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Success Stories
Project: Florida’s Vision Quest
Story: Vision for our Future
Florida’s Vision Quest attacks one of the root causes of social and academic failure – poor vision. In the Keys, where unemployment is high, transportation is limited and eye care professionals are rare, some children’s only hope in reaching their full potential is a visit from the Vision Quest Mobile Vision Clinic.
Imagine being a 5th grader in Monroe County – wondering every day “why the teacher spends so much time writing on the chalkboard when no one can see it.”
That was the perception of Dwayne, a fifth grade student who couldn’t see the chalkboard and didn’t realize he was supposed to. He was one of 150 low-income children living in the Keys who failed the school-based vision screening and were provided comprehensive vision exams and beautiful new eyeglasses compliments of Health Foundation of South Florida and Florida’s Vision Quest.
Because of the Health Foundation’s support, students like Dwayne can now see the chalkboard, their text and even the food on his plate. The opportunity to have access to a vision screening is all it took for a child to see the world more clearly…
Project: Baptist Health Palliative Care Competency Training
Story: Improving End-of-Life Care for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Populations
Baptist Health South Florida received a Health Foundation grant for $280,950 to support the development of a training program to increase their health care professionals’ (physicians, nurses, nursing care technicians, respiratory therapist, social workers/case managers and chaplains) knowledge, skills ability and comfort level in providing palliative/end-of-life care to our intercultural diverse populations.
By the end of the grant period, the number of health care providers that completed Part 1 & 2 of the training was 1044, exceeding the proposed grant project goal. The training was validated using a process of surveying healthcare professionals who participated in the training. The analysis demonstrated improved knowledge, practice and satisfaction with palliative/end-of-life care at Baptist Health. A true success for the program…and patients served.
Program: Health Council of South Florida
Story: Miami Matters On-Line
The Health Council of South Florida is part of a statewide network of 11 non-profit agencies established to conduct regional health planning and implementation activities. The Council develops district health plans containing data, analysis and makes recommendations that relate to health care status and needs in the community. Their efforts help to improve access to health care, reduce disparities in health status, assist state/ local governments in the development of sound and rational health care policies and advocate o n behalf of the underserved.
Health Foundation provided funding to help the Council launch a dynamic, interactive web-based information system that provides easy to understand health, environmental and other quality of life indicators for Miami-Dade County. The site, Miami Matters, connects visitors to promising practices and resources that encourage and promote informed community action. The site has been quite a success. Here’s what a few users had to say:
Testimonials:
Alina V. Soto
Program Management Director
Communities Putting Prevention to Work Department of Children & Families
View Testimonial 
David Saltman, LCSW
Visiting Instructor
Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work
Florida International University
View Testimonial
Ricardo Antonio Jaramillo
Graduate Student of Public Health, Specialization in Epidemiology
Florida International University
View Testimonial
If you would like to see some of the valuable health information they have, visit their special Web site, Miami Matters. www.miamidadematters.org
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