June 2010 - sahtak
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ACC’s Public Health Division focuses on research
and education to improve the quality of life for all
program participants. Through its various programs
ACC has been able to empower clients to take a
more active role in improving their health. One of
the key ways that ACC does this is through strate-
gic partnerships and collaborations with other
human service organizations. Recently,ACC part-
nered with Michigan Department of Community
Health on a project to identify a correlation be-
tween smoking and diabetes in the Arabic commu-
nity. The goal of this project was to identify if Arabs
are more susceptible to developing diabetes be-
cause of their smoking habits. The results have
helped improve educational services provided to
the community and have gotten members of the
Arabic community more actively involved in living a
healthy lifestyle.
Just this month ACC’s Public Health Director
participated in a regional conference in Indianapolis.
The focus of the conference was on developing a
regional strategy to gather data on minority popula-
tions health needs, social determinants of health
risks, and how to better educate both physicians
and the community on the importance of gathering
detailed health information on minority populations.
All of the information gathered will be presented to
the federal government’s Office of Minority Health
with the hope of increasing state funding to im-
prove the quality and access to healthcare for all
minorities.ACC’s hope is that by gathering more
relevant information on the health risks that Arabs
and Chaldean are facing we will be able to help
them receive the health care that they need and fill
in the gaps in services that have prevented people
from receiving the health services needed to live
healthy, productive lives.
ACC’sTobacco Program works with clients to
educate them on the health risks associated with
smoking tobacco and hookah. Many hookah smok-
ing Arabs do not consider themselves as smokers
and have been misled to believe that hookah smok-
ing is not harmful to their health.This demonstrates
the need for more educational programming for
Arabs on the harmful effects of smoking the
hookah. Hookah smoking is significantly more
harmful to your health than cigarette smoking. Also,
the second-hand smoke produced from hookah
smoking is much more dangerous to everyone that
is exposed to it.ACC will continue to work with
the community, other organizations, and local health
departments in order to provide the education re-
quired to understand the effects hookah smoking
has on everyone.
ACC’s Health Clinic inWarrendale continues to
offer a wide-range of services to clients. In addition
to regular health screenings and outpatient services
the clinic offers low cost blood testing, mental
health services and assistance with prescription
drugs. Our clinic provides services to low income
families and families that do not have health insur-
ance. Clinic staff also provide outreach services
within the community. OnThursdays staff visit local
faith-based organizations to conduct screenings for
refugees in need of medical attention.The overall
goal of ACC’s Health Clinic is to ensure that all
Arab and Chaldean families receive the medical at-
tention they need regardless of income level. Our
goal is to assist all community members to live
healthy and productive lives.
ACC’s Substance Abuse Prevention Programs are
among the largest in Michigan.We provide services
in Detroit, outerWayne County, and southern Oak-
land County.The services currently offered by ACC
include teaching the Life SkillsTraining Program in
nine metro Detroit schools, after school education
and recreation programs for youth, tobacco vendor
education, family building classes, establishing Safe
and Drug Free School Zones at the schools we
work at, and collaboration with a number of com-
munity coalitions.The overall goal of these pro-
grams is to educate youth on the harmful effects of
substance abuse and provide them with the life
skills they need to live drug free lives.To accomplish
this ACC staff partner with a number of different
organizations in the community.Through these
partnerships we are able to provide a consistent
message to youth on the dangers of drug use
throughout the community.
ACC’sWomen, Infants, and Children (WIC) pro-
gram continues to grow in order to provide vital
education and resources to women and their chil-
dren. This program provides mothers and their
young children with food, baby products, and skills
they need to live healthy lives.ACC’s threeWIC of-
fices are currently seeing more than 5,000 clients a
month throughoutWayne County.This number
continues to increase every year and we are very
proud to announce that in June we will be opening
a fourthWIC office in Highland Park to provide the
much needed services to the women and children
in that area.
For more information on ACC’s Public Health
Programs, go to
Community members participate in a Lead Health Fair conducted by ACC's WIC
program.
ACC services promote
health through education
For more information
on ACC’s Public
Health Programs, go
to
.
