On the second Sunday of each month, the Orange County Great Park in Irvine looks like a county fair. Balloons and banners; families with kids in strollers; mobile trucks holding eye catching displays with greeters inviting families in.
But instead of deep fried cookies and moon bounce rides, families can dip into healthy snacks, discuss parenting concerns with doctors and nurses, get a flu shot, sign up for health insurance and other benefits, have their teeth checked and take home free fruits and vegetables. And this fair doesn’t leave out the rides. Some Sundays include a bike repair station and free booster seats for toddlers and kids.
This is Clinic in the Park, a five year old innovation that brings health care and prevention education to under-served families in Orange County each month.
“We reach out to under-served children and families with vital health services that they don’t otherwise have access to,” says Phyllis Agran, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine at UC Irvine, a practicing pediatrician and the founder and director of Clinic in the Park.
Agran said she conceived of Clinic in the Park because she was frustrated and alarmed by the too-short visits she had with her young patients and their parents that gave her little opportunity to discuss prevention, such as dental care; and healthy living, such as exercise and healthy eating; and child safety.
Says Agran: “our broader vision is to make sure children and their families are connected to community resources, receive all screenings and repeated doses of health education to optimize the health and academic opportunities and keep them out of poverty.”
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