Surroundcare
Surroundcare is the Partnership’s initiative to support the health and well-being of students and families. It commenced in fall, 2005 with the retention of a Temple Health System pediatrician and Medical School professor, funded by the Partnership, to work half time coordinating the initiative.
Temple University Surroundcare Program's 2008 Health Fair at Duckrey Elementary
Description of Intervention |
Dates |
Provider |
Participants |
Other information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Needs assessment |
Spring 2006-Spring 2007 |
Surroundcare Director, Temple psychology doctoral intern, Temple public health graduate students |
Students and families |
Supported by a grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the needs assessment includes surveys and interviews to determine areas for future focus for Surroundcare. It will be submitted for publication this spring. |
Social work support for students and families |
Fall 2005-present |
Temple social admin. interns, supervised by MSW funded by Partnership |
Partnership students and families |
One intern is posted at each school and works with individual students, groups of students and families. |
Health education |
Fall 2005-present |
Faculty and students in medicine and nursing |
Partnership students |
Health education covers District health curriculum, asthma (funded by US EPA grant), nutrition and special medical student modules. |
Note that a substantial portion of Surroundcare services and programs are funded by other entities, with Surroundcare staff facilitating school access and participation. These include the following:
- A school counseling intern from the School Psychology Department of the College of Education at each school.
- Families and Schools Together, bringing caregivers and children together for building skills in communication, family rituals and educational play, has run at each school for the past two years.
- Big Brothers/Big Sisters brings significant mentoring to Dunbar, Duckrey, Meade Schools. BBBS will bring their “Beyond School Walls” program to Ferguson. In this program, children will be matched with corporate volunteers, and bussed to the corporation to have lunch with their mentors. It allows the child to spend time one on one with their mentor while also exposing them to the workplace.
- Urban Nutrition Initiative runs experiential learning activities in nutrition and business skills through the Eat Right Now program at Duckrey
- The Food Trust has introduced it’s Healthy Times newsletter program in 2007 at Duckrey. A former reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer works with 8th grade students to research, write and publish a newsletter entirely dedicated to health issues that concern them. To date, three issues have been published and distributed to all four schools, with a fourth edition scheduled for release before the end of the school year. A proposal was submitted to the American Academy of Pediatrics to support ongoing funding for this program and for expansion to an additional school.
- Our office and the School of Public Health partnered on a submission to the Pew Charitable Trust for a three year behavioral health intervention for children in grade kindergarten through second grades. This submission was funded, and services began in January 2008.
- A second partnership wide health fair will be held on May 31, 2008. Various community organizations and health providers have been invited to attend and provide education in a casual, fun environment to students and their families. The partnership office will be providing entertainment, fun activities and food to participants.
- Hope worldwide ,inc. partnered with us and obtained funding from the Department of Education for a three year physical fitness intervention. This program was piloted at Meade and Duckrey in 2007 and will be extended to Dunbar in the 2008-09 school year.