summitlogoClosing the Health Gap Together image
 
buttonSummit At-A-Glance

buttonCross-Cutting Issues

buttonCross-Cutting Strategies

buttonCommunity Resources "Tool Kit"

buttonWebcasting

buttonContact Us

buttonAttendance Certificates
Link to HHS Home Page
 

[PA-4] An Educational-Cultural-Historical Project to Promote Healthcare and Community Education

Bonita Bolden, BS, Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC

Freedmen's Hall Exhibition Gallery opened in March 1999. It opened with its first exhibit, New Frontiers in Medicine: Medical Service, Research and Education at Howard University Hospital. This exhibit launched the first and only African American Health and Science Exhibit Hall in the United States.

The exhibit, New Frontiers in Medicine, provides a compelling vehicle for audiences to explore the nature and significance of the contributions made by African Americans, past, present, and future in the health care industry.

Through Freedmen's Hall, several outreach programs are offered. These programs are designed to reach at-risk, minority persons who are impoverished, uninsured, and illiterate or have language barriers, or other challenges, which reduce the likelihood of readily accessing health care services. Some of the outreach programs include:

  • Living Legacies: African American Portraits ... a video series, which offers a contemporary example of significant historical contributions of African Americans in healthcare and science.
  • A Virtual View ... a partnership with public schools to provide health education information, career guidance, tours and special programs. The program was designed to address the shortage of skilled healthcare professionals and provide students with a "virtual view" of the healthcare environment and careers.
  • Health Partners for Life ... a consumer education program providing information on various health topics through seminars, screenings and hands-on demonstrations.
  • In the Spirit ... a partnership with the faith community, which emphasizes the importance of prayer and faith in comprehensive medical care. Here at Howard University Hospital, we believe that wellness in not just the absence of disease, it is the physical, mental, social, and spiritual well being that defines each and everyone of us.
Date: July 10-12, 2002

Location: Hilton Hotel & Towers, Washington, DC

Sponsor: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health / Office of Public Health and Science