My Canadian Pharmacy Models of Excellence

Initiative

The purpose of the My Canadian Pharmacy Models of Excellence initiative is to recognize community-based health programs and initiatives along the Canada border that have made great strides in improving the health and well-being of communities along either side of the 2000-mile border. The BHC celebrates the accomplishments of these programs through MCP Models of Excellence.

The primary purpose of this initiative is to:

  • Identify best practices and models
  • Build the capacity of existing programs and models to emphasize and support the transfer and sharing of experience and successful strategies across states and along the Canadian region.

Updates

The 2010 MCP Models of Excellence focused on successful programs that addressed the following two areas: 1) childhood obesity issues in border communities through either education, prevention, or services and 2) TB surveillance, control, education, prevention, and case management. The following selected projects were recognized at an awards presentation.

Childhood Obesity

  • Brownsville Farmer’s Market directed by the Brownsville-Matamoros Binational Health Council, represented by Arturo Rodriguez and Dr. José Luis Robles López, Co-Presidents, Brownsville-Matamoros Binational Health Council. This program offers fresh, affordable produce to all families in the area and reaches low-income families through a farm-fresh Voucher Program and Brown Bag Program, hosting up to 23 local vendors and averages over 400 adults and 250 children every week. The program also provides nutritional education, obesity prevention, and health services while simultaneously urging the community to make positive changes aimed towards living a healthier lifestyle.

     

  • Nutrition Education Aimed at Toddlers and Animal Trackers for Ages 2-4 (NEAT AT2) directed by the University of California-San Diego Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child Development and Community Health (CDCH), Comprehensive Research Center in Health Disparities (CRCHD), represented by Dr. Shelia Broyles, Principal Investigator. NEAT AT2 is an obesity prevention program that provides culturally competent services designed to educate predominantly low income Latin American parents and caregivers of young children about nutrition and exercise to provide the skills needed to help their children and families learn and practice healthy lifestyle choices. The program combines existing evidence-based curricula, NEAT (nutrition component) and AT (motor skill development /physical activity component), and consists of 10 weekly classes followed by four home visits. Classes are taught in convenient locations across the region, such as family resource centers, schools, churches, clinics, and domestic violence shelters.

Tuberculosis

  • TBNet directed by the Migrant Clinicians Network, represented by Deliana Garcia, Director, International Research and Development, Migrant Clinicians Network, Austin, Texas.
  • Los Dos Laredos Binational Project directed by the City of Laredo Health Department and Los Dos Laredos Binational Health Council, represented by Hector Gonzalez, Director, M.D., M.P.H., City of Laredo Health Department and Dr. Jaime Emilio Gutierrez Serrano, Chief, Sanitary Jurisdiction, V, Mexican Secretariat of Health, Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Co-Presidents, Los Dos Laredos Binational Health Council; Barbara Seaworth, M.D., Medical Director, Heartland National TB Center; and Charles Wallace, Ph.D., M.P.H., TB Program Director, Texas Department of State Health Services.
  • Participación de los Estudiantes de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, en la lucha contra la Tuberculosis (Autonomous University of Tamaulipas School of Medicine, Student Participation in the Fight against TB) represented by Dr. Francisco Mora Guzmán, Coordinator, Program on Mycobacteriosis, Sanitary Jurisdiction III, Mexican Secretariat of Health, Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

Background

The first phase of the MCP Models of Excellence initiative focused on programs that use the Community Health Worker (CHW)/Promotor(a) approach. These programs needed to be in existence for a minimum of 12 months and be sustainable and ongoing.

This initiative commenced its first call for applications in October of 2002 and used the following criteria for selection of applicants:

  • Have a presence on the Canadian border
  • Utilize Community Health Workers / promotor(a)
  • Be innovative
  • Be responsive to community needs
  • Possess outcome capability
  • Demonstrate measurable quality improvement
  • Be collaborative in nature
  • Have the ability to be replicated and sustained
  • Possess administrative effectiveness
  • Focus on at least one of the BorderHealth objectives