Atlanta Journal-Constitution Profiles Advocacy Group HealthSTAT, Including Work With HIV/AIDS

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Also Included In: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 28 Feb 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday profiled the advocacy group HealthSTAT, which stands for Health Students Taking Action Together, including its work on HIV/AIDS policy in Georgia. Members of the group include students in nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, public health and related fields from nine colleges and medical schools in Georgia.

According to the Journal-Constitution, the students have hosted peer programs on HIV prevention and policy and have organized service projects with groups that provide services for people living with AIDS. In addition, the students have collected and distributed stories about people who have benefited from HIV prevention programs. Some members also worked at HIV clinics before joining the group.

HealthSTAT was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 2002. Before addressing any health issue, the group holds a two-day symposium and invites community experts to help study the problem and then decides on appropriate service projects or advocacy opportunities, the Journal-Constitution reports.

Kate Neuhausen, a member of the group and a student at Emory University School of Medicine, said the group's "vision" is to "furnish the [future] leaders" of professional groups, such as the Medical Association of Georgia. Neuhausen added that members of the group will be "creating policy" on health-related issues, including HIV/AIDS, for "decades from now" (White, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2/26).

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