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Outreach
to the Community
One
of WQED's proudest achievements is Outreach, an umbrella for a number
of projects that combine the power of the media with community involvement.
WQED's Outreach brings people together to discuss and take action
on some of our society's most pressing problems such as literacy,
substance abuse, and educational attainment. As with WQED educational
programming, many of these outreach efforts began locally and then
achieved national distribution.
The
station created the concept of nationally coordinated, locally implemented
educational and information campaigns,and was selected as the first
lead station for the Public Television Outreach Alliance. WQED's
outreach programs have demonstrated the impact of the video and
teleconference media on public awareness and learning.
The
Programs
Project
Literacy U.S.
(PLUS), the result of an unprecedented partnership with the
ABC television network, has established 500 community-based task
forces across America to address illiteracy in schools, in communities,
and in the workplace. This program had the strong support of then
First Lady Barbara Bush and 147 national organizations.
The
Chemical People, started in 1983, created 8,000 task
forces, many of which are still active, nationwide. The project
documented the success stories in alcohol and other drug abuse prevention
and intervention programs. It continues to bring thousands of community
groups and professional organizations together in an attempt to
educate the public on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.
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A
Generation at Risk, a WQED-produced PBS documentary, was
an off-shoot of The Chemical People effort. Hosted by Nancy Reagan,
it profiled communities that had some of the nation's worst statistics
on teen problems. It dramatically documents how some communities have
successfully turned these statistics around.
Most
recently, WQED Outreach has successfully addressed breast cancer,
elder abuse, prostate cancer and youth violence.
Elder
Abuse:
Underwritten by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, a Pennsylvania
Public Television Network production that looks at the road map
of help and support for older Pennsylvanians. A program and outreach
for those in their 40's and 50's concerned about their parents.
Information is also provided for those who need help themselves.
Town
Meetings for a Healthy Community:
A series of 4 one-hour specials to air from the WQED studios
with a live audience. The second show examined conflict resolution
and explores how we teach kids to resolve conflict, methods used
in the community, and how we can re-educate our children and ourselves.
The third show was hosted by KDKA's Brenda Waters, and the topic
was jobs.
WQED's
Breast
Care Test project, with the support of 152 public television
stations and a force of over 400,000 Avon representatives (the project
underwriter), reached over 100 million Americans with lifesaving
information through a national broadcast and an aggressive outreach
campaign.
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Building
Partnerships for Breast Health Outreach:
A national teleconference -- a project of
Avon's Breast Cancer Awareness Crusade, Center For Disease Control
National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, the
New York State Department of Health and WQED Multimedia -- was
designed to provide practical information and an exchange of ideas.
The purpose of this program was to help health educators, community
and health organizations, volunteer agencies and providers improve
their services, thereby increasing the number of women who receive
breast cancer screening -- specifically low-income, minorities and
women fifty years of age and older.
Many
communities set up local panels to discuss ways to reach women on
their own home-front. Carole Simpson, weekend anchor of ABC News,
hosted the program with a renowned panel of six experts, including
the nationally known surgeon Dr. Harold Freeman. and a live audience
of 150 women.
WQED
also partnered with Allegheny General Hospital to produce two education
specials about the role of nurses in today's health care ("Real
Nurses") and how the diagnostic process is using new imaging
technologies ("What Doctors Can See"). One has aired on
PBS and the other will be distributed by APS.
WQED
provides Closed Captioning for the hearing impaired, and is seeking
funding to provide Descriptive Video Service for the visually impaired.
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