Awarded Grants

To provide outreach, education, and advocacy to deaf and hard of hearing patients and their health care providers in an effort to improve the health and well-being of deaf and hard of hearing citizens of NH and to subsequently improve access to health care for persons with hearing loss by improving communication between patients and providers.

To improve access to health care in the North Country Health Consortium service area through the design and implementation a care coordination model that is accessible through a single point of entry, covers the continuum of health care, and integrates ancillary and social services.

To create a model for rural mental health care for children and adolescents in southern Carroll County through the development of a broad based community collaborative process and infrastructure.

To develop an oral health education and advocacy program for NH primary care providers targeted to low income children from ages 4 months to 3 years.

To manage effectively all aspects of merging Androscoggin Valley Hospital /Mountain Health Services (AVH/MHS) physician practices located in Berlin and Gorham into an expanded Coos County Family Health Service with FQHC status for all patients.

To increase the volume of care and to reduce waiting time for restorative care and oral surgery by serving as a site for the Tufts Dental School externship and to expand education, prevention and volunteer programs.

Inadequacies and regional needs fro housing with attention to economics of housing in this regional area will be researched, analyzed and reported. The results will be the formation of a planning group that has a feasible region-wide plan for alleviating housing and related economic needs throughout the Twin Rivers area.

The purpose of the convening initiative would be to examine strategies in which resources and expertise could be pooled to address the issues of geographic, economic and social barriers to health in the Town of Swanzey.

MicroCredit-NH (a program of the NH Community Loan fund) will take the lead in closely examining the costs and barriers to health insurance among New Hampshire's self-employed.

This convening grant will build upon the work of the empowering communities with Data and Empowering communities through Access to Information and Training Grant. the objectives of this training session are to: a) hold a regular Advisory Committee Meeting b) provide a workshop on the community health improvement process, c) provide an opportunity for communities to share with each other how they are using data to prioritize their community work and to measure the effectness of their efforts, d) networking, e) assess the training needs of communities regarding implementation of a structured process for community health improvement.

According to the 2001 NH Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 22.7% of all respondents and 29% of male respondents were overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. As a health issue, childhood obesity cuts across economic, cultural, ethnic and geographic borders-and it is an issue with dire long-term health consequences. A community-wide effort, led by health professional and focused on the best practices in prevention, education, and treatment, is critical to counteract this health crisis.
The Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Overview, Research and Best Practices' is a one-day conference, developed by the UNH's Division of Continuing Education, designed to convene experts in childhood obesity to share and disseminate information and practice with health and education professionals to combat this issue. The conference, which will produce compiled materials, will include presentations on the latest research on childhood obesity, behavioral and environmental treatment, strategies for early intervention, and best practices for professionals.
This conference is targeted at professionals on the front lines of the childhood obesity battle: professional such as dietitians, nurses, nurse practitioners and pediatricians, and health educators, and public health professionals. Continuing Education credits will be granted by UNH and credits are currently pending from the American Dietetic Association and the NH Nurses Association Commission on Continuing Education. We hope to have 100 individuals to attend this conference and many more will have access through the proceedings after the conference.

The conference is an initiative of the UNH's Division of Continuing Education, that has as its mission to provide lifelong learning opportunities for the citizens and organizations of NH, the region and the nation through access to University resources and a broad range of quality education experiences. As part of its continuing efforts to provide practicing professional with the latest and best practices in the field, and assist the greater community with access to academic research, the Division developed the conference strategy: The latest research findings, paired with best practices, targeted to health professionals with direct access to children and families. The conference content includes keynote speaker: Dr. Barbara Moore, President of Shape Up America, and Plenary Speaker Dr. Margo Wootan, Director of Nutrition Policy from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The conference is expected to attract 70-100 in-person participants and the proceeding will be available online at no charge for those who cannot attend. Partners include Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield, which is supporting this effort through a $5000 grant and the Foundation for Seacoast Health, which is providing in-kind support and conference facilities.

The limited nature of transit services in the Gr. Derry-Salem region creates a barrier to accessing health care for many of the region's transit dependent residents. During 2002 Gr. Derry Gr. Salem Region Transportation Council, together with 3 regional planning commissions, conducted a study analyzing the need for transit in the region; and defining an action plan for improving transit through coordination and expansion of existing demand response services; and development of standard fixed route bus service. Implementing this action plan is the focus of the project.

This proposal requests funds to implement 7 tasks identified in the Action Plan. These include establishing an Advisory Committee to guide development of a transit brokerage; developing a series of Memoranda of Understanding that set out how agencies will coordinate transit services; approaching towns for funding; developing joint training for staff providing transit services; developing a marketing campaign to promote expanded service; and establishing a brokerage call center. this project is intended to dovetail with a Theme Grant proposal to fund a pilot transit brokerage project.