Office for Community Health, Health Sciences Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Ann Fam Med. 2010 Jan-Feb;8(1):73-81. doi: 10.1370/afm.1077.
The Agricultural Cooperative Extension Service model offers academic health centers methodologies for community engagement that can address the social determinants of disease. The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center developed Health Extension Rural Offices (HEROs) as a vehicle for its model of health extension. Health extension agents are located in rural communities across the state and are supported by regional coordinators and the Office of the Vice President for Community Health at the Health Sciences Center. The role of agents is to work with different sectors of the community in identifying high-priority health needs and linking those needs with university resources in education, clinical service and research. Community needs, interventions, and outcomes are monitored by county health report cards. The Health Sciences Center is a large and varied resource, the breadth and accessibility of which are mostly unknown to communities. Community health needs vary, and agents are able to tap into an array of existing health center resources to address those needs. Agents serve a broader purpose beyond immediate, strictly medical needs by addressing underlying social determinants of disease, such as school retention, food insecurity, and local economic development. Developing local capacity to address local needs has become an overriding concern. Community-based health extension agents can effectively bridge those needs with academic health center resources and extend those resources to address the underlying social determinants of disease.
农业合作推广服务模式为学术健康中心提供了社区参与的方法，可以解决疾病的社会决定因素。新墨西哥大学健康科学中心开发了健康推广农村办公室（HEROs），作为其健康推广模式的载体。健康推广人员分布在全州的农村社区，由区域协调员和健康科学中心负责社区健康的副校长办公室提供支持。这些代理的作用是与社区的不同部门合作，确定高优先级的健康需求，并将这些需求与大学在教育、临床服务和研究方面的资源联系起来。社区需求、干预措施和结果由县卫生报告卡监测。健康科学中心是一个庞大而多样的资源，社区大多不知道其广度和可及性。社区的健康需求各不相同，而代理可以利用现有的健康中心资源来满足这些需求。代理的作用不仅限于直接的、严格的医疗需求，还可以解决疾病的潜在社会决定因素，如学校保留率、粮食不安全和当地经济发展等问题。发展解决当地需求的本地能力已成为当务之急。基于社区的健康推广代理可以有效地将这些需求与学术健康中心的资源联系起来，并利用这些资源来解决疾病的潜在社会决定因素。
