Healthy Host Sites

During Pre-Service Orientation, Chicago Health Corps (CHC) members were presented with a brief introduction to public health, which included information on health disparities and health outcomes for different populations in Chicago. The presentation was useful in underlining the health disparities between various groups; it gave members a preliminary understanding of what to expect in Chicago and how to address factors that contribute to the negative health outcomes of the specific populations in their host site communities. However, serving at the Family Planning Clinic at Fantus Health Center and interacting with patients and members of my host site community has helped me to continue to learn and assess the most effective strategies to ensure better health.

After two months of service, I have an optimistic but evolving impression of the health in my host site community. Fantus Family Planning offers incredibly beneficial services without cost or need for documentation or insurance. These services are crucial because they provide education, information and healthcare to low income and/or uninsured populations that might not receive the same availability and quality of care at other clinics.

Although my host site contributes to expanding access to healthcare and improving the health of underserved populations, it also demonstrates the difficulty of breaking down barriers that lead to health disparities. For example, walk-in clinic hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8-11 AM. This does provide a range of accessibility, however, it does not cater to low income working populations who may have to work during business hours on weekdays.  Further, the clinic is in the medical district of Chicago, which is not typically known as a residential area; patients often have to travel across the city and pay a burdensome CTA fare to get there. 

 
Despite these barriers, Fantus Family Planning employees and health educators are determined to expand education on family planning and promote their services through outreach efforts. For example, Yenling Yang, a Fantus health educator and past CHC member, targeted immigrant and refugee populations in the Chicago area. At the end of September, Nilofer (my fellow CHC health educator) and I visited the Pan-African Association to present a family planning workshop to a small group of recent immigrants in partnership with a translator from the organization. By exposing these populations to necessary information about living healthy they were included in the Fantus community. While the services offered at the Fantus clinic enhance the health of the community that uses them, outreach is necessary to increase health education and improve the health of those who are unaware and therefore unable to use its services.

This post was written by CHC member Clare Healy.

Clare serves at Fantus Health Center as a Health Educator.