Center for Community Health Education Research and Service, Inc. records
Scope and Content Note
The collection reflects the growth and development of the Center for Community Health Education Research and Service from its creation and initial affiliation with Northeastern University in 1991, through its incorporation as an independent entity in 1997, to the expansion of the Center's services and studies in the early 2000s. The planned expansion of Center programs is reflected in the grant applications that Center staff regularly submitted to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and other funding organizations. The records include the original proposal to the Kellogg Foundation to create the Center and regular progress and annual reports. Also included are drafts, some hand-annotated, of Teaching Nursing in the Neighborhoods: The Northeastern University Model (New York, NY : Springer Publishing Company, 1995), edited and written by Peggy Matteson and the College of Nursing faculty, is based on their experiences working in the community health centers. The collection also reflects the Center's involvement in the Boston community as evidenced by letters of support from the Center for initiatives being developed by the partner health centers individually or in collaboration.
Center committees documented in the collection are: Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, Research Committee, Committee on Education, the Government Affairs Committee, Long-Range Planning Committee, Kellogg Steering Committee, Coordinators' Committee, and Committee for Nursing Education Component Implementation. Some of these committees were composed solely of Center staff; others included staff and faculty from partner institutions, including Northeastern University. The Dean of the College of Nursing, Eileen Zungolo, was heavily involved in the foundation and administration of the Center during its early years. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation files include requests for proposals, correspondence, Foundation newsletters, and a solicitation for feedback from the Center for an evaluation of the Foundation being done by the Lewin Group.
Topics documented include undergraduate and graduate medical education, community health care, and curriculum creation and revision. Record types include correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes and agendas, annual and progress reports, grant applications, and budgets.
Dates
- Creation: 1990-2000
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1991-1997
Creator
Language of Materials
The collection is entirely in English.
Conditions Governing Access:
Records are closed for 25 years from their date of creation, unless researchers have written permission from the creating office. Contact the University Archivist for more information.
Historical Note
The Center for Community Health Education Research and Service, Inc. (CCHERS) was established in 1991 through a grant submitted by the College of Nursing, in partnership with six other Boston institutions, to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Community Partnerships in Health Professions Education Initiative. The Kellogg Foundation funded seven sites across the country in its Community Partnerships program, including the Center in Boston. The Initiative was designed to bring medical higher education out of academia and into the communities surrounding each institution.
Receiving an initial grant of $6 million, the Center was designed to provide experience in community health care to undergraduate nursing and first-year medical students from Northeastern University and Boston University and to establish academic health centers that brings [sic] service, education, and research together to influence and change health professions education and improve health care delivery. Students were posted at one of four community health centers and expected to complete an intensive internship experience, including designing and implementing a program to give back to the community.
The Center was created as a partnership among Northeastern's College of Nursing, Boston University School of Medicine, the Department of Health and Hospitals of the City of Boston, and four neighborhood health centers: the Codman Square Health Center, Dorchester House Multi-Service Center, the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, and the Whittier Street Neighborhood Health Center. In 1993, six more health centers joined the original four: Bowdoin Street Health Center, Dimock Community Health Center, Little House Community Health Center, Gieger-Gibson Community Health Center, Mattapan Community Health Center, and Neponset Health Center. In 1998, three additional centers came into the partnership: Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center, Greater Roslindale Medical and Dental Center, and Upham's Corner Health Center.
In 1995, the Center expanded its programming with additional financial support from another Kellogg Foundation grant. The new grant, part of the Kellogg Foundation's Graduate Medical and Nursing Education initiative, allowed the Center to engage advanced medical and nursing students in the community health care project. In 1997 as the College of Nursing planned to merge with the Bouvé College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, the Center incorporated as a non-profit organization, becoming independent from Northeastern.
