Summer Archives

Jordan Clark Nashville, TN - Progreso Community Center (PCC); Nashville Health Coalition

This summer, I engaged in a faculty fellows project facilitated by Dr. David Hess. Dr. Hess and I partnered with Progreso Community Center (PCC) and the Nashville Latino Health Coalition and organize a participatory health impact assessment (HIA) in Nashville, Tennessee. The goal of this assessment was to improve understanding of the health-related challenges faced by Hispanic immigrants and their families in Middle Tennessee while simultaneously augmenting an existing effort to increase access to health services and information in immigrant communities. One of the primary objectives of this project was to demonstrate how social research and community service might be combined to achieve a common goal. We did this by cultivating reciprocal relationships among community members, organizations, students and researchers that yielded equitable benefits for all parties involved as well as the community as a whole. My task for the majority of the summer was to collaboratively design and administer a community health survey with Hispanic adults living in Middle Tennessee. 200 participants were recruited from PCC, online, and at community events. Each one was compensated with a gift card and a Nashville Bilingual Health Guide (BHG). Now that recruitment has concluded, there are many options for follow through.