Introduction
Patricia Carcaise-Edinboro, Health Hub at 25th
The Health Hub at 25th, located at the Market at 25th in Richmond's East End opened its doors in May of 2019. In support of community health and wellness, interdisciplinary teams of VCU faculty and students are offering programs at the center, including health screenings, nutrition counseling, behavioral health support, chronic disease management and health education. Under the site direction of Natalie Pennywell, the VCU Health Hub at 25th connects residents with community providers and helps with care coordination, as well as provides access to space for community events, fitness activities and educational programs.
My path to the Health Hub onboarding project is rather circuitous. I have worked as a chemist, research laboratory technician, a public health nutritionist, a research coordinator, teaching professor, and a health services researcher who has found a home in community engaged research and scholarship using the community engaged photovoice technique. Specifically within VCU I spent time as a faculty member within the Department of Health Administration (HAD) following a Post Doctoral fellowship in Cancer Prevention and Control and currently am Affiliate Faculty in HAD. I enjoy working across disciplines in health disparities evaluative research, community engaged research, teaching, and providing implicit bias and self awareness workshops for our health care students and faculty.
As we enter the community as a new health and wellness partner, I am delighted to be working with the Health Hub at 25th to create an educational and operational onboarding platform for VCU students, staff,and faculty. Our overarching goal is to build authentic and sustainable relationships between our VCU participants, community partners, neighbors and residents of the larger east end community and to facilitate reciprocal learning for our students, staff, faculty and community neighbors.
Through an online module and a series of in-person workshops we are working towards this goal by increasing self awareness and ultimately over time, our level of cultural competence. We see the first step in this journey as educating ourselves about the deep history of Richmond's East End, and becoming aware of the breadth and depth of health and wellness community partners and resources that are currently operating within the community. By listening and staying curious, we hope to gain an understanding of the strengths, assets and challenges of this wonderfully diverse neighborhood so that we may become a solid community partner facilitating health and wellness for our neighbors.
What REAL means to me
Relevant: For my work with students, staff, faculty, and community members, I ask myself: How does my work impact how people feel? Are we gaining self awareness and practicing cultural humility? Are students, faculty, neighbors better equipped to respond/act in support of their goals for health and wellness? Do they feel heard? Are they better connected to resources and information? Can I initiate a genuine conversation about what it means to work and serve within and with a community, and can we sustain an open and collaborative journey that supports our collective goals?
Experiential: Releasing the “us and them” paradigm. Connection. Collaboration. Presence. Listening. Observing. Participating. Shifting. Responding. Sharing. Iterative learning.
Applied Learning: Humility. “What you know is far less valuable than your willingness to learn what you need to know” (unknown). People and communities are not static, but dynamic organisms that require a constant ear to the ground if we intend to facilitate individual and community health and wellness. Reflection on what is seen and heard in a community can inform our action or need to pivot, and may provide momentum for individuals and communities to make change. It can be as simple as advocating for transportation to care, navigating health care or other services, or valuable time spent building relationships. Onboarding is an ongoing process of reflective learning and continued development of self awareness.
We begin the process with an online module and workshop that initiates a broader discussion about self awareness and how we respectfully enter into the community. However, onboarding is merely the entrance gate, once entered, continuing the journey of listening and learning with and from each other becomes the responsibility of each individual who engages at the health hub.
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