Advancing Health Equity in Philadelphia
An interdisciplinary approach to community health and wellness at Temple University.
![](./assets/exrrLx3EUx/lead-spot-2000x2000.png)
Video filmed and produced by Meredith Hunter, TFMA ’25
In North Philadelphia, right off Lehigh Avenue, there is a team of Temple faculty, students, and staff who share a focus and dedication to the people of Philadelphia.
From the moment you walk into the Temple University Health and Wellness Center at Liberty Square, every interaction is person-centered and intentional. Access to healthcare is a challenge for many people, and in Philadelphia, chronic health conditions and social determinants all impact health outcomes. This team of pharmacists, social workers, nurses, and physical therapists have come together with a shared vision around care. Led by Dr. Tina Tran, assistant professor in the School of Pharmacy, and Dr. Susan VonNessen-Scanlin, associate dean for clinical affairs and interprofessional education at the College of Public Health, the Center focuses on health equity through education, practice, research, meeting people where they are, and building trust with the community.
![](./assets/qRUcnSETyx/libertysq-2000x2000.png)
The Center has begun to connect with many neighborhood-based organizations to identify opportunities for mutual partnerships and understand how Temple’s services can be most impactful for the North Philadelphia community. Since its founding last year, Dr. Carolina Villamil Grest, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, has been working with the Center to facilitate community engagement. She leads outreach conversations with local organizations and compiles recommendations on how to better serve clients, including Philadelphia’s immigrant populations. Villamil Grest identifies where gaps exist in available services, especially those related to social determinants of health needs.
“What the community engagement piece can bring is to start to connect services, programs and people within this network of community organizations that are trying to help.”
Dr. Carolina Villamil Grest, assistant professor, School of Social Work
![](./assets/5yQDK0xTY3/screenshot-2024-04-29-at-9.57.06-am-1950x1420.png)
Potential patients might learn about the Center through other neighborhood-based organizations, community outreach events, physician referrals, or they might walk in for an on-the-spot appointment. On any given day, Gao Ly Vang, MSW, the Center’s Program Coordinator, would begin by reviewing patient referrals, community-based referrals and scheduling. While these processes often occur in a health setting, the way that Vang and the team approach this work is what distinguishes the Center’s approach, which is committed to providing quality care, with cultural humility, and thinking with the patient about how the Center can support them to attend their appointment and stay on track with their health goals.
![](./assets/E1sxwFbxz3/consult-2000x2000.png)
Manifesting a culture of care begins with these initial conversations and extends to every interaction during a patient’s visit. Vang shares, “we listen, observe, and hold ourselves accountable. We aim to amplify their voices in the most productive and appropriate ways. It is vital that we provide an open space where patients feel comfortable to participate.” In this flexible and dynamic environment, staff encourage patients to be part of the conversations and decisions that affect their health and wellbeing.
“Our model is one that requires us to overlap, because we do not see ourselves as distinct and separate service providers, but rather as a team of professionals. We understand the unique set of circumstances that each client presents and can craft a course of action that meets those identified needs.”
Dr. Gwen Davis, a licensed clinical social worker at the Center
![](./assets/yBsoPlSo31/screenshot-2024-04-29-at-11.01.11-am-1574x882.png)
![](./assets/2Ygr20AAhx/building-2910x1620.jpg)
![](./assets/85HlgWWiK3/temple-pt-lehigh-frazier-1500x1125.jpg)
![](./assets/9zLXE2axTP/social-flyer-2372x1470.jpg)
![](./assets/IsVbgZIUNb/phys-therapy-flyer-2424x1482.jpg)
![](./assets/yLiWzMmYhm/screenshot-2024-04-29-at-9.35.53-am-2658x1488.png)
![](./assets/OyzDNfeTgd/gao-desk-2489x1411.jpg)
“This practice is unique because we are able to provide services which are often not available or accessible, but which augment primary care, reduce social barriers and improve overall health and wellness. This is transformative for Center staff, who are able to bring in colleagues to offer help and feedback, and for patients, who can access multiple services in one visit, minimizing transportation barriers.”
Dr. Tina Tran
assistant professor
School of Pharmacy
Since the Center’s founding, Tran and VonNessen-Scanlin envisioned a healthcare setting that provides convenient, multimodal care. Both VonNessen-Scanlin and Tran bring to the Center extensive experience in community health. In a prior role, VonNessen-Scanlin led a nurse practitioner led, public housing designated, federally qualified health center, with an integrated behavioral health model of care in Newark New Jersey. The interprofessional practices included advanced practice primary and psychiatric nurses, pharmacists, social workers, psychiatric rehabilitation specialists and community health workers. During the pandemic, she helped spearhead an interdisciplinary cross college team from Temple to deliver covid vaccines to some of the city’s most marginalized populations. VonNessen-Scanlin believes the Center will help forge deeper connections between the Temple and North Philadelphia communities.
“This is really about patients and our community, it is a model of patient-provider partnership, to improve health and promote wellness. This is an exciting place to educate and mentor the next generation of health professionals.”
