Durham University, Leadership in Action

Raising health: Project Overview, Objectives, and Outcomes

Project Overview:

Raising Health is a small non-profit organization dedicated to improving health and social care access in underserved communities in New York City. Recently, I've begun working closely with the mental and community health teams to design and implement a new mental health program that targets the Mandarin speaking immigrant communities of New York. This initiative will focus on community-based healthcare solutions, tackling the social determinants of mental health alongside delivering evidence based therapeutic interventions. My role will involve collaborating closely with the project leads, as well as local partners, to create and evaluate new materials for this therapy group. Alongside this, I have been engaged in community outreach, addressing health disparities through education, empowerment, and advocacy.

Project Objectives:

  • Contribute to the design and evaluation of targeted mental health initiatives: Working on the implementation and monitoring of a pilot community mental health group, ensuring it is tailored to the specific needs of the local immigrant population.

  • Promote health equity and access to essential services: Engaging with the local community through outreach events to provide health screenings, access to health education classes, and signposting to wider healthcare organizations.

  • Support the development of community-driven health solutions: Collaborating with local healthcare providers, government agencies, and other non-profit organizations to build sustainable, community-focused models for healthcare access and delivery.

  • Ensuring sustainability and local leadership: Ensuring that all solutions are led by local actors, are sustainable over the long term, and contribute to Raising Health’s broader goals of systemic healthcare improvement and transformation.

Expected Outcomes:

  • Advancement of the Mental Health Pilot Program: I expect to make significant contributions to the successful design, implementation, and scaling of our new mental health program, with an emphasis on financial sustainability and local relevance.

  • Community Outreach: Our goal this month is to reach 500 community members through tabling events and leafleting, raising awareness of the health and social care programs we offer. Of these community members, we then aim to connect 85% of those in need with the healthcare resources we and our partners offer. 

  • Upscaling RaisingHealth's Annual Health Fair: For the 10th annual health Fair hosted by RaisingHealth, we expect to engage over 1000 community members - a larger number than ever before. I am working closely with the community health team to plan and track the delivery of this event, ensuring the event goes smoothly despite the increased interest.