The University of Illinois at Chicago School of Nursing secured a $3.1 million grant from the Federal Office of Health Resources and Services, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, to develop a mobile program for underserved teens in Illinois. I run a health unit.

The mobile health unit will operate in underprivileged rural and urban areas of the state for four years to improve the health and well-being of adolescents, including reproductive health services such as well visits, contraceptive management and sexually transmitted disease screening. provide. The unit also offers point-of-care testing for pregnancy and reproductive health.

Kelly Rosenberger, associate professor at UIC and director of the University’s Rockford Community Nursing Program, will serve as ENRICH’s principal investigator. Rosenberger was prompted to start the program after seeing t.He has a desperate need for access to reproductive health services and STI prevention and treatment among vulnerable high school students in rural Southern Illinois.

“ENRICH MHU will be a conduit for the expansion of healthcare services beyond UIC’s traditional urban and metropolitan service areas,” said Rosenberger.

In addition to providing needed services to adolescents, the Mobile Unit program includes providing clinical training to nursing trainee physicians and other nursing students at UIC’s network of urban and rural campuses. has two purposes.

“Nursing students will benefit from valuable hands-on experience that will significantly improve access to and quality of care for underserved rural high school teens,” said Rosenberger. increase.

This innovative program develops and evaluates nurse-led mobile health services, mobile apps, and nursing education programs to deliver culturally harmonious care to rural and underserved populations. . Revised her current UIC rural nursing curriculum by addressing and managing the social determinants of health in underserved communities with the goal of improving health equity for vulnerable patients To do.

Nurse practitioner training in the ENRICH Mobile Health Program includes Family Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwife.