An editor has nominated this article for deletion. You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion , which will decide whether or not to retain it. |
Abbreviation | SHAC |
---|---|
Formation | 1968 |
Type | Interdisciplinary health clinic |
Purpose | To serve the health needs of individuals who are unable to access the health care system |
Location | |
Directors | Elizabeth Freeman RJ Nemeyer |
Website | med.unc.edu/shac |
The Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) is the oldest student-run free clinic in the United States. [1] It is run entirely by student volunteers from the Schools of Social Work, Public Health, Physical Therapy, Pharmacy, Nursing, Medicine, and Dentistry. [2] The students, under the supervision of UNC doctors and professors, combine their skills to hold weekly dental and health clinics, provide rapid HIV testing services, and create sustainable community health promotion programs.
In 2004, the Coalition saw 740 patients, more than 600 of whom came from the immediate surroundings of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Durham. Of the total seen, 83% reported that they were not insured, and that the clinic was their only source of primary care. Since its establishment in 1968, SHAC has attempted to redress differences in health indices between minorities and North Carolina's Caucasian population; in 2004, almost 60% of the patients seen were Hispanic, and the majority of patients seen had at most a high-school-level of education.
In addition to providing basic medical services, the Coalition performs the essential function of educating patients about healthy behaviors. The organization relies heavily on the training and resources available to its public health students for one-on-one patient counseling regarding diet, exercise, smoking cessation and sexual health. Annual educational and disease screening projects include well child clinics, Fiesta del Pueblo, [3] and work at several other health fairs, including FestiFall, Apple Chill, and Effland’s Octoberfest. Ongoing outreach projects include diabetic foot clinics in Hurdle Mills and nutrition education and cooking sessions at Carrboro’s Club Nova. [4]
SHAC also provides free, no-needle, rapid HIV testing services by trained counselors. HIV/AIDS education and personalized risk reduction is provided for all clients through pre- and post-test counseling. HIV testing is available for clinic patients and walk-in clients. In 2007, it tested over 400 people. The Coalition also provides services for those that test positive. It has firm links to both UNC Infectious Disease Clinic and social services for HIV positive people. [5]
The Coalition receives and implements grants from North Carolina's branch of Reach Out and Read, which the organization uses to educate patients about child literacy and to provide pediatric patients with free reading materials. In 2004, SHAC performed clinic referrals for over a third of the patients seen, a fact which indicates the organization’s interest in connecting the patients it serves with other established medical organizations. It is also dedicated to integrating its patients into the existing primary healthcare system, and has been enrolling patients in the State Children's Health Insurance Program for several years.
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is a public medical school and hospital in Brooklyn, New York. It is the southernmost member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and the only academic medical center for health education, research, and patient care serving Brooklyn's 2.5 million residents. It is the only state-run hospital in New York City. As of Fall 2018, it had a total student body of 1,846 and approximately 8,000 faculty and staff.
Sexual health clinics specialize in the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
AIDS service organizations are community-based organizations that provide support for people affected by HIV/AIDS. This article focuses on HIV/AIDS service organizations in the United States only. However, similar organizations in other countries, such as Canada, also played significant roles during the HIV/AIDS crisis and share many common experiences and challenges.
The American Kidney Fund (AKF) is a publicly supported non-profit organization founded in 1971.
Howard Brown Health is a nonprofit LGBTQ healthcare and social services provider that was founded in 1974. It is based in Chicago and was named after Howard Junior Brown.
Whitman-Walker Health (WWH), formerly Whitman-Walker Clinic, is a non-profit community health center in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with a special expertise in HIV/AIDS healthcare and LGBT healthcare. Chartered as an affirming health center for the gay and lesbian community in 1978, Whitman-Walker was one of the first responders to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in D.C. and became a leader in HIV/AIDS education, prevention, diagnosis and treatment. In recent years, Whitman-Walker has expanded its services to include primary healthcare services, a stronger focus on queer women's care and youth services.
The Mae Tao Clinic (MTC), also known as Dr. Cynthia's clinic after its founder Dr. Cynthia Maung, is a community based organisation (CBO), which has been providing primary healthcare service and protection to community from Burma/Myanmar in Western Thailand since 1989. It is based in the border town of Mae Sot, approximately 500 km North West of Bangkok and serves a population of around 150,000 - 250,000 people who shelter in Burma's mountainous border region and, more recently, the growing Burmese migrant workers in Thailand who live in and around Mae Sot. Mae Tao Clinic has average 110,000 consultations annually. Of them 52% reside in Thailand, who are mostly undocumented and displaced due to armed conflicts or/and poverty and other 48% cross the border to seek health services.
Nsambya Home Care (NHC) is one of the departments of Nsambya Hospital, a faith-based hospital in Uganda. The department offers medical and psychosocial support to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs). Established in 1987 by Miriam Duggan, it is a department of St. Francis Hospital Nsambya. Since its founding, NHC has provided care and treatment services to over 15,000 clients. With support from the AIDS Relief program and in collaboration with Catholic Relief Services, the program started providing antiretroviral medications in 2004 and so far close to 2000 active patients are benefiting from treatment. It is headquartered in Nsambya, a section of Kampala, Uganda. A field office of the program is located at Ggaba, a southern suburb of Kampala. NHC is led by Maria Nannyonga Musoke, a consultant paediatrician of Nsambya Hospital.
