Healthy House Within A MATCH Coalition

Building Understanding Between Cultures
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The MATCH Coalition (Multidisciplinary Approach to Cross-Cultural Health) is the name of a health focused community work group that began in 1996.  It started as an informal group of community residents, nurses, doctors and administrators from health organizations and non-profit agencies.  They identified why many local residents were not able to easily access health services.  This group discussed strategies such as ways to improve the quality of interpreting services.  The MATCH Coalition sought and received funding to start projects in 1998.

Healthy House was a direct result from the work of the MATCH Coalition.  The name Healthy House was chosen because it could be meaningfully translated into other languages.  For example, in Spanish, Healthy House is “Casa de Salud” and in Hmong it is “Tsev Nyab Xeeb”. The MATCH Coalition continues to meet regularly on the fourth Tuesday of each month at different locations in Merced.  Currently, meetings are held at First Five meeting room, located at 676 Loughborough Drive in Merced.  For more information, please call at 724-0102

 

     

 Topics discussed in 2010 include:

 

  • Photovoice presentation on Merced County’s 2008 Nutrition Assessment that examined the roots and solutions to hunger through narrated photographs.

 

  • Project RACE (Reclassify All Children Equally) was presented with a discussion about how multiracial children are affected by medical issues and legislation that would begin to change how biracial and multiracial children are identified.

 

  • Process to collect community input for the proposed UC Merced Medical School.

 

  • Mental Health First Aid presentation as a 12-hour interactive training designed to give participants key skills to assist someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis until professional help arrives.

 

  • Discussion about the film, Money-Driven Medicine, What is Wrong with America’s Healthcare and How to Fix It.  This documentary is produced by Academy Award winner, Alex Gibney and based on the critically acclaimed book with the same title by Maggie Mahar. It provides facts and a penetrating analysis to prepare individuals to engage in the health reform discussions.