The North Carolina Albert Schweitzer Fellowship

The North Carolina Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, Inc. (NCASF) is dedicated to preparing the next generation of professionals who will serve and empower vulnerable people to live healthier lives and create healthier communities. The program provided Fellowships to 26 graduate level health professional students who led 15 projects aimed at improving the health and wellness of vulnerable communities in North Carolina. The Fellows led a multitude of service initiatives offering free food and nutritional services for people experiencing mental illness and homelessness, older adults and other community members who are food insecure; free dentures; free oral health services and oral health education; support for laboring patients and new moms; education and social support for patients with traumatic brain injury; hybrid telehealth/home visitation for low income seniors and people with disabilities; mentoring programs for preteen girls; free eyecare for people experiencing homelessness; and singing therapy for patients with Parkinsons. Projects:Assist the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Teams in delivering healthy nutritious meals to those experiencing mental illness and homelessness in Wake County with the goal of enhancing trust and connection between the team and their patients.Provide educational and social support to recently discharged patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their caregivers. Through personalized educational webinars and peer support groups, their program seeks to improve quality of life, increase self-efficacy to manage TBI, and lessen caregiver burden.Address food insecurity in low-income older adults through nutrition education, budgeting workshops, and cooking demonstrations utilizing affordable, healthy food items. Each 4-week series will provide participants with weekly free bags of groceries.Help food insecure North Carolinians access healthy food free of charge by expanding capacity at Equiti Foods. There are plans to leverage Equiti Foods Pay-It-Forward campaign, and develop new partnerships with local churches, food banks, and farmers. Work to improve the birth experiences of high-risk pregnant mothers in Eastern NC by launching a free doula program to provide access to continuous labor support.Helping low-income elderly and/or disabled people living in Durham, NC with a mobility barrier to accessing primary care by implementing a hybrid telehealth/home visiting program. A team of two medical students will facilitate a synchronous video telehealth encounter with an office-based provider to allow for meaningful and frequent contact with patients and close monitoring of their health. In addition to facilitating telehealth medical visits, students will periodically visit their paired community members to develop a longitudinal partnership and to evaluate, when possible, social concerns and health-related resource needs. Lead cohort-style infant safety training and support sessions to foster improved confidence and establish a support network for underserved and at-risk young mothers.Lead an enrichment program for 7th and 8th grade girls who are being raised by single mothers to improve their social and emotional skills in nurturing self-esteem, making healthy choices, and defining healthy relationships.Provide free dentures and partials to patients to restore eating ability, confidence, and dignity. This is an expansion of a 2021-22 Schweitzer project.Help Latinx children in grades first through fifth take charge of their oral and overall health by providing oral health education workshops.Launch a free singing-based therapy group called The ParkinSongBirds for low income people with Parkinsons disease to increase their health and access to therapeutic services. They will focus on improving voice quality, breath support, communication, and overall psychosocial health needs.Lead a free educational series for expectant parents and parents with children under 18 months to address and assess Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their impact throughout the lifespan. Participants enrolled in this course receive parenting resources while learning about ACEs and protective factors to support their young children.Launch a free student-run vision clinic offering visual screening tests, eye exams, referrals, and corrective eyewear for people experiencing homelessness. This is an expansion of a 2021-22 Schweitzer project.Help develop the nations first community funded dental clinic in New Hanover County by advertising the clinic and improving oral health knowledge for older adults. They provide educational instruction on the use of dental products, oral hygiene, and oral health related nutrition information and those that care for them.Launch a free mobile dental clinic to bring no cost dental care to vulnerable patients such as those experiencing homelessness or who have special needs.