The Spectrum Youth and Family Services has been offering shelter and support services to at-risk and homeless youth since 1970. The organization is located in Burlington, Vermont, and serves youth ages 14–21.
The UNC Claude A. Adams Jr. and Grace Phillips Adams School of Dentistry is the school of dentistry of the University of North Carolina. It is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. It is currently ranked second among all dental schools in the U.S. and is consistently ranked among the best in the world according to two independent rankings. Founded in 1950 as the UNC School of Dentistry, it was the only dental school in North Carolina until 2011, when East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine became the second. In 2019, the school received its largest single donation of $27.68 million, resulting in a name change to honor Dr. Claude A. Adams Jr. and Grace Phillips Adams. Dr. Adams was a North Carolina dentist that practiced in Durham until his death in 2018.
La Clínica del Pueblo is a non-profit, Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) clinic that serves the Latino population of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area that provides services through medical services, mental health and substance abuse counseling, language access services, and community health action programs.
SHAWCO, the Students' Health and Welfare Centre's Organization, is a student-run NGO based at the University of Cape Town that seeks to improve the quality of life for individuals in developing communities within the Cape Metropolitan area.
Fenway Health is an LGBT health care, research and advocacy organization founded by Northeastern University students and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mazzoni Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit health care provider in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that serves the LGBTQ community.
The New Freedmen's Clinic is a free student-run health care clinic affiliated with Howard University Hospital (HUH) and Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM). It gets its name from HUH's original name - Freedmen's Hospital. It is currently located in the heart of Washington, DC, within HUH.
Infectious diseases within American correctional settings are a concern within the public health sector. The corrections population is susceptible to infectious diseases through exposure to blood and other bodily fluids, drug injection, poor health care, prison overcrowding, demographics, security issues, lack of community support for rehabilitation programs, and high-risk behaviors. The spread of infectious diseases, such as HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B (HBV), and tuberculosis, result largely from needle-sharing, drug use, and consensual and non-consensual sex among prisoners. HIV and hepatitis C need specific attention because of the specific public health concerns and issues they raise.
The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) is an indigenous HIV and AIDS service initiative, registered in Uganda as a non-governmental organisation. It is a pioneer non-public actor in the HIV and AIDS response in Uganda. TASO is a membership organisation with over 4,000 subscriber members.
The Anne Kastor Brooklyn Free Clinic (Brooklyn Free Clinic or BFC) is a student run free clinic located in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY. Nearly all the positions from front desk administration and clinical volunteers to Executive Board are staffed by students from the various colleges of SUNY Downstate Medical Center.
The health access and health vulnerabilities experienced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA) community in South Korea are influenced by the state's continuous failure to pass anti-discrimination laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The construction and reinforcement of the South Korean national subject, "kungmin," and the basis of Confucianism and Christian churches perpetuates heteronormativity, homophobia, discrimination, and harassment towards the LGBTQI community. The minority stress model can be used to explain the consequences of daily social stressors, like prejudice and discrimination, that sexual minorities face that result in a hostile social environment. Exposure to a hostile environment can lead to health disparities within the LGBTQI community, like higher rates of depression, suicide, suicide ideation, and health risk behavior. Korean public opinion and acceptance of the LGBTQI community have improved over the past two decades, but change has been slow, considering the increased opposition from Christian activist groups. In South Korea, obstacles to LGBTQI healthcare are characterized by discrimination, a lack of medical professionals and medical facilities trained to care for LGBTQI individuals, a lack of legal protection and regulation from governmental entities, and the lack of medical care coverage to provide for the health care needs of LGBTQI individuals. The presence of Korean LGBTQI organizations is a response to the lack of access to healthcare and human rights protection in South Korea. It is also important to note that research that focuses on Korean LGBTQI health access and vulnerabilities is limited in quantity and quality as pushback from the public and government continues.
The Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth (BAGLY) is a non-profit organization located in Boston that works to protect, expand, and raise awareness for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth (LGBTQ+). Founded by LGBTQ+ youth in 1980, it adopts a youth-led, adult-supported approach to better meet the varied needs of a wide demographic of LGBTQ+ youth in Greater Boston. BAGLY's stated goals are to create, sustain, and advocate for socially just and intersectional programs, policies, and services for the LGBTQ+ youth community, which they achieve through frequent community-based leadership development, health promotion, and social support programs.
SHAC's Wednesday Night Clinic is the nation's oldest student run health clinic. Since its inception in 1968, the clinic has evolved considerably while still retaining its original mission.
The Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC) is a student-led organization whose mission is to: Provide free health services to local underserved individuals and communities, partner with communities to develop and implement sustainable programs, and create an interdisciplinary service learning environments for students in the health science programs at UNC.
Spanish-speakers Assisting Latinos Student Association (SALSA) provides a forum for the practice and development of Spanish language and clinical interpreting skills.
SHAC Outreach works with local communities to assess and discuss ways for community members to get involved in maintaining and improving their health. This includes identifying unmet needs, partnering with groups to form sustainable programs that can help inform the community these problems, and providing support through materials, expertise, and volunteers.
Free, rapid and confidential HIV testing can be provided upon request to anyone over 14 years of age... Trained student counselors provide education, prevention, and risk reduction information before and after HIV testing.