Meeting of January 14, 2005

A meeting of Partners for a Healthier Community was held on Friday, January 14, 2005 at the Southcoast Hospital – Charlton Site. Chairperson David Weed called the meeting to order at 8:30 AM.

Present: Joanne Camara, Marlene Cantor, Michael Coughlin, Judith Coykendall, Pat Fanning, Joan Gancarski, Howard Guggenheim, Bea Medeiros, Marcia Picard, Sue Sterrett, Billie Jane Valente, David Weed

Minutes

The minutes of the December 10, 2004 Steering Committee were circulated in advance.

VOTED to approve the Minutes of the December 10, 2004 meeting of Partners for a Healthier Community as circulated.

Financial Report

Financial information was not available. Report for February will reflect December and January activity.

New Members

Welcome to Howard Guggenheim from Steppingstone and Joanne Camara and Marlene Cantor from Habit Management.

REPORT OF WORK GROUPS

Access to Health Care

Next meeting January 19^th – 9:00 at Health First. The group met briefly in December. The video is done, and just needs to be copied. We are waiting for Paul Martin in regards to the copyright. We have found someone who is able to make the copies for us at a reasonable rate. We are looking into translating the video into other languages. We will be contacting St. Anne’s, who may have this service available. The PCP survey has been completed, but needs to be distributed again to other languages. Looking for areas to target Portuguese and Khmer speaking consumers.

Healthy Lifestyles

Working presentations for PTO’s. The survey on vending machines is almost completed. Continuing to work with second grade students in regards to snacks and nutrition. The fitness center at Durfee has been completed and the curriculum is being written. Work continues on writing the General Mills grant to possible institute the walking program in schools. The study on AMI instances before and after the smoking ban is moving along well. When the data is completed there will be a media release. There will be approximately 1000 stop smoking kits available to New Bedford and Fall River residents some time in the near future. The program "Ready Set Quit" will offer support and two weeks of nicotine replacement. These kits will be available on a first come first serve basis. Interested smokers will call 1-800-TRYTO STOP to register. There will be a press event announcing this some time soon.

Healthy Youth

Next meeting January 26^th at 3:30 at Admin Building on Tucker Street. Working on the Mayor’s Youth Forum, and a continuation of the afternoon series. Considering having the forum during school time in lieu of on Saturday, as it is always problematic to get youth to participate.

Health City Initiative

The spring event is scheduled for April 7^th from 5:00 – 7:00 at the UMASS Center. We are in need of 1). Local artists to produce an award. We have sent word to local art associations and schools with specific requirements for submission; 2). Fundraising. Asking local businesses to sponsor an add book. Adds are $75 - $500 dollars depending on the size of the add; 3). Need local musicians to provide entertainment. If anyone has any suggestions, please forward them to David Weed. The preliminary report is almost completed and we are waiting for feedback from a couple of groups.

We have been asked to sign on to help with the stroke action plan. We reviewed the plan and designated which items will be able to participate in or are currently doing.

Announcements

There is an open house at Habit Management Institute on Tuesday, March 1^st from 1:00 – 3:00

Adjourn

The meeting adjourned at 9:45. Our next meeting is Friday, February 11, 2005.

Previous minutes:

minutes 12-10-04

minutes 11-12-04

minutes10-8-04