Community Health Engagement: Current Programs

In collaboration with Dr. Gluch at the Penn Dental Medicine (PDM) Community Oral Health Division and the staff at the PDM Continuing Education Office, the Leon Levy Dental Medicine Library hosts the Health Literacy Study Club, where participants read and discuss foundational and emerging research and best practices about health literacy and patient education, particularly focused on oral health and dental medicine.

Here are the articles we discussed thus far:

• February 2023:

  • Lee, J.Y., Divaris, K., Baker, A.D., Rozier, R.G., Lee, S.-Y.D. and Vann Jr, W.F. (2011), Oral health literacy levels among a low-income WIC population. Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 71: 152-160. https://doi-org.proxy.library.upenn.edu/10.1111/j.1752-7325.2011.00244.x​

  • Kılınç. (2022). Is the information about orthodontics on YouTube and TikTok reliable for the oral health of the public? A cross sectional comparative study. Journal of Stomatology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery., 123(5), e349–e354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jormas.2022.04.009​

• April 2023:

  • Mokmin, N.A.M., Ibrahim, N.A. The evaluation of chatbot as a tool for health literacy education among undergraduate students. Educ Inf Technol 26, 6033–6049 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10542-y​

  • Rushabh H. Doshi, Simar S. Bajaj & Harlan M. Krumholz (2023): ChatGPT: Temptations of Progress, The American Journal of Bioethics, DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2023.2180110​

  • Sallam, M. (2023). ChatGPT Utility in Healthcare Education, Research, and Practice: Systematic Review on the Promising Perspectives and Valid Concerns. Healthcare, 11(6), 887. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060887

• May 2023:

  • Farokhi, M. R., Muck, A., Lozano-Pineda, J., Boone, S. L., & Worabo, H. (2018). Using Interprofessional Education to Promote Oral Health Literacy in a Faculty-Student Collaborative Practice. Journal of dental education, 82(10),1091- 1097. https://doi.org/10.21815/JDE.018.110

• September 2023:

  • Tseng W, Pleasants E, Ivey SL, Sokal-Gutierrez K, Kumar J, Hoeft KS, Horowitz AM, Ramos-Gomez F, Sodhi M, Liu J, Neuhauser L. Barriers and Facilitators to Promoting Oral Health Literacy and Patient Communication among Dental Providers in California. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Dec 30;18(1):216. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18010216. PMID: 33396682; PMCID: PMC7795206.

• November 2023:

  • Paisi, M., Baines, R., Burns, L. et al. Barriers and facilitators to dental care access among asylum seekers and refugees in highly developed countries: a systematic review. BMC Oral Health 20, 337 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-020-01321-1

• January 2024:

  • Hackley DM. Climate Change and Oral Health. Int Dent J. 2021 Jun;71(3):173-177. doi: 10.1111/idj.12628. Epub 2021 Jan 27. PMID: 34024327; PMCID: PMC9275305.

• February 2024:

  • Coulthard P, Tappuni AR, Ranauta A. Oral health and HIV: What dental students need to know. Oral Dis. 2020 Sep;26 Suppl 1:47-53. doi: 10.1111/odi.13389. PMID: 32862532. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32862532/

• March 2024:

  • Hudson K. Student spotlight: Special skills for special children. Contour. 2024 Jan; 8(1). https://digitaleditions.walsworth.com/publication/?m=44499&i=812611&view=articleBrowser&article_id=4707090&ver=html5
  • Hudson K, Jo K, Pederson J, Campanile J, Bogner H, Gluch J, Kassuto Z, Renjilian C, Conway J, Giardina T. A summer at HMS. Bridging the Gap. Poster.

• April 2024:

  • Clarke, S. K., Jaffe, J., & Mutch, R. (2019). Overcoming communication barriers in refugee health care. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 66(3), 669-686. 10.1016/j.pcl.2019.02.012 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31036242/

• October 2024: in collaboration with the 2024 Health Literacy Annual Research Conference

  • Article TBA

We are seeking students who are interested in facilitating hybrid discussions in November 2024 - April 2025. Email amankaur@upenn.edu to learn more about this opportunity.

History

Walk With a Future Doc is a medical student-run initiative sponsored by the Center for Public Health, in which medical students share health information prior to leading walks in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Philadelphia. Walk With a Future Doc is a chapter of the national organization, "Walk With a Doc."

For the Spring 2019 Big (Wellness) Idea Challenge, the Penn Libraries, the Center for Public Health, the Netter Center for Community Partnerships Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative, and Walk With a Future Doc submitted a proposal for "Themed Wellness Walks", in which wellness walks leverage Penn's expertise in an assortment of topics and turn into informal learning and networking opportunities geared towards all students, staff, and faculty. In April 2019, "Weekly Themed Wellness Walks" was one of three pitches that won the challenge and will be funded via the Office of the Provost.

In October 2019, the Penn Libraries and the Center for Public Health rolled out "Weekly Themed Wellness Walks," a university-wide initiative to encourage students, staff, and faculty to network, learn, and walk together on this historic, beautiful, and multidisciplinary campus, in which we study and/or work. In April 2020, Sakshi Sehgal, an undergraduate student leader, founded Penn Walks 2 Wellness (PW2W), a registered student organization to engage students interested in supporting Weekly Themed Wellness Walks by recruiting and identifying potential walk leaders as well as promoting the walks via various online and in-person communications channels. Through funding from the SNF Paideia Program, Brinn Gammer, an undergraduate student leader and Paideia Fellow, served as the Penn Walks 2 Wellness intern from July 2021 to May 2022. Brinn helped PW2W relaunch in-person wellness walks starting in August 2021. Starting in May 2023, Penn Libraries fully supports PW2W.

Schedule: Check out the schedule of upcoming walks.

Want to be a walk leader?

1. Email sscaduto@upenn.edu.

2. Select a date, time, and a topic of your choice. PW2W finds that the middle of the week around 12pm works best.

3. Work with PW2W to identify a walking route.

4. On the day of your walk, share a 1 or 2-minute blurb about your topic. There will a brief opportunity for Q&A, before the walk begins. Some walkers will ask more questions during the walk.