Milan Puskar Health Right

Morgantown, W.Va.
Grant Amount: $22,902

Incorporated in 1984, the Milan Puskar Health Right (MPHR) provides medical care, medication assistance, mental health services, counseling, dental care, and health education at no charge to the low-income, uninsured and underinsured residents of North Central West Virginia. Last year, the clinic saw 3,800 patients and had 22,173 visits. They currently have 142 volunteers, 21 of whom are physicians.

While MPHR has been successful in addressing many of their patients' medical needs, the clinic now wants to place more emphasis on the development of their patients' lifestyle choices and how to overcome environmental constraints. The clinic will receive a $22,902 grant to hire a health educator who has skills in participatory planning, stage-of-change counseling regarding smoking cessation, stress management, dietary change, and physical activity.

The health educator will play a larger role in MPHR's six-phase intervention. S/he will serve on a Steering Committee comprised of the clinic's medical director, clinical care coordinator, and two patients to identify 10-25 individuals to take part in a ten-week Health Education Participatory Planning (HEPP) process. These individuals will ideally include key MPHR stakeholders, board members, elected government officials, churches, and lower-income patients.

HEPP participants will be asked to live a healthy lifestyle for ten weeks, although no exercise classes or other special sessions will be held. The process is predicated on participants learning about and reflecting on the community health education environment while experiencing the challenges of living a healthy lifestyle in Morgantown. Following the participatory planning process, suggestions will be made on how to link patients with existing local programs and implementing recommended policy and environmental changes. Emphasis will be placed on transitioning health education toward community ownership and sustainability.