Monday 21st November - Last day in Atlanta

The final morning of the exchange programme was spent visiting the CDC and sharing our exchange experiences with colleagues. It was clear that we had all experienced very different REACH programs and it was interesting to hear the learning outcomes of the other UK cities (Coventry, Nottingham and Sandwell).

From the Stoke-on-Trent perspective of this exchange, key learning points included;

- Change doesn’t happen overnight; partnerships need to be cultivated at all levels to ensure ongoing success. This includes the importance of providing ongoing support mechanisms to groups and communities. 
- Sustainability needs to be built into programmes from the outset.

- The importance of supporting empowerment and ownership of programmes within communities.
- Realising the power of individuals within communities to influence peers and the importance of ‘gate keepers’ in engaging communities.

-  It is important to use an asset-based approach, focusing on the positives in communities, including the value of skills, experience and local knowledge of individuals.
- Finally, PARTNERSHIP, PARTNERSHIP, PARTNERSHIP! - making health 'everybody's business' and making the most of resources by working together.

Members of the Stoke-on-Trent team would like to thank all of those individuals and organisations who made this exchange possible. We would like to thank Graydon Yatabe and Kenitra Robinson from the CDC for being fantastic guides and all of those at the MHRC (UAB) for being great hosts. We have all learned a great deal form this exchange and we look forward to hosting our American colleagues in Stoke-on-Trent in 2012.

Sunday 20th November - Exploring Atlanta

We had some free time on Sunday to explore Atlanta so we took the opportunity to do a little shopping and also attend an American Football match! Here are some photos:

Atlanta Falcons vs. Tennessee Titans

We weren't quite sure what was going on half the time but we got the general idea!

Saturday 19th November - REACH Exchange Cities Coming Together

We travelled back to Atlanta on Thursday evening and spent most of Friday reflecting on all that we had seen in Birmingham. We collated our thoughts and experiences ready to share with other colleagues from the UK who had visited other REACH Communities in the US.

On Saturday evening we met our UK colleagues in Atlanta and went out to dinner. As you will no doubt have seen, food is a running theme throughout this blog and this evening's meal was not a disappointment. We went to Paschals restaurant to experience some more soul food.

The food was fantastic...but we were still not used to how big the portions were! 

Thursday 17th November - UAB HealthSmart

After travelling back to Birmingham from Wilcox County on Wednesday evening we were ready to visit one of MHRC's new initiatives on Thursday morning - HealthSmart:

UAB HealthSmart is an innovative health education center that offers free preventive screenings, free health education talks, free nutrition and fitness counselling, and free fitness classes in an effort to prevent disease and lower rates of obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a host of chronic diseases so prevalent in the Deep South. It is located in the heart of downtown Birmingham, and UAB HealthSmart is a joint program of the UAB Division of Preventive Medicine and the UAB Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Centre. Check out this video:

We were extremely impressed with UAB HealthSmart. It is a facility that is well used by individuals from the target population. UAB HealthSmart also students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, such as nutritionists, as interns to deliver services. This further demonstrated the links that the MHRC has across faculties across the University. Again, it is all about partnership working! 

If you would like to know more about UAB HealthSmart then take a look at their Facebook page - UAB HealthSmart

Whilst visiting UAB HealthSmart we were fortunate to see a local parade which was celebrating the winning of the State Championship by a local College Basketball team. Here are some photos:

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Mona Fouad, Maria Morena, Dr Theresa Wynn, Amber Anderson and Joanice Thompson from the MHRC for hosting us on this REACH exchange. We were made to feel extremely welcome and we look forward to hosting you on the return trip to Stoke-on-Trent.

Wednesday 16th November - Wilcox County (pm)

During the afternoon we were fortunate to be able to visit the schools who had taken part in the economic development project that we had heard so much about.

The first visit took us to Wilcox Academy in Camden (a private school). We were welcomed by the principle of the school who took us on a tour of the facilities. This school was home to elementary, middle school and high school pupils which is in contrast to the school system in the UK. During the last academic year there were 16 pupils in the graduating class (at age 18) which is very different from the number of pupils leaving our Stoke-on-Trent high schools at age 16. We were also accompanied by pupils who attended Wilcox Central High School (a public school) and it was interesting to hear their first impressions of Wilcox Academy as this was the first time they had visited the school. We also heard from the Wilcox Academy Students who took part in the project.

Our next stop was at Wilcox Central High School where we were given a military welcome:

It was interesting the differences between the public and private schools. Wilcox Central High School had three feeder elementary schools and therefore was similar to the UK school system. We were made extremely welcome by the principle who took us on a tour of the school escorted by the Reserve Officer Training Corp. (ROTC).

The final stop on this trip to Camden was a visit to Black Belt Treasures - the location for a lot of the work carried out by UAB interns and Wilcox High School pupils;

It was here that we said goodbye to Wilcox residents, high school pupils and UAB interns and Faculty members.

Wednesday 16th November - Wilcox County - Lunch at Miss Kitty's

We were treated to a lunch at Miss Kitty's Restaurant in Camden to experience some soul food!

On the menu was fried catfish, pork chop and pink lemonade...the food was delicious and definitely set us up for the afternoons activities. We would definitely recommend a visit if you're ever in Camden.

During the lunch we were able to talk to some of the UAB interns and high school pupils who took part in their economic development project . All were very enthusiastic about the experience and the benefits of the project were clear to see.