For Susan M. Pizzi, MS, RN, Community Health Education coordinator who leads outreach efforts for Chester County Hospital, every encounter in the community is a chance to broaden the network. Take, for example, the “lunch and learn” at To-Jo Mushrooms, where CCH and La Comunidad Hispana, a bilingual social service agency in Kennett Square, taught workers — wearing special breast cancer awareness t-shirts — about breast health.
“We know we can’t do it all alone but, working cooperatively, we can help community groups that are dealing with issues such as the opioid crisis, safe kids’ initiatives, or cardiovascular health, for example, by increasing awareness.”
According to a CCH Community Health Needs Assessment, Hispanic women over age 40 are not getting annual mammograms due to many barriers, including language issues, limited time, and a lack of awareness on the health issues involved. While La Comunidad Hispana provided mammograms, they needed help bringing awareness into the community. CCH had the nurses who could educate the community … but not the language skills. Working together, the hospital, La Comunidad Hispana — and To-Jos — tackled all these barriers with lunch-hour program. La Comunidad Hispana provided the interpreters, To-Jo’s supplied the “captive” audience and Chester County Hospital brought both the expertise and the culturally appropriate health education materials that the workforce could share with others in their families and community.
“This partnership let us teach the working women, and men, when they were available,” Pizzi said. “The programs are really well-received. They open the door for us, and allow us to let people know what services Chester County Hospital and La Comunidad Hispana offer.”
Pizzi said that adding partners can lead to more programs and further opportunities to share the hospital’s services and expertise. A greater sense of responsibility comes with being a community-based hospital, she said “We feel strongly about protecting our residents and prevention is a key part of our mission.”