Youth Empowerment for Health Equity.

Health Education

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Starting in the summer of 2016, we have selected a cohort of students from our partner schools to participate in our paid 6-week Summer Program. Students learn health skills such as bystander CPR in addition to receiving instruction in Health-Career Preparation, Life Sciences, Public Health, and Cultural Competency. We encourage our students to share what they have learned with their peers when school resumes. To encourage this further, we are currently working with two of our partner schools to bring health education and health advocacy directly to their classrooms through our Science & Health Immersion Program.

Community & Population Health

The core goal of our public health campaign is to increase survival rates from out-of-hospital-cardiac-arrest in Chicago communities that are particularly at risk. Consequently, we recruit students from these neighborhoods and all are educated to become bystander CPR trainers during our Summer Program. At events, students can readily train any community member in bystander CPR within 5 minutes. A pay-it-forward model is employed so this knowledge can be shared with others and eventually be used to save lives across these communities .

Workforce Development

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Upon completion of our Summer Program, students are trained to perform limited Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer health assessments. Students inform community members about basic health recommendations and serve as navigators for those seeking an appointment with a primary care physician. Such screenings have been performed in the UI Health Emergency Department and Clinical Decision Unit. And, they are paid by our organization for their service. 

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Our ultimate goal is to encourage students to be comfortable in clinical settings and to develop a network for them to secure entry level positions in healthcare upon high school graduation. All while preparing them for health professional careers in the future across an array of different health disciplines. 

ABOUT US

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The CHAMPIONS NETWork is spearheaded by UI Health’s Department of Emergency Medicine and launched in the summer of 2016. In partnership with nine high schools located in mostly underserved neighborhoods, CHAMPIONS works to 1) empower youth to improve community health and to 2) develop these youth as the healthcare professionals of the future. Our summer program trains a chosen cohort of students to become health advocates while our school-year initiatives further provide college preparation and career development.

Partner Schools