{"id":46587,"date":"2014-04-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-08T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/04\/08\/public-health-projects-garner-national-attention\/"},"modified":"2014-04-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T05:00:00","slug":"public-health-projects-garner-national-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/04\/08\/public-health-projects-garner-national-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Health projects garner national attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNMC’s College of Public Health has been getting national attention.<\/p>\n

Two Great Plains Public Health Leadership Institute<\/a> (GPPHLI) project teams received national awards and recognition for their work at the 2014 NLN Annual Conference in Lexington, Ky., on April 7. <\/p>\n

“The HOLA! Project (Healthy Options for Latino\/a Appetites, Year 7)” received the National Public Health Leadership Network’s Tom Balderson Award. The project was designed by Vicki Bangert, Stephanie Gould, Sara Howard, William Minier, M.D., and Sarah Sjolie, all of Omaha.<\/p>\n

The group formed a partnership between the GPPHLI and One World Community Health Centers to give providers in three South Omaha school-based health centers tools to help diagnose and counsel patients and their families on obesity.<\/p>\n

Twenty-three children ages 8 to 18 participated; of those, 57 percent met the goal of three visits to the school-based health centers. In addition, about half of the children in the program lost weight; others demonstrated an increased level of readiness to change. Also, providers showed increased confidence in obesity counseling. <\/p>\n

Following the pilot project, a pediatric clinician within One World Community Health Centers integrated the tools into the medical clinic setting. Additionally, a communitywide Healthy Weight Collaborative has been using the successes of the HOLA Project to inform medical clinic practices across Omaha.<\/p>\n

“Linking Unused Medical Supplies in Iowa & Nebraska to Organizations in Need, Year 8” received the runner-up award. This project was designed by J.K. Costello and Nizar Wehbi, Omaha; Tracey Bonneau, Lincoln, Neb.; Amy Wieczorek, Grand Island, Neb.; and Mindy Uhle, Des Moines, Iowa. <\/p>\n

Millions of dollars of unused supplies are wasted in U.S. medical facilities, while clinics and facilities in other parts of the world lack the most basic medical supplies. Medical supply recycling programs bridge this gap, connecting unused supplies from U.S. donor organizations with facilities in need of those supplies.<\/p>\n

In this project, students surveyed Nebraska and Iowa medical facilities, finding that: <\/p>\n