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School of Medicine Greenville

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Root Cause

Root Cause is a monthly health and public services fair to engage and inform our neighbors in the local Dunean community.

About Root Cause

Root Cause is an initiative led by USC School of Medicine Greenville students in partnership with USC School of Medicine Greenville faculty and staff, Prisma Health-Upstate team members, and community partners.

Each month, a free meal is provided by Project Host while various partners and health care experts provide resources and/or teach on relevant public health topics. There are many opportunities to get involved, so if you would like to join this initiative or learn more, please contact us via email at studentcommunityoutreach@greenvillemed.sc.edu.

In 2018, a multidisciplinary task force, inclusive of medical students, faculty and staff reviewed available data including the 2014 Greenville Health System Community Health Needs Assessment, the American Health Rankings 2017 Annual Report, and Furman University’s 2018 Needs Assessment to better understand the needs of communities served by Prisma Health-Upstate.

These data demonstrated that the community adjacent to USC School of Medicine Greenville was an at-risk community with a high rate of poverty, diabetes, obesity and low rates of access to health care. This community, Dunean, inspired us to work within the missions of both USC School of Medicine Greenville and Prisma Health-Upstate to improve the health of the communities we serve and to develop a program focused on addressing this community’s needs.

The USC School of Medicine Greenville Community Engagement Task Force met with members of the Dunean community (the Neighborhood Association, the Historical Society, United Way, the sheriff’s department, and members of two church congregations) to identify specific needs within the community that could be addressed by USC School of Medicine Greenville. Two main concerns were lack of community cohesiveness and barriers to access health care and preventative care for the community members.

Root Cause was developed to help address these specific needs.

This initiative would not be possible without the countless volunteer hours and support from our community partners.  

Each month we offer a variety of rotating programs centered around wellness and movement. These programs change every month to ensure we are including a wide range of public health topics. Programs include:

  • A free healthy meal from Project Host
  • FoodShare produce boxes
  • Appointment scheduling
  • Benefit signups
  • Wellness workshops from the USC School of Medicine Greenville Students and Prisma Health-Upstate Residents
  • Health education
  • Movement workshops 
  • And much more!

Volunteer at the event:

  • help with set-up
  • sign people in
  • answer questions
  • clean-up

Volunteer before the event:

  • distribute flyers
  • put up signs in the neighborhood

Donate necessary supplies for the Root Cause events:

  • water for volunteers
  • paper products such as napkins, plates and cups
  • advertising flyers and signs
  •  toothbrushes
  • toothpaste
  • floss
  • mouthwash
  • baby wipes
  • hand sanitizer
  • masks

If interested in volunteering, please email StudentCommunityOutreach@greenvillemed.sc.edu. 

 

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