Community Outreach Projects
We believe that everyone in the community is entitled to access reliable and trustworthy health information, with assistance in a manner that is both comforting and respectful, and without economic, educational or linguistic hindrances. To help achieve this, the Grillo Health Information Center particpates in outreach projects to provide health research assistance in community locations.
Senior Center Health Literacy Outreach
The purpose of the Project is to increase Health Information Literacy as a new service to the Boulder West Senior Center. This project enhances access to health information for consumers with low health literacy.
The Grillo Health Information Center partners with the City of Boulder West Senior Center to provide on-site health information resources to the targeted population of seniors who patronize the Senior Center. We stationed a Grillo Center trained volunteer one day per week, with an assigned laptop computer, at the West Senior Center location to assist seniors with finding reliable on-line health information. In addition, Grillo Center staff conducted educational activities, including question-and-answer sessions and one-on-one interviews at the West Senior Center Project Site to increase awareness, motivation, knowledge, and use of health information resources.
The Grillo Health Information Center already conducted a Needs Assessment of Boulder’s West Senior Center population by interviewing, surveying, and obtaining completed formal questionnaires on the need for, and ability to obtain, reliable health information. Fifty-eight percent of those who completed the Needs Assessment say they are dissatisfied or only somewhat satisfied with their own ability to obtain health information. Eighty percent say they often or sometimes need additional health information, and 78 percent say they highly or somewhat value having access to additional sources of reliable health information.
Medical Mobility Program
The Grillo Health Information Center, in collaboration with the RSVP of Boulder County, is poised to efficiently serve people with disabilities and low-income seniors. As individuals request assistance with transportation to medical appointments they will be advised of a free, added-value service whereby they can access trustworthy evidence-based health information from the Grillo Center. Recipients can choose to visit the health resource center, or to have a trained volunteer call or visit them, and to engage in companion research that educates and informs. Similarly, the Grillo Center will inform
Golden West Retirement Community Outreach
The Grillo Health Information Center has established an on-site outreach program to serve the residents of the Golden West Retirement Community. Many senior citizens have responded to a Needs Assessment indicating their desire for more reliable health information. Many seniors in the Golden West location are not able to easily move about the community. Residents welcomed the on-site presence of a Grillo Center trained volunteer. This program now provides science-based health information to individual questions of concern regarding health care. This is done in a one-on-one confidential setting. The volunteer provides compassionate and nurturing support during times of confusion, or even fear, about personally challenging health issues. The relationship between the Grillo Center volunteer and the Golden West resident is one of the most valued because it is based on trust, knowledge, and support for informed decision-making.
Lafayette Library Latino Outreach
To address the specific health literacy needs of the Latino community in Boulder County, the Grillo Center needs to reach out to places that are frequently visited by Latinos. The Lafayette Public Library is one of those places, with 20% of its patrons being members of the Latino community. Establishing a health information desk at the Lafayette Public Library allows the Grillo Center to focus specifically on helping Latino individuals and their families improve their health literacy skills and become self-sufficient in their health management. Spanish-speaking staff with an in-depth understanding of the cultural and socio-economic situation of Latino communities will be on-site and provide free health information and educational lectures, guide patrons through available Spanish health resources, and help Latino community members navigate the healthcare system with greater confidence and self-sufficiency.
Past Projects
The People's Clinic
The People's Clinic
provides a wide range of medical services to Boulder's economically disadvantaged population. Patient education, an integral component of the Clinic's services, works with the goals of the Grillo Center. Bilingual Grillo Center volunteers staffed a table with a laptop computer, were at the Clinic one morning a week, and were available to assist patients in accessing online Spanish-language health information.
The Family Learning Center
Boulder families, who are most in need, find educational resources and all manner of family support services and preschool programs at the Family Learning Center. Education is central to empowering families to succeed and become self-sufficient. To this end, Grillo Center bilingual volunteers helped provide access to health information one day a week to help these families achieve some of these goals.
Boulder High School
Even though teenagers are computer savvy, finding reliable health information on the Internet can be tricky for students. Supporting students' need for independence, the Grillo Center Co-Directors consulted with the Boulder High School Librarian and provided resources to guide teenagers as they sought health information.