Rutgers School of Health Professions: At the Vanguard - Annual Report 2022-2023

SERVICE

SHP’s commitment to service has left a lasting imprint on the lives of people in Newark and across the state. Our partnerships with community organizations and government agencies have widened opportunities to address health challenges faced disproportionately by underserved communities. DIFFERENCE MAKING A

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Through the efforts of faculty and students, we provide pro bono care to some of the state’s most vulnerable populations, leaving a mark not just on the communities we serve but on our students who gain a deeper comprehension of health care disparities and their role in effecting positive change.

IMPROVING CHILDHOOD NUTRITION

Our faculty has worked with the Head Start early childhood education program in New ark for over a decade. At that time, the Leaguers Inc., a Newark nonprofit that operates

Head Start, asked SHP to conduct a needs assessment, examining children’s weight status, along with nutrition and physical activities at its Head Start center, according to Pamela M. Rothpletz-Puglia, professor. The study discovered high obesity levels, leading to fur ther work, including collaborating on school menu changes to lower the obesity rates.

Understanding the social determinants of health helps to create community-centered interventions to enhance nutrition for children. Rothpletz-Puglia said SHP’s partnership with the community to improve early childhood nutrition has continued with work shedding light on how cultural food patterns, intergenerational influences, and social norms impact nutrition, as well as how life experiences influence breastfeeding practic es among Black women. “We care about supporting vulnerable populations,” Rothpletz-Puglia said. “Early childhood is a good place to focus on prevention, and I’ve learned from making home visits that the social, cultural, community, and family environment are integral to health—context is the mother of everything.”

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