School of Rural Public Health Outreach Highlights

Active for Life!

Active for Life! has been established to fund projects seeking to deliver research-based physical activity programs to large numbers of midlife and older adults through existing community institutions such as community or senior centers, recreation centers, public health departments, housing authorities and religious institutions.

Health in the Dominican Republic

School of Rural Public Health students Julie Parrish and Caesar Ricci spent Summer 2003 working in the Dominican Republic as part of the L.T. Jordan Institute for International Awareness International Service Program. Activities such as conducting door-to-door health interviews for the implementation of a new social security system; teaching health sessions to a women's development group; and conducting surveys on teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and contraceptive use filled their time.

Community Health

Last year, the Brazos Valley Council of Governments, along with the Central Texas Area HIV/AIDS Planning Council, contracted with the Community Health Development Program at the School of Rural Public Health to complete a Continuum of Care report. The report examines the current and desired services available to individuals living with HIV in Austin, Bryan-College Station, San Angelo, Temple-Killeen and Waco.

Screening Children for Diabetes

The College of Medicine, the School of Rural Public Health and Scott & White are conducting a joint study looking at methods of identifying children at high risk for diabetes at the South Texas Center in McAllen. This project is targeting participants in Head Start Programs in rural communities in Hidalgo County to determine whether the Head Start Program is a logical place to screen for Type 2 diabetes and intervene to prevent or delay onset of the disease in high-risk individuals.