Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been fortunate to be involved in a learning exchange between the UK and the US. The purpose is to contribute to learning and knowledge about reducing health inequalities through tackling the root causes of poor health, such as, employment, housing, education and the environment. This approach prioritises working with communities to harness their capacity for health improvement.

This exchange is part of a wider programme and is supported by the Department of Health, England, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, the International Union for Health Promotion Education and Health Action Partnership International.

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.


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