Mission Statement
Problems
Hypertension is a major public health problem. The American Heart Association estimates that hypertension affects approximately half of all adults in the United States. Of those adults with hypertension, only about 1 in 4 have their condition under control. Untreated chronic hypertension can cause serious end-organ damage, such as heart diseases, kidney failures, hardening of the arteries, eye damages, and strokes. High blood pressure is a ‘silent killer’ because it often causes few symptoms for many years before the onset of critical organ damages.
In the homeless population, hypertension is a particularly significant health issue. Second only to alcohol abuse, hypertension is the most common chronic health care issue among the homeless population, affecting 14 – 25% of the homeless. It is particularly problematic for this population due to inherent barriers to good health and health care this group faces as a result of their homeless status. According to state housing data provided by the city of New Haven, the greater New Haven area has 721 homeless individuals as of early August 2023. Of these, 284 are homeless families with children. HAPPY is committed to providing effective management of chronic hypertension in New Haven’s underserved communities through service, education, and connection with community health partners.
Solutions
HAPPY trains dedicated volunteers to conduct regular blood pressure screenings in New Haven community centers. Working with clinical advisors from Yale and partner health professionals, we implement training protocols and competency testing to ensure high quality and consistency of screenings by student volunteers. In contrast to the conventional poor practice of one-time community health screenings, HAPPY volunteers establish a constant presence in the communities by providing regular blood pressure screening sessions, helping to monitor the blood pressure levels of community members on a daily basis.
We collaborate with community healthcare partners to provide underserved community members with immediate and affordable medical follow-up appointments. We evaluate our service output (number of community members screened, number of screening sessions offered, etc.) and service outcome (incidence of successful follow-up) to continuously improve the program.
We engage HAPPY volunteers in direct service to vulnerable New Haven populations, work on educational outreach, and implement innovative projects that together serve to tackle patient barriers to care.
We envision creating a successful model in New Haven and building a foundation for a national student hypertension service initiative.