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| Community Service Committee |
Community Service CommitteeIntroduction Letter to Community Service Committee:Our leadership team thanks you for your interest in our community service efforts. Here, you will find a variety of resources ranging from official SNMA community service statements, which serve as a guide for students community service participation, goals and protocols for the year, and ongoing initiatives. Our committee is passionately committed to identifying areas that will benefit from positive change, so throughout the year you will be able to read more about our impact in our communities. In the end, we hope to continue identifying pertinent issues that face our communities to carry on the programmatic work of the SNMA, while staying true to our mission. Join Our Committee!! The National Community Service Committee plays a large role in the programmatic aspect of the SNMA. As a result, we are always looking for ""extra hands"" and willing hearts to assist us in our goals. If you feel you can contribute to helping us achieve our goals, please click on the ""Join"" tab above to take the first step in becoming an active member of the Community Service team. Please note: Applications should be sent to the CSC Vice Chair with the CSC Co-Chairs and National Vice President CC'd. Also, please feel free to send us a follow-up email once you have submitted the application. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Hope to see you back soon! In solidarity, Erin Igwacho & Jennifer Romeo Committee Leadership Erin IgwachoCommunity Service Committee Co-Chair
 Community Service Liaison Region 1 Community Service Liaison Region 2 Community Service Liaison Region 3 Community Service Liaison Region 4 Community Service Liaison Region 5 Community Service Liaison Region 6 Community Service Liaison Region 7 Community Service Liaison Region 8 Community Service Liaison Region 9 Community Service Liaison Region 10 Chapter Analysis Subcommittee Member Social Media & Communications Subcommittee Member Chapter Analysis Subcommittee Member Health Education and Prevention Subcommittee Member PMI Fellow Kaiser Fellow Regional Director to the CSC Our WorkCommittee Goals:
To that end, feel free to check that out in our “Our Work” section below to learn more! Ongoing Initatives
ResourcesOngoing EventsShowcase your chapter's amazing community service events by using the hashtag in all of your social media posts and tagging SNMA for increased visibility! Be sure to include a blurb about your service, the chapters involved, and your region.
Chapters may also email their media to Community Service with the subject line "#SNMAServes Media" and a short description of the project in the email along with your chapter name and region. NATIONAL COMMUNITY SERVICE PROTOCOLSOur 2024 - 2025 theme, inspired by the 2021 - 2022 National President's Agenda, is EMERGENCE, Elevating the Mission, Empowering our Community, Emerging with Strength.
The National Community Service Protocol for August is the Pipeline Mentoring Institute (PMI). To learn more about PMI and the work they do, please visit the PMI webpage. Please view the links below to learn how you can participate in the National Community Service Protocol for August.
How Can My Chapter Participate?SNMA chapters are encouraged to use these protocols on their campuses! For more information and instructions on how your chapter can participate in SNMA protocols, please read the above Protocol Handbook and/or Presentation, contact your Regional Community Service Liaison or your Regional Director, or email us. Deadlines and ReportingEach quarter, SNMA chapters are required to submit Chapter Report Forms detailing activities. This helps us seek grants to help the regions and chapters continue service as well as keep us abreast of SNMA activities nationwide. Submission deadlines are as follows:
Committee ResourcesCommunity CornerOctober: Obesity Prevention in Childhood, Adolescence, and AdulthoodAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity impacts about 18.5% of children and adolescents and 42.4% of adults in the United States. Its prevalence is higher amongst African Americans and Latinos compared to their Caucasian and Asian counterparts. The Obesity Society states that to be classified as obese, an individual must have a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than the 95th percentile for BMI. BMI is determined based on height and weight. Common conditions associated with obesity include Type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and some cancers. Three of the best ways to help prevent obesity are: Making healthy food and beverage choices, routinely engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week, and learning appropriate portion control. Daily consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole and refined grain, protein-rich foods, and low-fat/fat-free dairy are recommended to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. The recommended calorie intake varies based on age, sex, height, and weight. Childrens and adolescents should aim for at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity, which can include bike-riding, basketball, and soccer, to help promote proper bone and muscle growth. Consult with a licensed physician to determine what changes can be made to help lower your risk of obesity. At SNMA, our goal is to educate the community by highlighting the importance of developing and maintaining healthy lifestyle habits, where appropriated, in order to decrease the prevalence of obesity. For more information, please visit the following websites: CDC - Healthy Weight Assessment CDC - Physical Activity Basics Community Corner – November: Smoking Cessation & PreventionWelcome to another edition of Community Corner! The National Community Service Committee curates these monthly pieces to highlight our service initiatives and discuss why we care so deeply about them. This month we are diving into smoking cessation and prevention and its importance, especially in youth and vulnerable populations. Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. and is responsible for 1 in 5 deaths annually. According to the CDC, about 34.2 million adults in the U.S. smoke with about 2000 young people joining the ranks every day. When asked in 2019, 10.8% of high school students and 4% of middle school students smoked one or more cigarettes in the previous month. In recent years, electronic cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among students. Youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, including those who live in homes with low socioeconomic status, those with low self-image, self-esteem, academic achievement, and/or lack of parental involvement, are at greater risk of using tobacco when compared to the general population of American youth. Smoking is the single worst deterrent to health – its effects impact nearly every organ in the body and it causes cancer, heart disease and lung disease, most frequently. Additionally, the FDA has stated that smoking cigarettes may place individuals at an increased risk of infection with the virus that causes COVID-19, and smoking may result in worse outcomes. With these factors in mind, it is clear that smoking prevention is critical to the mission and goals of the SNMA. We have developed our national Smoking Prevention protocol, which aims to educate youth and adults about the deadly effects of smoking to keep kids tobacco-free and help current smokers overcome the addiction. Did you know? 1. More than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking. 2. Secondhand smoke exposure, even briefly can be detrimental to health. 3. In 2018, more than half adult cigarette smokers had made a quit attempt in the past year, which demonstrates the importance of offering support to those in need. For more information, please visit the following websites: Tobacco Free Kids Community Corner – December: Sexual Health and LGBTQIA+ AwarenessWelcome to another edition of Community Corner! The National Community Service Committee curates these monthly pieces to highlight our service initiatives and discuss why we care so deeply about them. Sexual Health Awareness is necessary to discredit the myths that plague our communities daily. It is vital to understand the importance of sexual health, safe sexual practices, and being informed about your status. We acknowledge several barriers levied against minorities from inadequate health care, inability to afford health insurance, and misguided information. Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) can affect anyone who engages in any form of sexual contact without the proper use of barrier protection. Proper male condom use is approximately 98% effective, while proper female condom usage is 95% effective; nevertheless, condoms misused will work 79% of the time. The only guaranteed way of remaining STI-free is to restrain from sexual activity. Birth control only decreases the likelihood of pregnancy, not STIs. In communities of color, 42% of new HIV and Chlamydia cases are African Americans. Particularly, adolescent and adult men account for 39%. For African American individuals with health disparities, they are at an increased risk for mortality and adverse health conditions if infected with HIV, viral hepatitis, and other STIs. Prevention and knowing your status are crucial to reducing STIs as 19 million new cases occur each year in the age range of 15-24. SNMA’s goal is to promote awareness and provide tools necessary for more testing. Education and wise choices are vital to achieving lower incidences of STI cases. As we celebrated World AIDs Day on December 1st, we hope you will take an opportunity to get tested. Free STI testing can be found at your local health center and other outpatient sites. Know your status as knowledge is power. For more information, please visit the following websites: Free HIV Test Community Corner – January: Mental Health AwarenessMental health has traditionally been a taboo topic for several years, particularly in black and brown communities. Seeking outside resources to manage your mental wellbeing was an admission of weakness and that something truly was wrong with you. However, Millennials and Generation Z having a better understanding of the importance of mental health, and celebrities being vocal about their personal struggles has created a culture where the words “depressed”, “anxious” and “suicidal” can be used without shame. Half of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24; and the average delay between the onset of symptoms and treatment is 11 years. Even before the life shattering COVID-19 pandemic, prevalence of mental illness amongst adults was increasing. Based on surveys conducted by Mental Health America, 19% of adults experienced a mental illness between 2017 and 2018, an increase of 1.5 million people compared to the previous year’s dataset (2). Despite this increase, there is still an unmet need for treatment among youth and adults. 