Description of the video:
0:05
Hello, I am Shandy Dearth, and I'm the Director of the Center for Public
0:08
Health Practice here at the Fairbanks School of Public Health in Indianapolis.
0:12
And today
0:13
I'm going to talk about our partnerships for an academic health department.
0:17
According to the Public Health Foundation an Academic Health Department is a
0:20
formal affiliation of a health department and an academic institution.
0:26
So we're all familiar with the idea of a teaching hospital.
0:29
So here in Indianapolis, we basically have a teaching local
0:33
health department, and we have that in conjunction
0:35
with the Marion County Public Health Department.
0:38
Before we had the formal agreement in place, we've actually worked
0:41
with the health department for a number of years.
0:43
One big example we have to share is our work during the pandemic.
0:47
During the Covid 19 response,
0:49
our team worked hand in hand with the local health department
0:52
on their case investigation and contact tracing program.
0:55
We were a good fit for this work, partly because we have such a diverse
0:59
student body.
1:00
We were able to understand the community's needs, and often
1:04
were able to help with translation and interpretation out in the community.
1:08
And it's not basketball or it's not Indiana without basketball.
1:12
And so in 2021, we actually led the contact tracing program with the NCAA
1:17
men's basketball tournament when Indianapolis hosted the series.
1:23
The work that we did during
1:24
Covid actually led to a new partnership with the health department
1:28
with their newer K-through-12 School Liaison program.
1:32
Within that work, the Fairbanks School of Public Health offers
1:35
logistical support to plan and enact immunization
1:39
clinics at our local K through 12 schools inside Marion County.
1:44
Again, it's a great fit for our students because they’re able
1:46
to go into the field and see public health practice at work.
1:50
Our students also help us with Stop the Bleed educational classes for staff
1:56
and naloxone administration courses for staff.
2:01
And we see our students as critical assets in the community.
2:03
They're often working hand in hand with us when we are working with our partners.
2:10
Here's one of my favorite collages of photos
2:12
from the last year here at the Fairbanks School of Public Health.
2:16
On the upper left, you see a variety of students,
2:18
staff, and faculty who joined us in one of the community
2:22
cleanup events that we did with the Marion County Public Health Department.
2:26
On the right, we've got a group of volunteers
2:29
who are practice patients for the health department's community reception center.
2:33
That's where the health department gets to practice
2:35
how they would respond to a radiation event in the Indianapolis area.
2:40
And the lower middle photo,
2:41
you see several of our students who had the opportunity
2:44
to meet the Indianapolis mayor during one of their recent immunization
2:47
clinics over the summer, as we helped kids prepare to get back to school.
2:52
And then the bottom right, we've had students volunteer on average,
2:55
about once a semester to go over to the health department and help pack
2:59
naloxone kits to give out to the community.
3:04
One of our students and one of our public health emergency preparedness
3:07
courses was so excited to learn more about emergency preparedness.
3:11
She actually reached out to us to see if there's any kind of shadowing
3:15
opportunity available in the city.
3:17
And fortunately, with our partnership with the health department,
3:19
we were able to connect her to one of the hazardous materials
3:23
on scene site coordinators and responders.
3:26
She was able to spend a day with that person out in the field.
3:29
She had such a great experience.
3:31
She actually reached out to us and were able to offer this short
3:35
summary of her experience, so other students can see how easy it is
3:39
to shadow with others
3:40
over at the Marion County Public Health Department.
3:46
And a more long-term success story we have to share is the work
3:49
that we've been doing with the health department
3:51
as they work on their public health infrastructure grant
3:54
or the Fig grant, commonly called, in the public health world.
3:58
And so this is a great photo because of the four people shown here.
4:02
One is a current faculty member and three of them
4:05
are actually graduates of the Fairbanks School of Public Health.
4:09
And so it's great to be able to go into the community
4:12
and work with other colleagues who have gone through the public health
4:15
program here at Fairbanks.
4:19
And most recently, we were able to offer a public health showcase.
4:23
In that, we brought together staff from both Fairbanks
4:26
School of Public Health and the Marion County Public Health Department.
4:30
And we were able to have co-presentations
4:32
where someone from the health department and someone from Fairbanks gave
4:35
presentations on the work that they have done together.
4:38
We did this partly to share some of the success stories that we've seen,
4:42
but also to encourage others to consider new partnerships.
4:46
It's been such a success, and we're excited to see what
4:49
2026 will bring as we move forward with our academic health department.
