AMPHS Announced as Complete Count Fund Awardee Joining Citywide Effort to Ensure a Fair and Complete Count

New York, NY— Academy of Medical & Public Health Services is pleased to announce it has received a $75,000 award from the NYC Complete Count Fund — a partnership between CUNY, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council. The NYC Complete Count Fund is a first-of-its-kind Census-related community organizing program that will support and resource community-based organizations to help NYC reach a full and accurate count in the 2020 Census. These funds will support Census outreach through AMPHS health and education programs.

The Complete Count Fund was built with the understanding that local community-based organizations — which serve New Yorkers in the communities where they live and in the languages that they speak — are the most trusted messengers of important and sensitive information.

AMPHS is proud to join this coordinated citywide effort to build awareness about the census, convey its importance, fight the spread of mis- and disinformation, and help bridge the digital divide that might prevent many New Yorkers from participating in next year’s first online census.

A complete count is important to ensuring that the communities AMPHS serves receive funding for community resources to maintain healthy communities. In 2010, Sunset Park and Borough Park were designated two of the country’s hardest-to-count neighborhoods, housing ten of the tracts with the lowest response rates, with the lowest at 56.6%. In one tract, 24.9% of households had limited internet access and only 1% had a cellular data plan, indicating low projected response rates to the digital Census 2020 survey. Sunset Park alone houses nearly 130,000 residents — nearly half who are immigrants lacking English proficiency and are uninsured or underinsured; about a third who live in poverty. It is also home to one of NYC’s highest concentration of undocumented and newly arrived immigrants.

AMPHS recognizes the importance of increased outreach in hard-to-count communities in ensuring proper Congressional and electoral representation, funding allocations, and redistricting. Bolstered with our long history in Sunset Park, we will approach Census outreach by building Census awareness into our various existing and forthcoming health and education programs. We will center its Census outreach activities on immigrant communities in Sunset Park and neighboring South Brooklyn areas of Bay Ridge, Besonhurst, New Utrecht and Borough Park, concentrating primarily on Latino, Chinese, and Muslim populations. Specific strategies include: 

• Integrating Census education into AMPHS’ education and social services
• Conducting “civics” workshops and Census completion sessions as a part of our Adult Literacy ESOL course curriculum
• Conducting community workshops and disseminating information at partner sites throughout the community
• Working with local Councilmembers to integrate Census education into participatory budgeting outreach initiatives
• Holding Census Days of Action to conduct active grassroots street outreach and business canvassing
• Holding specialized events such as pop-up clinics, health fairs and career resource days that include Census outreach
• Implementing social media and texting campaigns for Census outreach

“As the number of immigrants continue to grow, we cannot allow issues like housing, healthcare, employment, and school overcrowding — which already plague our community — to continue to affect its socioeconomic vitality, health and wellness,” said Mon Yuck Yu, AMPHS’ Executive Vice President.

In 2015, New York received $53 billion in federal funding for programs like Medicaid, Medicare Part B, Section 8, Title 1 grants and SNAP — making up a third of state funding. Brooklyn was one of the most undercounted counties across the country.

“That’s why we have schools with 30 students crammed into one classroom; why community members wait hours in the emergency room before being seen; why we still have families of five or six living together in one small living room,” Yu states. “Only with a fair and accurate Census count can we ensure that adequate funding is allocated to reverse this situation and ensure that our communities remain healthy and safe.”

A complete and accurate count is critical to the future of New York City. The census will determine how more than $650 billion in federal funds for public education, public housing, roads and bridges, and more, gets distributed annually throughout the country. It will also determine the number of seats each state is allocated in the House of Representatives (and thus, the Electoral College). Based on current estimates, an undercount could cost the State of New York up to two congressional seats.

In such a complex city, enriched by such linguistic and cultural diversity, New York City’s full participation in the first online census faces a unique set of challenges. As New Yorkers, we have embraced these challenges as an opportunity. Together, these citywide efforts will lay the groundwork for a civic engagement apparatus that will continue well beyond the 2020 census. 

According to Yu, “there are incessant barriers to help us achieve an accurate count. The digital divide, the fear of ICE being at the door, the fear of repercussions for completing the Census — all of these issues are real. Community groups like ours become one of their few trusted sources of information, providing the cultural and linguistic competence to educate our communities. With this funding, we be part of a movement to ensure that our communities will not be undercounted again in 2020.”

The Complete Count Fund will launch in early January with an all-day kick-off event and training.