Dr. Susan VonNessen-Scanlin
associate dean for clinical affairs
and interprofessional education
College of Public Health
![](./assets/9jbld0U25E/tran-1568x882.jpg)
![](./assets/h9vcZUu7ke/screenshot-2024-04-29-at-12.08.05-pm-1575x882.png)
“We are delighted to be leading the way to the future of health. The center represents many of the core values for the College of Public Health, including community engagement and interprofessional education to advance health and well-being. The partnership with Pharmacy allows us to learn from our colleagues and work to meet the full spectrum of needs for our neighbors with a person-first philosophy. I am very proud of the vision that Dr. VonNessen-Scanlin had to engage across our college to make this a reality.”
Dr. Jennifer Ibrahim, dean and professor, College of Public Health
![](./assets/bYfhKfiheM/paley_hall_groundbreaking_17_1-4096x2304.jpg)
Tran’s community work at Temple extends from her experiences in Kenya where she leads a multidisciplinary team that provides ongoing health and social services through a mobile community delivery model. She was previously part of the Temple Health team that arrived at the Philadelphia airport to help evacuees arriving from Afghanistan in 2021. For months, the School of Pharmacy oversaw a dispensary, so that people arriving without their critical medicines would be able to continue to receive what they needed.
Tran’s focus is on bringing high quality care and a wide range of services to the Center right here in North Philadelphia to care for diverse populations, regardless of their country of origin. “Through a lead with care approach, our community-engaged and mutually beneficial research opportunities aim to address health disparities and to promote inclusion of underrepresented minorities in research,” says Tran.
![](./assets/TG78rmKdw6/tran-2196x1634.jpg)
“Dr. Tina Tran has been a leader in bringing the resources of the University to help support the daily activities at this remarkable clinic. This facility is the tangible results of cooperation between the School of Pharmacy and the College of Public Health, and it represents the shared Temple University commitment to addressing the needs of our community and teaching the next generation of health care providers."
![](./assets/QRfnCFFgBM/borenstein-560x560.png)
Dr. Michael Borenstein, associate professor emeritus, School of Pharmacy
“Dr. Tran's work epitomizes the School of Pharmacy's commitment to community-driven healthcare. Her dedication to providing quality care and addressing health disparities aligns perfectly with our mission to educate the next generation of healthcare providers who will serve with compassion and excellence. This collaboration underscores our shared commitment to interdisciplinary approaches that enhance the health and well-being of our communities."
![](./assets/EwF1qjogI7/s_suresh_madhavan-560x560.png)
S. Suresh Madhavan, dean and professor, School of Pharmacy
The Center’s founders and staff understand that the most positive outcomes are achieved when patients and clinicians work in partnership. Dr. Laura Baehr, a clinician-scientist and assistant professor of instruction in the College of Public Health, is the Health and Wellness Center’s first physical therapist faculty member to practice in this space. She is passionate about how exercise and movement transform lives.
![](./assets/HqyS81T7Ej/ball-2000x2000.png)
Baehr says, “when I work with the physical therapy students, I am helping them understand how to empower patients with multiple chronic health conditions through movement.” She says, that “thinking about community health isn’t always part of education, and the ways in which health centers operate. We aren’t waiting for people to come into the health system. We are going out and beginning these conversations in the community setting. Movement is part of life. You don’t necessarily have to have an injury to receive an evaluation that supports overall health and that may help them stay out of the hospital system.”
“Being in the community, students have a better understanding of their clients’ lives. Then, they are able to learn from each other how each profession can work together to make things better for an individual.”
Susan Giampetroni, MSW, director of clinical affairs, College of Public Health
![](./assets/dzgvyrpYHR/susan-1336x885.jpg)
Faculty, students, and staff at the center address complex challenges, including grief, loss, impacts from chronic disease, gun violence, housing accessibility, and navigating systems for elderly services. A recent patient shared that due to the services and resources that the Center provided, they were able to realize the life they wanted for their family.
![](./assets/HBmn7Jcj8v/phys-2000x2000.png)
Patients can also access care and learn about the Center at the local ShopRite. An interdisciplinary team of faculty and student nurses and social workers, including Kieran McCarney, ask if people would like to have their blood pressure taken, and pending that outcome, make a referral if needed. Building trust is the first step in connecting neighbors with these health services. McCarney, the inaugural social work intern and Temple social work student says, “something that I’ve learned is to ask questions, let it be silent and let the [clients] answer.” Center staff all share a willingness to listen to their patients and learn about their experiences and needs. McCarney explains, “It’s all about giving them absolute freedom as their thoughts come out. It’s a space for them to feel welcome, comfortable, and heard.”
![](./assets/lFacPkwAil/blood-pressure-1102x777.jpg)
![](./assets/VcLTAu6oSC/foam-pads-1288x700.jpg)
![](./assets/IgZlxHWT49/blood-pressure2-1223x693.jpg)
![](./assets/5ZXRbKQ5x8/eye-chart-1050x740.jpg)
![](./assets/nzOL0qIf6f/liberty-sq-2-886x834.jpg)
![](./assets/CZezjSaLRC/cones-1302x720.jpg)
“Interdisciplinary education, research, practice, and creative endeavors are a big priority for Temple. The Center’s work is so deeply rooted in the Temple mission, and their collective commitments both to the people of our city and the way they have advanced this practice speak to their care, expertise, and willingness to contribute to health equity in the most positive way.”
![](./assets/ROQSrnicVI/mandel-560x560.png)
Gregory N. Mandel, provost, Temple University
![](./assets/RrhgTYXFLl/20210520_sullivan_flag_001-1080p-2272-kbps-h.264-frame-0ms-1920x1080.jpg)