Building Bridges: Community Building and Engagement: Coyote Gulch House Service Project Activity

Title: Building Bridges: Community Building and Engagement: Coyote Gulch House Service Project Activity
Authors: Monica Fernandez; William Steiner, Emily Hill, Claire Stanley, David Kim, Alison Day, Rawad Farhat, Celina Diaz
Date: 1/27/2025
Abstract: The mission of the house structure is twofold: to foster a sense of community within the house structure and to engage meaningfully with the people and patients served in their assigned clinics. Engaging patients within the context of their lives enhances the effectiveness of healthcare delivery and improves health outcomes. At an individual level, this approach enables whole-person, patient-centered care, creating opportunities to comprehensively address patient needs. A review of the literature highlights the demand for a holistic, consistent, and coherent structure that aligns education and healthcare to better meet local needs through meaningful partnerships with communities. This community-building and engagement initiative leverages interprofessional collaboration among medical students, student affairs (SA), community health workers (CHWs), and South Main Clinic leadership. To address individual patient needs, representatives from the Coyote Gulch House and staff from SA collaborated with South Main Clinic CHWs to design a family information survey. This survey allowed patients to indicate one or more social needs they required assistance with, particularly leading up to the holiday season. In response to the needs identified through the survey, students created an Amazon registry to gather necessary resources, which was widely distributed to encourage community contributions. Additionally, to foster stronger connections between the community and medical students, a service project was organized featuring meaningful interactive activities, such as face painting and a photo booth, aimed at creating a welcoming and engaging environment for patients and their families. Patient feedback, including direct quotes, will be collected and analyzed following the event on December 17, 2024. These insights will be shared to evaluate the impact of the initiative and identify opportunities for improvement in future projects.

Copyright: Academy of Health Sciences Educators ©2025

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Building Bridges: Community Building and Engagement: Coyote Gulch House Service Project Activity by Monica Fernandez, William Steiner, Emily Hill, Claire Stanley, David Kim, Alison Day, Rawad Farhat, MD, MSPH & Celina Diaz