Community Health and Engagement

Our team works to reduce barriers, increase access to health care and provide resources to improve the health of our West Side community. With our partners, which include houses of worship and community-based organizations, we focus on reducing risk factors; helping people who live with chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes manage their health; and providing mental health resources in community settings, healthy food options and heart health information.

Nobody wants to say that they don’t have food. You’ll hear them say, “oh, I’m behind on some things,” and then you know. We have canned vegetables and beans, cereal, tortillas, bread. They also get a big bag of fresh fruit and vegetables. A box might have bananas, apples, oranges, broccoli, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage. We give them recipes that RUSH nutrition students put together, and we talk about healthy eating and making better food choices.

We also ask if they have a way to get back and forth to the doctor, if they have a home, if they’ve been worried about paying utility bills. Then we can connect them with local resources. Not long ago I had one person who was worried about getting their lights cut off, and I connected them with assistance that cleared it up that day. Resources like that are essential, but they’re not always available —and the need is far greater than the resources.

I tell everybody: If you need the help, take the help. We’re all doing the best we can.

Nykesha Jones, RUSH community health worker

128 patients enrolled in Food is Medicine prescription program for free food, healthy recipes, home delivery and help signing up for SNAP benefits

5,345 community residents connected with healthy food through the RUSH Food is Medicine program

Mental health is certainly an issue. There’s a fallacy that stigma is the primary reason for not accessing care, but that’s far down the list. Lack of health insurance is at the top of the list. And many of our households are not English-proficient. We have to provide services in easily understandable ways.

525 community members and Rush staff received Mental Health First Aid training

1,082 West Side residents had happier holidays through the RUSH Adopt-A-Family program

In underserved communities, a lot of the time people are in survival mode, working one or two or three jobs just to put food on the table. Health always falls to the last priority. At the same time, it’s important for us to listen to community residents about what they need. We have to be humble enough to ask them, what can we do to help you be able to live lives as healthy and full as those people who live in any other neighborhood?

The walk is a way for people to get motivated and to feel connection — to be surrounded by others who want to live a long, healthy life. Feeling that energy makes such a difference! In addition to walking, we had physicians join us for health education so people could feel comfortable discussing and asking questions. That helps make it feel like interacting with providers isn’t a scary thing.

10,910 vaccinations for COVID-19, influenza and monkeypox were delivered at shelters, schools and other congregate locations, in partnership with the RUSH University College of Nursing

Our congregate testing and vaccination team consists of community health workers, registered nurses and medical assistants. We go out into the community across Chicago, where we vaccinate for COVID-19, influenza and mpox and test for other communicable diseases. We also offer community members education to help them to make informed health care decisions.

Sometimes we encounter people who are misinformed about the risks and benefits of vaccinations. I recently spoke with a resident at a shelter who said, “I’m not getting the [COVID-19] vaccination! It kills people!” That was a great opportunity for me pull out evidenced-based information about vaccinations. We spoke for about 10 minutes; I was able to answer questions, and at the end of the discussion they decided to receive the vaccine. An advantage of our team is that we’re a diverse group and can relate to the members of the community — I think this helps us build trust.

Tiara Plummer, RUSH community health worker