Jazzin' Healthy: Interdisciplinary Health Outreach Events Focused on Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

OBJECTIVES

Health-related disparities are a significant public health concern. In conjunction with a university concert series, healthcare professionals and students provided education, clinical services, and preventive care using an interdisciplinary approach to a primarily African American cohort. The objective was to assess cardiovascular risk factors and readiness to change health-related behaviors.

METHODS

Six outreach events were conducted over 3 years by an interdisciplinary team including pharmacy, medicine, nursing, nutrition, occupational therapy, public health, optometry, and health information technology. Clinical services, such as health screenings for glucose, blood pressure, cholesterol, and body fat along with counseling on the results and smoking cessation behavioral counseling, were provided. Education initiatives addressed bone health, heart disease, HIV risk, nutrition, and access to physician care. Preventative care included vaccinations and eye exams.

RESULTS

There were 285 participants that were predominantly African American (95.8 %), female (71.5 %), and age within 55-64 years (45.1 %). Hypertension (50.8 %) and obesity (65.1 %) were the most common cardiovascular risk factors. Of those advised to make health behavior changes, 76.4 % reported they planned to make changes within 1 month.

CONCLUSION

These interdisciplinary outreach events provided health information and access to care in a novel setting and led to a high rate of planned health behavior changes.