Assessing Health in the Seneca-Babcock Neighborhood

Mural in Seneca-Babcock.

Take your public health skills outside of the classroom and into a community to make a difference! 

Project description

This project will help students to explore the health needs of the Seneca-Babcock community located in Buffalo, New York. Students will work together to collect needs assessment data that will be used to inform community health interventions in the community. Seneca-Babcock is one of the most underserved areas in Buffalo and this project will help inform what services will be needed to reduce the impact of health disparities in the local area. Students will be mentored in the foundations of community engagement, health education, and building reports for various stakeholders. During the experience students will work to first create a needs assessment, complete the IRB process, and then disseminate it door-to-door around the community. Once survey data is collected, students will enter this information into a database and once data collection is over, they will build a report for both the community and university stakeholders.

Project outcome

By the end of this experience students will be able to:
• Explain the steps of conducting a community needs assessment.
• Apply public health practices to engage community members to participate in the needs
assessment.
• Create health education materials for the identified needs of the community.
• Create reports for different stakeholder about community needs. 

Project details

Timing, eligibility and other details
Length of commitment About a semester; 3-5 months
Start time Summer (May/June) 
In-person, remote, or hybrid? Hybrid Project (can be remote and/or in-person; to be determined by mentor and student) 
Level of collaboration Small group project (2-3 students) 
Benefits Stipend 
Who is eligible All undergraduate students who are enrolled or have completed PUB 101

Core partners

  • Seneca-Babcock Community Association 

Project mentor

Jessica Kruger

Clinical Assistant Professor

Community Health and Health Behavior

319 Kimball Hall

Phone: (716) 829-6748

Email: jskruger@buffalo.edu

Start the project

  1. Email the project mentor using the contact information above to express your interest and get approval to work on the project. (Here are helpful tips on how to contact a project mentor.)
  2. After you receive approval from the mentor to start this project, click the button to start the digital badge. (Learn more about ELN's digital badge options.) 
Start the Digital Badge

Preparation activities

Once you begin the digital badge series, you will have access to all the necessary activities and instructions. Your mentor has indicated they would like you to also complete the specific preparation activities below. Please reference this when you get to Step 2 of the Preparation Phase. 

  • Reading seminal articles or books
  • Attending workshops or orientations (i.e., lab safety, cultural competency training, etc.)
  • Familiarizing themselves with parts of the local community

Keywords

public health