April, 2008. Dr. Ashley Logan Launches Telemedicine Obesity Program With Southwest Virginia! Dr. Ashley Logan has developed a telemedicine-linked obesity prevention and treatment program to the Craig County School System in southwest Virginia designed to bring needed services to a population without access to this care. Dr. Logan attended the Governor's Healthy Student Summit in Richmond last fall. She is working in collaboration with the UVa Children's Fitness Clinic, the health clinic at Craig County Elementary School, and staff at the Craig County Health Department. Working with Dr. Karen Rheuban, she has obtained funding to launch this initiative and the first training session took place in April 2008. This program will offer intensive training to a Craig County team on assessments for the emotional, nutritional, psychological and exercise factors related to obesity, with weekly telemedicine conferences to discuss questions and concerns encountered each week. The Craig County team will then begin standardized assessments of the children seen in their system and will work with the UVA team to address medical concerns and treatment recommendations for these children. Outcome measures will be assessed and include using the data from these initial evaluations to support funding applications for future developments of this program. April, 2008. Intern Class Sponsored Family for Christmas!
Lynchburg School Children Hold Diaper Drive!
School children at Linkhorne
Diaper Duty Program Receives Discretionary Award! The Diaper Duty Program has just received a $675 award from the UVA Children's Hospital Discretionary Fund. This money will allow the closet to be restocked so that families in need can continue to receive diapers during this economic downturn, when it can be particularly difficult to make ends meet. Additional funding opportunities are being explored in order to keep the closet full! September, 2008. Greg Nelsen named UVA "Community Builder 2007!"
Greg Nelsen, pediatric social worker at the Primary Care Center, was named "UVA Community Builder 2007" in recognition of his outstanding community outreach. Greg will be honored at a Rotunda dinner and award presentation later this month. Greg is an exceptional child advocate and community leader. He worked with other community leaders to plan and implement the Community Children's Dental Clinic for children on Medicaid. He also supports the intern "Diaper Duty" project and is one of the founding members of the UVA Child Health Advocacy Program. Congratulations to Greg and thanks for all that he does!! 2007. "Diaper Duty" Intern Project is Sam's "Business Partner of the Month"
Pediatric Residents Wear Blue for SCHIP!
Resident Advocate Teams up With Obesity Task Force!  Amber Pendleton, a second year resident, has been teaming up with the Charlottesville Obesity Task Force to determine ways to combat the growing obesity epidemic. A pilot program was implemented this fall called Family Champions for Health and Fitness. Pre-adolescents and their families attended a 4 day intervention program that provided fun, interactive ways to learn about healthy eating and activities. 
The First Annual Family Health and Fitness Camp at Camp Holiday Trails was a huge success! Five families participated in a fun-filled, hands-on, multidisciplinary approach to teaching families how to make healthy lifestyle choices. Six Pediatrics residents, as well as Family Medicine and Internal Medicine residents were involved in medical assessments, survey data collection, and family mentorship. During post-camp weekly follow-up meetings, families have given us remarkably positive feedback that this program has been life-changing. Thus far, the program has received funding from the UVA Children's Fitness Clinic and an AAP Resident CATCH grant.
UVA Reach Out and Read Program Participates in Book Fair!
The 2nd Annual WVPT Book Festival was held on Saturday September 15, 2007 and the UVA Reach Out and Read Program was there to share information and a love of reading with children and their families from throughout central Virginia. Children received a book and participated in a variety of literacy activities at the book fair. Dr. Linda Waggoner-Fountain and Linda Drake, along with many pediatric residents, were on hand to help the children make books to take home with them. The book fair was once again very successful and spread the word about how important reading is to the success and well-being of children. Dr. Amy Cool Becomes "Smoke-Free Champion!"
Dr. Krishnan will be responsible for providing technical assistance to other residents applying for CATCH grants, maintaining communication between local and national CATCH representatives, and promoting the CATCH program to other residents. She will serve in this capacity for the next two years. Dr. Krishnan is a graduate of the Medical College of Georgia and is a presently a 3rd year pediatric resident at the University of Virginia. She has a strong interest in providing health care to underserved children.