23.6% of adults with a mental illness reported an unmet need for treatment during those same years; and amongst states with the greatest access to services, over 38% did not receive services they needed. At SNMA, our goal is to emphasize the importance of mental health awareness as it crosses all demographic lines. A certain tax bracket, career, social status, etc. does not make one exempt from suffering from a mental illness. The beauty of living in a constant evolving digital age is that managing your mental wellbeing doesn’t have to be sitting on a therapist’s couch. It can be doing mindfulness exercises, journaling, setting boundaries, cooking, exercising, etc. The Mental Health Foundation in the UK defines good mental health as a person’s ability to learn; feel, express, and manage a range of emotions; form and maintain good relationships; and cope with change and uncertainty. It’s unrealistic to successfully achieve all of these things each day, however as long as you’re taking a conscious effort to find tool(s) that work for you while living your truth, you’re succeeding. For more information, please visit the following websites: SAMHSA National Hotline Community Corner – February: Violence PreventionAs the fight for racial equity and justice continues alongside an increase in hate crimes, we are reminded that you cannot have racial justice without violence prevention. We know that violence not only leads to injury and death, but for survivors it can also lead to depression, anxiety, PTSD, suicide and even increased risk of cardiovascular disease, ultimately leading to premature mortality (1). As mentioned by the National Medical Association, treating and preventing violence in our communities is both difficult and complex. However, we must recognize and treat violence as a public health crisis, and approach this issue with a similar grit seen in other crises like the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and cancer (2). As with other inequities, COVID-19 has reemphasized the existence of disparate victimization of violence in Black and Brown communities. Some major subsets of violence that disproportionately affect communities of color include police brutality, intimate partner violence, child abuse, and gang-related violence. Although violent crime rates across the United States have decreased during the past two decades, violence still poses a disproportionate threat to the health and well-being of racial and ethnic minority populations. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24 overall. And in this age group, it is the leading cause of death for Black/ African Americans and the second leading cause of death for Hispanics (3). Approximately 25% of women, and 10% of men experience intimate partner violence which can be either physical, sexual,psychological or emotional (4). As the harsh effects of the pandemic continue to infiltrate almost every aspect of life, victims and those at risk may find it difficult to safely connect with services during this time of increased confinement at home. Stay-at-home orders, rightfully intended to limit spread of the infection, have left many victims of intimate partner violence in perpetual proximity to their abusers (4). Medical professionals have a unique opportunity to identify victims and to provide counseling and social services. The SNMA is committed to violence prevention, and will continue advocacy in parallel with medical training to reduce violence and its harmful impacts. For more information, please visit the following websites: Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Community Corner – April: Health People Health FairThe Community Service Committee focuses on Health People Health Fair for the month of April. The purpose of a health fair is many-fold. A health fair serves to bring members of a community together to provide health care information and screening with the objective of encouraging a healthier lifestyle among individuals and communities. The way an organization goes about accomplishing this goal varies from group to group. SNMA has a great commitment to meet the needs of underrepresented/underserved communities across the world. In the United States alone, minorities, namely Blacks and Latinos, continue to be isproportionately affected by preventable and/or treatable medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, HIV/AIDS, and preventable infections. Many of this can be attributed to minorities’ decreased access to care and to the persistent racial/ethnic biases that plague many of America’s health care providers. According to SNMA’s mission, the health fair conducted by your chapter should strive to meet the following goals as a minimum. First, to provide health screenings, counseling, education, and RESOURCES for those with limited access to care. Secondarily, to promote healthy living in our communities and finally, to facilitate the connection between the residents and resources of our communities. In summary, in accordance with the overarching mission of SNMA, our health fairs should strive to address the needs of underserved communities. |
1/17/2025 » 1/19/2025
January 2025 National Leadership Institute
1/24/2025 » 1/26/2025
RMEC - Region I - Medical Education Conference
2/28/2025 » 3/1/2025
SAVE THE DATE: Region IV RMEC
4/16/2025 » 4/20/2025
AMEC 2025: Attendee Registration
