Learn more about what we do
What is Research and Education?
The Research and Education Team is committed to improving the community's health by spreading awareness of prevalent health concerns. The R&E team educates the public through the use of public presentations, community events, and the development of educative resources.
Meet the Committees
Play for Thought
Play for Thought is a committee that organizes a series of educational events for children which aim to instill the idea of a healthy lifestyle through hands-on activities. We currently present at the Yolo County Library and Friends of the Davis Library.
Patient Advocate Committee
In collaboration with the Vietnamese School of Mary Help of Christians Center and Lac Hong Vietnamese School, interns will educate high school students about prevalent health issues in the Vietnamese community. Interns will also help students learn new Vietnamese words relating to the topic and provide translation practices.
Health Resource Committee
A committee focused on developing health and educational resources that are easily accessible and understandable for patients to improve their awareness of prevalent health issues and personal health. We will create online and physical resources such as infographics and brochures to distribute to families and in-clinic patients.
Vietnamese Interactive Community Educator
A subsection of the R&E internship. VICE interns and advisors are trained health educators that are also proficient in Vietnamese. These individuals provide health education and connect specifically with members of the Vietnamese community that may be affected by an inherent language barrier. Their work helps to foster pride in Vietnamese culture while providing much needed support to the community.
R&E Database
Hear from our interns and take a look at some of their work done in the field of Public Health and Health Education!
Janine Nguyen
Take a look at Janine's work here!
VN CARES has helped me connect more deeply with the Vietnamese community and expand my knowledge on medical Vietnamese; it has enriched my college experience and has encouraged me to pursue a career focused in public health law and policy making. In my involvement in the R&E internship, I have been directly involved and participated in multiple committees, including Patient Advocate Committee, Play for Thought, Health Resources Committee, Creative and Banquet Committee, and Health Fair committee, in addition to co-leading the Relay for Life team with Thuy-Linh Tran, to raise funds for cancer awareness and research in 2020. Ultimately, I have witnessed the limitations posed on student-led organizations to lead community service and outreach events, due to issues such as insufficient funding or capacity; there is a demonstrated need in the state of California to provide support to marginalized, underserved communities in order to relieve health disparities. Altogether, I am humbled to have been able to serve this organization in the three to four years of my college career at UC Davis, and I hope to continue my efforts to provide aid and promote health education to narrow existing educational gaps post-graduation.
As part of Mental Health Awareness month, I was in charge of facilitating the event for Mental Health for Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities; for the daytime event, resources created by SAFE and VN CARES were shared on the Mental Health Initiative’s Instagram story, which cover the intersections of mental health among AAPI communities. For the evening event, which was called the Mental Health x AAPI Communities Professional Panel (held on Friday, 5/21), VN CARES presented on the intersections of mental health, specifically pertaining to the underserved, Vietnamese community to kickoff the evening event. I, alongside my co-VICE advisor, Thao, presented on this topic before transitioning to the panel discussion via Zoom with Dr. Tatum Phan, Dr. William Chen, and Karolyn Wong on the intersection of AAPI identity and mental health. In exploring topics such as intergenerational stigma, sociocultural values and expectations, generational gaps, and lack of mental health resources, we touched on how the rise in AAPI hate crimes and the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the AAPI community.