Prenatal Visit Program to Start at the Primary Care Center! The UVA PCC Pediatric Clinic is starting a group pediatric prenatal visit program for expectant mothers who receive their ob-gyn care at the UVA PCC and plan to bring their infants to the PCC for pediatric care. Our goal is to reach an underserved population to discuss vital topics like breastfeeding, smoking, and basic infant care. We hope to begin to provide these families with a medical home even before their infants are born. With funding from UVA and an AAP CATCH grant, we will hold these one-time visits on a monthly basis in the PCC directly following obstetric prenatal visits. At these visits, pediatric residents and a supervising attending will lead a group prenatal session to address breastfeeding, smoking, and basic infant care, how our clinic works, and how a doctor can be reached at night or on weekends in an effort to decrease emergency room visits. The visit will include a needs assessment so we can connect women with appropriate community resources and an introduction to our pediatric social worker and insurance coordinator. Our Spanish translator will attend as well. As an incentive, we will provide mothers with a healthy lunch, a book on infant care, and child care for older children. Our first three group pediatric prenatal visits will be July 20th, August 17th, and September 21st and we hope to continue the program into the long-term.
Reach Out and Read
Intern Advocacy Project - "Diaper Duty"
The project has received generous support from local businesses and motorcycle enthusiasts as part of the 1st annual Toy Rally in the Valley held at the Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center. For more on the motorcycle rally, click here.
If you know of a project that should be included here, please email the information to childadvocacy@virginia.edu. |
Annual Health Fair on July 12, 2008. Residents provided blood pressure screening and lifestyle advice as well as free sports physicals for Boys and Girls Club members. The Health Fair took place amidst an atmosphere of fun and well-being as participants drank custom-made smoothies and jumped on air-filled gym equipment. Faces were painted, prizes were raffled and healthy attitudes were promoted while close to 200 blood pressures were checked and dozens of physicals were completed. UVA residents and faculty have been annual supporters of the health fair since 2005. July, 2008.
Elementary School in Lynchburg held a diaper drive to benefit the UVA Diaper Duty Program. Mr. Jason Mack, principal, organized the event and rallied his students to collect diapers, wipes, and rectal thermometers to be distributed to families in need. They even helped load the supplies for the trip to Charlottesville! Thank you to Mr. Mack and all his students, and to Blue Ridge Care Connection for Children for transporting everything to our Charlottesville diaper closet!
The "Diaper Duty" intern advocacy project was chosen by the Charlottesville Sam's Club as their business partner of the month for October. Sam's has worked with the Diaper Duty project to facilitate the purchase of diapers for distribution to eligble families who receive their primary care at the pediatric residents clinic. Efforts are ongoing to keep the closet stocked with diapers so that we can continue to help families in need. 2007. 
Dr. Amy Cool became a "smoke-free champion" after she attended a July training for pediatricians entitled "Dissemination of Best Practices to Promote Smoke Free Homes." She met with pediatricians from across the country and participated in workshops and lectures given by tobacco cntrol experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics. All attendess of the conference were designated to be "Smoke Free Champions" after their training in counseling parents in smoking cessation techniques. Participants also learned about resources available in the Commonwealth of Virginia to our patients and their parents, such as the free quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
Dr. Arthi Krishnan is the newly appointed District IV CATCH Resident Liaison for the American Academy of Pediatrics. The CATCH (Community Access To Child Health) program is a national program of the American Academy of Pediatrics designed to improve access to health care by supporting pediatricians and communities that are involved in community-based efforts for children. The CATCH Program began in 1991 under a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The CATCH program provides grant opportunities to residents and practicing pediatricians who are pursuing community health initiatives.
The Child Health Advocacy Program is a unique medical-legal collaborative program between the University of Virginia Children's Hospital, the University of Virginia School of Law, and the 
At Pediatrics at Orange, we provide basic oral health assessment and education at our well child visits, and preventive treatment (fluoride varnish application for high risk children) for all children seen from age 6 months to 3 years. This project began one day in clinic when Dr. Liz McGowan asked why our young patients do not receive dental care until there is extensive decay present. As a result, Dr. McGowan became a member of the Charlottesville Albemarle Dental Access Task Force and worked with local dentists to obtain toothbrushes to be given out to our patients at their well child visits. Collaboration with the Virginia Department of Health has provided additional toothbrushes and toothpaste. See 
The Pediatric Intern Class has developed a "Diaper Duty" program, in which diapers are provided to working families who meet eligibility requirements for this assistance. Our pediatric clinic provides care for some of Virginia's poorest families, and there is no support available that will cover the purchase of diapers for these families. The cost of diapering an infant for a year is about $500 in the Charlottesville area. Infants without an adequate supply of diapers are prone to recurrent diaper rashes and yeast infections. 