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About your organization

AMPHS aims to make care more accessible to immigrant New Yorkers through grassroots, culturally-sensitive intervention methods and de-institutionalized healthcare environments. AMPHS’ mission is to identify and address barriers to health and wellness; coordinate needed primary care with social assistance; and deliver care with dignity and empathy to marginalized immigrant communities. Through its public health interventions, AMPHS lends to the empowerment of individuals and communities to create their own local and culturally-sensitive health and wellness paradigms, making healthcare more personable, accessible and holistic.

AMPHS provides coordinated and integrated interventions in three program areas—clinical services, social services, and education—addressing the root causes contributing to the health disparities and poor outcomes facing immigrant populations. Programs include: free health screenings and medical/dietary consultations; mental health therapy; social assistance counseling; health literacy, health access, and immigrant rights workshops; English Adult Literacy classes; Mental Health First Aid workshops; and emergency preparedness training. It also publishes health and immigrant resource guides for community education and coordinate monthly pop-up health events, as well as an annual resource fair serving over 1,250 people per year, where it provides free testing and community resources.        

About NYC Census 2020
NYC Census 2020 was established as a first-of-its-kind organizing initiative by Mayor de Blasio to ensure a complete and accurate count of all New Yorkers in the 2020 Census. The program is built on four pillars: (1) a community-based awards program, The New York City Complete Count Fund; (2) an in-house “Get Out the Count” field campaign; (3) an innovative, multi-lingual, tailored messaging and marketing; as well as (4) an in-depth Agency and Partnerships engagement plan that seeks to leverage the power of the City’s 350,000-strong workforce and the city’s major institutions, including libraries, hospitals, faith-based, cultural institutions, and higher educational institutions, and more, to communicate with New Yorkers about the critical importance of census participation.

AMPHS engages seniors in Sunset Park

Check out these photos from AMPHS’s talk at the United Senior Citizens center in Sunset Park. Last week, AMPHS visited to educate seniors on how to read food labels.

The AC was cranking on a hot day!

 

Alice Bonner, RN, NP, and Mon Yuck Yu led the talk for AMPHS.

 

We had a good crowd, and some of the seniors even took notes!

Here are our AMPHS volunteers with Carmen Rodriquez, one of the administrators at the center.

June screenings reveal hypertension, diabetes among community members

Many immigrants flock to the United States to seek a better life – in search of better housing, better education, better healthcare. But what happens when they have to adapt to a English-speaking environment; to work long hours in laborious, mentally taxing jobs, making just enough to pay the rent; to live in a crowded apartment with poor living conditions? These factors often combine to cause conditions like hypertension and depression, and then healthcare is not something they’re privileged to receive.

AMPHS sees this scenario play out many times among our community members, especially in Sunset Park. While we do not serve as anyone’s primary care provider, our main goal is to equip community members with the resources to manage their own health and to let them know that there is somewhere to turn for help.

On Saturday, June 21st, we held our monthly healthcare event, providing community members with cardiovascular, dementia, and vision screenings, as well as long-term lifestyle counseling. Our partner, Latino Commission on AIDS, was also on site to provide free HIV screenings. A total of 13 community members were seen and over half were referred to additional resources from our partner organizations, including some who were able to sign up for exams for free prescriptive lenses.

This is a representative image, and is not of one of our community members. Link to image in credit at bottom of article.

Community members came from all walks of life, but what struck us was that many of the issues that they experienced came from strenuous labor, poor eating habits, and hard financial situations. One woman had lost her job because of a broken wrist and then was diagnosed with hypertension and ovarian cancer, but she was too scared to seek therapy due to negative experiences with the local hospital system and unable to pay for procedures because she didn’t have insurance. In situations like these, our clinicians and social workers try to provide them with the resources they need to combat these issues of fear and poor lifestyle behaviors. We address medical questions and concerns from a personalized standpoint to objectively consult with them on the best course of action.

We are happy to provide screenings like these every month. And we hope that community members view us not only as a medical resource but also as a friend when they are in need of any type of health and social assistance. The next in-house screenings will take place Saturday, July 19th and Saturday, August 20th from 1-5pm. We are also proud to announce that we have new screening equipment, thanks to the NYC Council and Barman’s Fund, which will be introduced during our screening this Saturday! Community members interested in scheduling an appointment should call (212) 256-9036.

Image credit: Philly.com

Pre-health students get a headstart

The first session of AMPHS’ Clinical Practice Training Program (CPTP) is now underway! The 6-week course aims to provide participants with a strong overview of the material, concepts, principles, behaviors, and critical thinking needed to succeed in clinical practice.

Through lectures, class discussions, community-based fieldwork, and hands-on clinical practice sessions, students will be able to develop a deeper appreciation for the rigor and intensity of studying the medical sciences.

