For more information, contact: Boonshoft School of Medicine Marketing and Communications, Cindy Young at (937) 775-2951, or Phillip Neal at (937) 775-4587.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 2009

WSU Boonshoft School of Medicine honors community partnerships with annual awards

DOORS program, new employer education initiative, receive Health Promotion Program Awards

DAYTON, Ohio—Two innovative community health programs have earned special recognition for the organizations collaborating to make them possible. The Center for Healthy Communities at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine has awarded its 2009 Health Promotion Program Awards to the Opening Doors for the Homeless Program (DOORS) and the “Employer Wellness-Bottom Line Booster” Employer Education Seminar.

The annual awards recognize community-based health promotion programs or projects in the Greater Dayton area that demonstrate successful collaboration by multiple organizations. The 2009 awards were presented at the center’s annual meeting on June 17.

The DOORS program, founded in 1997, won the award for an established program. The program provides access to supportive services for “hard to serve” homeless individuals to help them find permanent housing, increase their income and lead healthier, more productive and stable lives. Partners in the program include PLACES Inc.; Samaritan Homeless Clinic; the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services; The Other Place; Eastco; and the Salvation Army Booth House. The program served 106 individuals in 2008 and is now working actively with 281 participants receiving physical and mental health care, job and life skills training and related services.

The award for a new program went to an employer education initiative developed by Shumsky Inc.; CompuNet Clinical Laboratories; McGohan Brabender; United HealthCare; and Monica Cengia, licensed dietician and lifestyle educator. Based on their own struggles and successes in creating workplace wellness programs, the partners outlined a recommended process that other businesses or organizations can follow. The “Employer Wellness-Bottom Line Booster” can be presented as an hour-long seminar or a half-day workshop, and the first sessions will take place later this summer.

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Editor’s note: The Center for Healthy Communities is a community-academic partnership committed to improving the health and well-being of the community, educating its health professionals and serving as a force for change. The Center began in 1991 as Partners for Community Health Development, became a formal organization in 1994 and is now a division of the Department of Community Health in the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. The CHC has awarded its Health Promotion Program Awards annually since 1997. A list of previous winners is available at med.wright.edu/chc/events/healthpromotion.htm

For more information or to schedule an interview contact: Phillip Neal, Marketing and Communications, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, (937) 775-4587 or phillip.neal@wright.edu.