Health and Prevention Programs

Through its Health & Prevention programs, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Community Health works together with community partners and organizations to ensure that environments where kids spend most of their time enable healthy lifestyles and behaviors.

Using a process of continuous quality improvement, UPMC Children’s hospital staff provides technical assistance, training opportunities, and coordination with hospital and community resources to guide partners in adopting health-promoting policies and best practices that support child health, wellness, and resilience.

Our portfolio of Health & Prevention programs includes:

Healthy Schools

Healthy Schools is a program of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, implemented locally by UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in collaboration with school partners. The Healthy Schools Program (PDF) is a national initiative that helps schools create a culture where healthy eating, physical activity, and social-emotional well-being are the norm. Children’s partners with more than 80 local schools to implement the Healthy Schools Program and to coordinate policy, system, and environmental changes that support students’ health and academic achievement.

We work with the following school districts:

• Clairton City
• Cornell
• Duquesne
• McKeesport
• Penn Hills
• Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship
• Pittsburgh Public Schools
• Steel Valley
• Woodland Hills

Learn more about the Healthy Schools Program (PDF).

Watch how UPMC Children's Hospital Brings Healthier Generation's Work to Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Parks Rx

In some cases, getting outdoors and being active is the best medicine. Pittsburgh Parks Prescription (Parks Rx) is a partnership between UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy that encourages children and families to take advantage of Pittsburgh’s amazing parks, trails and open spaces to achieve better health and a sense of wellbeing. Pittsburgh Parks Rx is unique in that it operates through three pathways: school, community and clinical settings to create a continuum of advocacy and support for active lifestyles.

Watch how Parks Rx encourages the community to stay healthy.

Community Rotation for Pediatric Residents

The Community Rotation for Pediatric Residents is a collaboration of Children’s Community Health Division and the Pediatric Residency Training Program with Community Partners. In addition to the clinical rotations that residents complete as part of their training, at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, all first-year pediatric residents complete an innovative one-week rotation with the Division of Community Health. During this rotation, residents spend time in a variety of community settings learning about social, environmental, educational, neighborhood, and other factors that may influence the health and well being of children. 

View our Community Resident Rotation Fact Sheet (PDF).

Injury Prevention and Safety

Children’s Injury Prevention and Safety team works with school and community partners and families to promote home safety, safety on bicycles and other wheeled vehicles, and gun safety.

Learn more about Children’s injury prevention programs.