 

In addition to equipping students with skills to prepare for future clinical work, the coursework is developed to inherently integrate public health and clinical research principles into the clinical sciences for students to better understand both theory and practice in healthcare.

There is still space available for our fall session, and the deadline for applications is July 25th. For information on how to sign up, or to read more about the program, please visit our CPTP site.

 

AMPHS screens record number of people in May

Death and taxes, they say. But let’s also throw in “health concerns.” Everyone has taken medication or seen a doctor or nurse.

Now, imagine you don’t speak English. (How do you tell the nurse how it hurts?) You can’t afford Obamacare. (That pain in your side will get better on its own, right?) You’re afraid of being deported if you go to the emergency room. (But you can’t catch your breath.)

That’s what AMPHS is here for. We are a safe place for people who need help. We don’t charge for our services. We don’t ask for a social security number. And we speak Spanish and Chinese.

The monthly screenings in our Sunset Park offices are among our mostly heavily attended sessions, and the one on May 10 was, in fact, a record-breaker! We saw 22 people over four hours. Consider that a screening consists of time with a clinician as well as a health lifestyle counseling session (and possibly time with one of our social workers), averaging 45 minutes to 1 hour in total; now that’s a pretty impressive number! We were so excited to provide comfort and information to so many needy people.

In addition to our usual screenings, such as blood pressure checks, eye exams and HIV tests, we honored Women’s Health Day by partnering with Project Renewal to provide free mammograms.

“It is amazing how many people are in such dire need of services like this,” says Mon Yuck Yu, Executive VP and Chief of Staff. “It was one of our largest turnouts yet. People are beginning to realize the importance of prevention, but first, they must overcome the hurdles of accessibility.”

AMPHS CEO and clinician Hewett Chiu says, “There was one community member who was suffering from severe back pain and hypertension; after our evaluation of her, we realized that much of her problems stemmed from her weight. We created a plan for her to change her lifestyle behaviors, including her diet. We convinced her that it was important for her to make living healthy a family project; it was something that she needed to do for her children and family. She has been returning to our clinic for continuous follow-up and has seen significant improvements since she first visited our site.”

AMPHS offers free 45-minute in-house screenings the third Saturday of every month. We will also be offering mammograms once again at our site on June 15th between 2pm and 4:30pm in partnership with Project Renewal. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment for a future date (upcoming dates: June 21st and July 19th), please call (212) 256-9036. No insurance or documentation is required. All services are free and confidential.

Thanks to all of our volunteers for making this happen, and also to our partners Project Renewal and Latino Commission on AIDS.

AMPHS Offers Memory Screenings and CPR Demonstrations this Summer

We are delighted to announce that AMPHS has been invited to participate in a number of screening events this summer! In partnership with the Chinese-American Planning Council, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, and CAIPA (Chinese-American Independent Practice Association), AMPHS will help increase awareness among seniors of dementia risk and to enhance community preparedness.

Please contact Ravi Joshi, our Chief Operating Officer, at ravi.joshi@amphsonline.org if you would like to schedule demonstrations and screenings at your organization.

We also offer group certification course. Please contact faculty.resources@amphsonline.org if you are interested!

 

Join us for our May events!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMPHS In-House Health Screening

When: Saturday, May 10th  |  11PM – 5PM

Where: 5306 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11220

Screening Services: Blood Pressure, Mammograms, Vision Testing, Dementia Screening, BMI Screening, Prescription Assistance, Health Insurance Assistance, Free/Low-cost Corrective Lenses, Health Education Material, Lifestyle Counseling, and More!

For appointments: call (212) 256-9036

 

Assemblyman Felix Ortiz Sunset Park Annual Health Fair

When: Saturday, 5/17/2014  |  12pm – 3pm

Where: Sunset Park Recreation Center, 43rd Street and 7th Avenue

Screening Services: Memory Screenings, CPR Demonstrations  

Walk-ins welcome; no appointment needed

 

Cholesterol Nutrition Workshop

When:Friday, 5/30/2014  |  10:30am – 11:30am

Where: United Sunset Senior Center, 475 53rd Street, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11220

Join us for Women’s Health Month!

AMPHS offers a host of health screening facilities for women in Brooklyn. These include a physical exam, screenings for blood pressure, heart abnormalities, vision, memory and sexually transmitted diseases. In collaboration with Project Renewal and Latino Commission on AIDS, we will also be offering free mammograms, HIV, and Hepatitis C screenings this month at our monthly in-house screening event on May 10, 2014 between 1pm and 5pm.

Please be on the lookout for our newsletters for more screenings; and do not hesitate to contact us at clinical.services@amphsonline.org or (212) 256-9036 to schedule a health screening at your institution!