The Center's programs include the Health Careers Academy, founded in 1995 to provide a magnet school for students interested in careers as health professionals. The Academy strives to attract students who might otherwise be discouraged from pursuing higher education. In 1998, the Academy became one of the first Horace Mann Charter Schools and was relocated to the Northeastern University campus from its original home at Dorchester High School. The Academy was renamed in 2010 as the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers to honor the late Senator. The Center is one of seven institutional partners supporting the school, and its Learn & Serve America, and Learn & Serve for Middle Schools programs, both funded by the Corporation for National Service in the mid-1990s, seek to educate students to become peer leaders for health. The Center also supports the Community Advocacy Program which places Family Advocates at six of the partner health centers to provide a range of services to victims and survivors of dating and domestic violence and their loved ones, heart attack prevention studies, and anti-domestic violence programs.
Chronology
- 1991
- Center for Community Health Education Research and Service established.
- 1993
- Six additional community health centers join the Center.
- 1995
- Health Careers Academy founded.
- 1997
- The Center incorporates as an independent entity.
- 1998
- The Health Careers Academy becomes a Horace Mann Charter School and relocates to the Northeastern University campus; three more community health centers join the Center.
- 2010
- Health Careers Academy renamed in honor of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
Chronology of Directors
- 1991-1997
- Patricia M. Meservey
- 1997-
- Elmer R. Freeman
Extent
2 cubic feet (2 containers)
Overview
The Center for Community Health Education Research and Service (CCHERS) was established in 1991 through a grant submitted by Northeastern University's College of Nursing in partnership with six other Boston institutions to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Community Partnerships in Health Professions Education Initiative. The Center was designed to bring undergraduate medical and nursing students into the communities surrounding their schools and provide them with real-world experience as part of their student work. The Center was originally a partnership among Northeastern's College of Nursing, Boston University School of Medicine, the Department of Health and Hospitals of the City of Boston, and four neighborhood health centers. In 1995, the Center expanded its services with assistance from a second Kellogg Foundation grant, engaging advanced medical and nursing students in the community health centers. In 1997, the Center incorporated, officially becoming an independent entity. The Center's programs include the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, initiatives to educate middle and high-school students as peer leaders for health, and the Community Advocacy Program which places Family Advocates at health centers to work with victims and survivors of dating and domestic violence and their loved ones.
Overview
The collection reflects the growth and development of the Center for Community Health Education Research and Service from its creation and affiliation with Northeastern University in 1991, through its incorporation as an independent entity in 1997, to the expansion of the Center's services and studies in the early 2000s. The records include the original proposal to the Kellogg Foundation to create the Center. The planned expansion of Center programs is reflected in the grant applications that Center staff regularly submitted to funding organizations. The collection documents the Center's involvement in the Boston community as evidenced by letters of support from the Center for initiatives being developed by the partner health centers individually or in collaboration. Topics documented include undergraduate and graduate medical education, community health care, and curriculum creation and revision. Record types include correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes and agendas, annual and progress reports, grant applications, and budgets.
System of Arrangement:
Alphabetical.
Physical Location
34/3
Bibliography
- Center for Community Health Education Research and Service, Inc. records (A122).
- CCHERS About Us, Center for Community Health Education Research and Service History Website, http://www.cchers.org/history.shtml (accessed September 2010).
- CCHERS About Us, Center for Community Health Education Research and Service Partners Website, http://www.cchers.org/partners.shtml (accessed September 2010).
- Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, Website, http://www.healthcareersacademy.org/about/mission.jsp (accessed September 2010).
- Northeastern and Boston honor Kennedy in renaming event, news@Northeastern, http://www.northeastern.edu/news/stories/2010/04/Kennedy_Academy.html (accessed September 2010).
- Welcome to CCHERS! Center for Community Health Education Research and Service, http://www.cchers.org/index.shtml (accessed September 2010).
Subject
- Center for Community Health Education Research and Service, Inc. (Organization)
- Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). College of Nursing (Organization)
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation (Organization)
- Meservey, Patricia (Person)
- Zungolo, Eileen (Person)
- Title
- Finding aid for the Center for Community Health Education Research and Service, Inc. Records
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Hanna Clutterbuck
- Date
- October 2010
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections Repository