Strengthening Health Access Through Partnerships at NSC by Yuliya Goykhman
Posted on: May 28, 2019Philadelphia
Throughout my service term at the Nationalities Service Center (NSC), I have been very fortunate to work with several different partner organizations in the Philadelphia area. Our work is centered around comprehensive, client-centered services, and our agency is always looking for partners that share these goals.
Affordable, high quality dental care is a service that is often in high demand in our communities, and something that our clients often need help accessing. One of the partnerships I have helped maintain with the NSC health access team this year is with Philadelphia FIGHT Dental. The dental clinic staff provides one-on-one dental orientations at our site to help clients gain better knowledge about general dental care, and at the end of these orientations clients are scheduled to come in for their initial appointment at FIGHT Dental. This arrangement has helped a large number of clients obtain much-needed dental services with proper language access, and I am excited to see where it will go from here.
One of the goals of my position is to connect clients to medical and preventative care who may not otherwise have access to a primary doctor. In conjunction with our walk-in legal consults at NSC, we offer free health screenings with Villanova nursing students several times a semester in the fall and spring. This allows people to simultaneously get a health screening, further resources, and health education from nursing students while at NSC to obtain legal help. This partnership has not only provided clients with health services, but has also inspired many nursing students to want to continue pursuing health access for immigrant and refugee populations. We also put on similar events in partnership with Drexel Medical School for students to be able to do health screenings while clients are at NSC for English class. Overall, I am truly grateful to be able to work with these various organizations in pursuit of better resources and care for our immigrant and refugee communities. As more partnerships are in the works, I am excited to see what more we can accomplish to improve our services.
Affordable, high quality dental care is a service that is often in high demand in our communities, and something that our clients often need help accessing. One of the partnerships I have helped maintain with the NSC health access team this year is with Philadelphia FIGHT Dental. The dental clinic staff provides one-on-one dental orientations at our site to help clients gain better knowledge about general dental care, and at the end of these orientations clients are scheduled to come in for their initial appointment at FIGHT Dental. This arrangement has helped a large number of clients obtain much-needed dental services with proper language access, and I am excited to see where it will go from here.
One of the goals of my position is to connect clients to medical and preventative care who may not otherwise have access to a primary doctor. In conjunction with our walk-in legal consults at NSC, we offer free health screenings with Villanova nursing students several times a semester in the fall and spring. This allows people to simultaneously get a health screening, further resources, and health education from nursing students while at NSC to obtain legal help. This partnership has not only provided clients with health services, but has also inspired many nursing students to want to continue pursuing health access for immigrant and refugee populations. We also put on similar events in partnership with Drexel Medical School for students to be able to do health screenings while clients are at NSC for English class. Overall, I am truly grateful to be able to work with these various organizations in pursuit of better resources and care for our immigrant and refugee communities. As more partnerships are in the works, I am excited to see what more we can accomplish to improve our services.