Overlook Medical Center - Healthy Avenues Van

What is it?

Overlook Medical Center’s Healthy Avenues Van is a 37-foot recreational vehicle that is equipped with an interior suited to do health screenings. There are three tables with chairs, an exam room in the rear, and the side can be pushed out to a width of 12 feet. The van has been an integral part of free and low-cost health screenings that have been done in the hospital’s service area by the Department of Community Health for the past 16 years. Screenings have included cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure, body mass index, bone density, hearing, pulmonary, and sun exposure education with the Dermaview machine. Because of the exam room in the rear, it is also possible for our physicians to conduct peripheral vascular disease screenings, skin and prostate screenings as well as school physicals for the underserved population who do not otherwise have access to health care. The van travels to many towns in our service area and visits community agencies, houses of worship, companies, senior centers, boards of health, and schools.

Along with the screening itself, all participants are educated and, if a person’s results are outside of the normal range, a doctor’s appointment can be made on the spot. If the patient is without health insurance, he/she is referred to one of Overlook’s Family Practice offices. Permission to follow up with those whose results are out of range is obtained so that health professionals can see if patients have encountered any obstacles in obtaining needed services. All results are tracked and physicians are contacted. The van’s schedule is published monthly in the hospital’s publication, the Overlook View, which reaches 75,000 homes in the community.

Who is it for?

The emphasis is on reaching the underserved because of the barriers to routine health care within that population, such as economic issues, immigration status, or just fear of results, which can keep many people from obtaining information about their health status and risks. Rather than have to travel to the hospital, we bring the van to them.

Why do they do it?

As a result of a community survey, it was determined that many people in the hospital’s service area did not have sufficient access to health care. Senior citizens may be concerned about having to travel to the hospital or to a doctor’s office; those who are under-insured may not be able to afford routine health care. The convenience of having health screenings in a person’s home area is attractive to everyone.

Impact

When the program began in 1996, the department set a goal to screen and educate 10,000 people in 10 years. As of October 2007, Overlook’s Healthy Avenues Van helped screen and educate more than 75,000 people. To date, that number is well over 250,000. Even more important is the number of people who have received follow-up care as a result of the screenings. In 2011, of the 31,344 people screened and educated, permission from participants with abnormal screening results enabled 43 percent of these participants to meet with a physician or have needed hospital-based tests.

A new program called “Home is Where the Heart Is” has recently been started. This is where the van travels to the home of a woman who has invited several of her friends to a “Heart Healthy“party. Cardiac nurses use the van to provide cardiac screenings, and then the participants go into the home for a talk on Women’s Heart Health. They are then treated to a healthy lunch. As with the other screenings, participants are counseled about their results, and any out of range are referred for further testing. Our programs are continually being evaluated; new screenings and new places to visit are added routinely.

Contact: Joyce Passen
Manager, Community Health
Telephone: 908-522-5355
E-mail: joyce.passen@atlantichealth.org