Dr. Melissa A. Valerio, assistant professor of health behavior and health education, led University of Michigan School of Public Health’s Public Health Action Support Team (PHAST) to the south Texas Rio Grande Valley area for a week-long public health immersion.  Students participated in activities related to public health issues on the U.S.-Mexico border by working in collaboration with Texas-based academic and community partners.

The three major projects included:

1. An examination of the use and design of public health preparedness communications, in which students completed 25 key informant interviews with community organization and local government representatives to identify coordination of disaster preparedness services and the potential impact of inadequate health literacy on community response to emergencies including hurricanes and the recent H1N1 Influenza epidemic (lead: Dr. Melissa A. Valerio);
2. Development of diabetes and obesity media messages and focus groups with the University of Texas School of Public Health Brownsville (lead: Dr. Belinda M. Reininger, associate professor); and
3. Environmental health issues on the border with the STEER program at the University of Texas Health Science Center Regional Area Health Campus.  On the final full day, students participated in a community project with Proyecto Azteca, a community organization focused on addressing housing needs in South Texas colonias located in Hidalgo County.

The trip was sponsored by the School of Public Health’s Office of Public Health Practice and funded in part by the Michigan Center for Public Health Preparedness (a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded preparedness training center).
For more information, visit https://practice.sph.umich.edu/practice/phast.php.

[Photo caption: (first row from left to right) Ms. Heidi Durbeck (PHAST Office), current students: Ms. Ashley Strahley, Ms. Kristin Goddard, Mr. Reed Sorensen and Ms. Caitrin Kelly. (Second row from left to right) Dr. Melissa A. Valerio, Ms. Laura Zwolinski, Ms. Wei-Lun Huang, Ms. Cam-Van Huynh, Ms.  Carrie Cantrell, Ms. Fisayo Nwachukwu and Ms. Rachel Diehl. (Third row from left to right) Ms. Kate Pennington, Dr. Belinda M. Reininger, Ms. Gloria Lam, Ms. Danielle Lepar, Mr. Joshua Clayton and Ms. Laurel Himes-Ferris.  Not pictured: Ms. Laura Dirkse and PHAST coordinator Ms. Dana Thomas]