Community | Overview
Boston Children’s Department of Cardiology is committed to delivering equitable care to patients and families, regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, or gender. That kind of care shouldn’t start at a hospital; it must also happen where people live. That’s why we offer several community outreach programs — to forward the best possible care, community by community. Here’s a look at some of our community-based initiatives.
Preventative health programs
Every third Thursday, from May to September, we partner with Community Art Center in Cambridge, Mass., to offer classes, clinics, and other events that give people an opportunity to learn more from our experts and discover ways to improve their health.
Events include:
- Hands-only CPR lessons
- Nutrition
- Exercise and mindfulness
- Learning all about the heart
- Heart model demonstration
- Blood pressure clinic
- Yoga and mediation
- Heart-focused trivia
- Exploring the possibilities of a healthcare career through panels with physicians, nurses, and staff
We also host a health fair every spring. It is hosted at either the Community Art Center or Prospect Hill Academy Charter School, also in Cambridge. The fair is an opportunity for children and their families to interact with clinicians. There are booths with activities for kids and adults. They include: blood pressure screening and education, a teddy bear station to teach kids how to do basic exams, demonstrations to understand sugars, meditation and yoga, workforce development talks, career panels, trivia, mindfulness, and more.
Finding future health care leaders
‘Day in the life’ shadowing available for STEM students
High school students get an up-close health care experience in our “Day in the Life” program, an initiative for students at Prospect Hill Academy Charter School. Three times an academic year, students ages 16 to 18 who are interested in STEM spend a day with the Department of Cardiology’s clinical, research, and administrative staff — shadowing them in our many clinical and research laboratory settings.
COACH program offers internships, including in research
College and high school students who are interested in healthcare have the opportunity to work as interns across the hospital — in a program run by COACH (Community, Opportunities, and Advancement at Children’s Hospital). Also, in collaboration with COACH, college students can shadow and work closely with staff in different divisions of the Department of Cardiology as part of a research internship. The program, which runs from June to August, lets college students who have an interest in STEM get firsthand research experience in cardiology. They will assist with projects and gain valuable exposure to different professions. For additional information and questions, please contact coach@childrens.harvard.edu.
Partnerships with Boston Children’s Office of Health Equity and Inclusion (OHEI)
- Our catheterization lab staff participated in a Boston Children’s Office of Health Equity and Inclusion (OHEI) program called BCHSTEM (Building Careers in Health and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The staff discussed career paths with local high school students.
- Our International Quality Improvement Collaborative (IQIC) for Congenital Heart Disease team hosted a student as part of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) on the Ernest E. Just Life Sciences Initiative.
Professional development and education: Moving care forward in the community
- An annual Grand Rounds presenter reviews research topics through a lens focusing on equality, diversity, and inclusion. Past speakers have included:
- Dr. Katie Moynihan of Boston Children’s: Health equity and social determinants of health
- Dr. Sarah Teele of Boston Children’s: Implicit bias
- Dr. Keila Lopez of Texas Children’s Hospital: Health equity and disparities
- Health Equity Rounds (HER) is a case presentation that addresses health disparities and inequities by an interdisciplinary team of clinicians. Past presentations have included:
- Barriers in transition from pediatric to adult cardiac care
- Racial disparities in Kawasaki disease
- Microaggressions in the workplace
- Community outreach and advocacy fellow and faculty-led groups
- Organize monthly health sessions for children and families in the Port Cambridge area outside of Boston (including Prospect Hill Academy Charter School and Community Art Center)
- Assist with planning sessions related to a high school student observation day
- Health Disparities Journal Club
- It is held twice a year, in the fall and spring.
- With these sessions, we hope to engage Boston Children’s community members across the Department of Cardiology in conversation around social determinants of health (SDH) to improve patient quality care.
- We use timely multimedia sources (including podcasts, books, journal articles, and film) to guide the discussions.
- These sessions will be held at divisional educational journal clubs or M&M sessions.
A retreat for children with pacemakers and ICDs
Our annual Keeping the Beat Retreat is for Boston Children’s patients ages 6 to 17 who have pacemakers or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). They enjoy a weekend of activities and outdoor adventures suitable to their medical needs, an experience they may not find elsewhere. Learn about the retreat.