A Kids' "Care-Van." Hospital's mobile health program provides screenings for neighborhood children.
Last year Franciscan Children's Hospital & Rehabilitation Center in Boston launched a "Kids' Care-Van" in an attempt to better serve the children of its community. That community, the city's Allston-Brighton neighborhood, is the home of many immigrants and minority group members, people likely to face economic, cultural, and linguistic barriers when seeking healthcare. A survey showed that neighborhood children especially needed better access to the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC), health education, and dental care. The Kids' Care-Van regularly tours Allston-Brighton, making stops at schools, Head Start programs, day care centers, a youth club, and the local YMCA. At those stops children are given medical and dental screenings; if needed, referrals are made to other healthcare sources. Parents, children, and adolescents are also given information about prevention and wellness. To date, 2,500 neighborhood children have been served. Approximately 70 percent have been found to be in urgent need of dental care, a serious problem because many Allston-Brighton parents cannot afford to pay for such care. Few Boston dentists accept Medicaid payment, and there are no other state or federal resources. The van program's manager is currently negotiating with area universities and lobbying local members of the State legislature in hopes of getting some assistance.
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Franciscan Children's Hospital & Rehabilitation Center, Boston.
D001900:Boston; D002410:Catholicism; D002648:Child; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003729:Dental Care; D006266:Health Education; D006744:Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008952:Mobile Health Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education