 

 

Join us for our April In-House Screening Event!

Clinical Volunteer Alice Bonner, RN provides BMI assessment

When: Saturday, April 19 from 1pm – 5pm

Where: AMPHS Headquarters, 5306 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11220 (between 53rd and 54th Streets)

Who: Walk-ins welcome; appointments preferred for priority service. Appointments can be scheduled by calling: (212) 256-9036

What: AMPHS will be offering free health screenings for BMI, blood pressure, vision, and memory along with healthy lifestyle counseling and information about health insurance, prescription assistance, and vision assistance. HIV and Hep C screenings will be provided by the Latino AIDS Society. Resources related to a healthy lifestyle will be distributed.

Going Pre-Health? Gear up on your clinical skills!

Throughout the years, AMPHS has worked closely with undergraduate and post-bacc students across the country to provide clinical setting exposure, training opportunities, volunteer and internship opportunities in clinical medicine, public health, health policy, and health law and ethics.

In support of our mission and by popular demand, we are bringing back our annual Spring Clinical Practice Introductory Experience, a weekend intensive program for prospective medical, nursing, public health, and allied-health school students designed to equip them with introductory clinical skills and offer experience of what the field of medicine and public health is all about. 

Clinical Practice Introductory Experience

Description 

Pursuing a career in medicine, allied health professions, and public health is highly rewarding and fulfilling; but involves much time, preparation, hard-work, and of course, money. Undergraduate pre-health school curricula generally do not give an accurate picture of the intensity and rigor of medical school education, and doesn’t provide practical, hands-on experience.

The Academy of Medical and Public Health Services (AMPHS) offers a popular annual weekend intensive program for prospective medical, nursing, public health, and allied-health school students designed to equip them with introductory clinical skills and offer experience of what the field of medicine and public health is all about.

The Clinical Practice Introductry Experience integrates actual health professions school coursework with American Heart Association (AHA) certification courses to simulate a well-rounded clinical experience, where medical professionals and certified instructors will take you on a journey across the clinical experience of what it is like becoming a medical professional.  You will attend classes in Cardiac Resuscitation, Medical & Trauma Emergencies, Electrophysiology, and even Public Health and Policy. In addition to being able to take these courses, you will receive 4 certifications, including national AHA certifications in HeartSaver First Aid, Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers, EKG, and an AMPHS Certificate of Completion.  These are the same certifications that states require for healthcare professionals to apply for their licensure.  The objectives of the experience is to:

• Provide a well-rounded experience for the student to see how basic science, clinical skills, public health, health policy, and research design works hand in hand in the current U.S. healthcare system.  Health professions schools often do not provide training in public health and health policy, and we aim to give students valuable insight into how public health frameworks affect clinical decision-making.
• Provide students with professional-level certifications that they can use to further their education and careers by boosting their credentials while partaking in a valuable educational experience over Spring Break.
• Provide students with the foundations for critical thinking and analyses in a clinical setting, and understand how various fields such as public health, policy, and research interact to deliver healthcare for patients.

In keeping with the unique small-group nature of the program, we only limit 4-6 students into each session.  In the past, students have told us that they have preferred smaller groups to allow one-on-one interaction with our faculty members where instructors really get to know them and understand their clinical interests, much unlike large lecture courses in the health professions schools.

Spring 2014 Session

Date: Friday, March 21, 2014 to Sunday, March 23, 2014

Location: Brooklyn Clinical Training Center (5306 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11220)

Tuition

$417.00 (includes course tuition for all class sessions, all applicable registration and academic support fees, course materials, certification examination fees for all exams, and all 4 certifications upon successful completion).

General Registration & Tuition Payment Deadlines

Open Enrollment Deadline: Monday, March 10, 2014 at 6:00pm EST

Waitlist Period: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 to Friday, March 15, 2014

Registration 

For more information and to register, please email faculty.resources@amphsonline.org indicating your interest for the Spring 2014 Clinical Practice Introductory Experience (Course Code DME14-001).

For more information, please visit us at: www.amphsonline.org.

 

Please note: We are not a degree-granting institution nor are we associated with any such institutions, including, but not limited to medical schools and graduate or undergraduate universities.  All of our instructors are volunteers with expertise in their fields, and all of our certification courses are taught by American Heart Association certified faculty members.  Since we at AMPHS are all volunteers giving our time and resources to ensure a safer community, all proceeds from this program will be donated to the AMPHS Community Health Project.  This is a collaborative effort in which we provide healthcare access and resources to underprivileged and uninsured families across New York City.