Third Ward Family Health Alliance

Mission Statement: The TWFHA will provide medical screening, health education and referral services to Third Ward residents with the objective of encouraging healthy lifestyles, identifying health issues and promoting follow up in a patient-centered medical home.

The University of Houston (UH), a major urban university of 40,000 students, is situated on the eastern boundary of the Third Ward, a thriving, culturally rich community of about 15,000 permanent residents. Through efforts in community outreach and engagement, UH has long worked with local alliances and non-profit organizations to meet community-based goals. Each year hundreds of UH students and faculty in fields such as optometry, pharmacy, psychology, social work, and speech-language pathology participate in internships and service training at numerous community-based clinics and organizations.

Community Health Fair (CHF) is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to hold an annual one-day health screening and referral event to address the health needs of underserved individuals. Health professionals volunteer their time to provide screenings for high blood pressure and diabetes, for dental, vision, and hearing problems, and for skin, foot, and back problems. HIV testing and flu vaccines are also available free of charge. Other CHF volunteers work to obtain and distribute toiletries, underwear, socks, shoes, and sack lunches for those in need. Representatives from several local healthcare facilities are on hand to help guide clients to needed follow-up services. CHF has provided these health screenings and services in the Third Ward for more than 500 individuals in the past two years.

The Third Ward Family Health Alliance is collaboration between UH and CHF to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of CHF programs in resolving clients’ health complaints and providing access to the local healthcare system. UH faculty and students will revise and update data intake forms and collect and analyze data. Clients will be duly informed about the purpose of collecting certain data, and their right to refuse to participate. The goal is to determine what methods of health-screening follow-up are likely to result in better client outcomes, and which do not. The results will be used to improve the effectiveness of future CHF programs. The findings will also be shared with other health fair planners to improve the overall delivery of preventive healthcare services for underserved populations.