Project Updates

The last few months have seen many positive developments for Health Horizons International, set in motion both by the Do Something Power In Numbers grant and by the encouragement and support of those dedicated to HHI’s cause.

International Project Development:

With the guidance of many generous individuals who have shared their expertise, knowledge, and advice, Angi and I have continued to develop our objectives and methods for our time in the Dominican Republic. As our overall goal is to improve community health through coordinating medical service trips with locally-based health initiatives, we will be taking a very collaborative approach to implementing our projects, and will engage in regular evaluation and re-assessment of our effectiveness. We plan to approach the goal of health promotion in several ways, including disease prevention initiatives, community health worker education programs, focus groups on the successes and challenges of medical service trips, partnership building with other health-oriented organizations, and infrastructure development to increase the capacity of local health care. Our proposal has been approved by Dr. Bob Amelingmeier, the medical director of Crossroads, and we hope to hit the ground running when we arrive in the Dominican Republic – we officially have one-way tickets for October 1st!

Board of Directors:

We have held two productive and motivating Board meetings to discuss Health Horizons International’s mission and vision, strategize about our long- and short-term plans, and set concrete tasks and goals for moving forward. Led by Dr. Craig Czarsty, HHI’s Board Chair, we have made progress towards becoming a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit, creating a website, establishing formal partnerships with Quinnipiac University’s Physician Assistant graduate program and the University of Connecticut’s Family Medicine Residency program, and preparing for at least three medical service trips in the 2009-2010 academic year. In addition to the Board meetings, we have been in constant communication through (quite literally) hundreds of emails to coordinate and accomplish the logistics of effectively starting this new organization.

Medical Service Trip Development:

We have also established a partnership with the Community Health Program at Tufts, and are designing an academic course that will culminate in HHI’s medical service trip in January 2010. We recently accepted eight exceptional students out of a competitive applicant pool to participate in this brand new program. Raquel is already hard at work developing a strong curriculum for the fall semester, in collaboration with Tufts CHP professors Edith Balbach, Kevin Irwin, and Linda Sprague-Martinez. Students will learn about methods of community health research and intervention, as well as the social, economic, historical, and cultural context of the Dominican Republic. Using current research on best practices in health promotion, in addition to the data that Angi and I will gather about the needs of the communities in Puerto Plata, they will develop a project to be implemented in conjunction with their participation on the January trip.

Looking forward, the rest of August and September will be focused on logistical preparations for Angi's and my move to the DR, getting the CHP course up and running, and engaging in fundraising efforts.

More updates to come!