Abstract
Problem:
The Healthy Tomorrows for Central Florida's Children from Immigrant Families initiative at Teen Xpress will serve a minimum of 200 children from immigrant families each year identified via strategic partnerships and increase their access to medical and social services.
Goals and objectives:
The enhancements to Teen Xpress's comprehensive healthcare services include: (1) strategic partnerships with organizations serving the target population; (2) training and education for the program staff to support culturally appropriate care; (3) enhanced educational materials and services addressing patients' cultural and linguistic needs; and (4) individualized case management and health navigation services to establish connection with community medical and social service providers. These enhancements will strengthen Teen Xpress's current efforts by better engaging a largely underserved population.
Methodology:
The Teen Xpress mobile healthcare program has operated under Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children for over 20 years. In response to the increasing demand for healthcare services for children from immigrant families in Central Florida, this initiative seeks to enhance the program's capacity to improve the health and well-being of teens from this underserved population. The case management services are a focal point for the project as we seek to ensure children from immigrant families and their caregivers are connected to medical and social services in the community. Case managers will identify service providers with the capacity to serve the immigrant population and support both the patients and the service providers in improving the utilization of care. Finally, the project's advisory board will include representatives from Orlando Health, partner organizations, and patient families to offer recommendations to the program.
Coordination:
Teen Xpress will coordinate with community organizations which primarily provide services to children from immigrant families including The Farmworker Association of Florida and The Youth Co-Op to implement the Healthy Tomorrows for Central Florida's Children from Immigrant Families initiative.
Evaluation:
Teen Xpress will integrate continuous quality improvement over the five-year grant period as a strategy to check on progress, determine program impact, build support from other funders and justify replication. We will know that the initiative has worked as we review together with the project's Advisory Board. Annually, we will be reviewing the following; (1) the percentage of patients who complete their medical exam required for school or workforce entry and are to date on immunizations with a goal of at least 200 physicals and 400 immunizations completed each year, (2) percentage of patients who increase their health literacy on topics for which they receive educational material and guidance from Teen Xpress, (3) referrals resulting in the status of "services received", and (4) patient satisfaction scores for the target population.