Community Health

By: Melissa Charles How do you train someone to work with a community rather than for one? Developing that collaborative mindset requires both intention and experience. Furman’s Institute for the Advancement of Community Health (IACH) approaches this challenge through deliberate, hands-on learning. IACH pairs students with over 150 community partners...Read more

What does it take to move beyond community engagement to meaningful community influence? Developed collaboratively by Furman University’s Institute for the Advancement of Community Health and LiveWell Greenville, this white paper draws on community voices and stakeholder perspectives in Greenville County to explore how participation, power, and decision-making shape health...Read more

How can we create communities where everyone feels connected, valued, and supported? As part of IACH’s Community Health Conversations series, this discussion brought together researchers, healthcare professionals, and community leaders to explore the growing public health challenge of loneliness and social isolation. The executive summary highlights the health impacts of...Read more

On Sept. 30, Kari Beal of FOX Carolina News hosted a live podcast on the campus of Furman University where about 80 people gathered for “The Wellness Files: Who Was This Medicine Made For?” The talk, which took place in Younts Conference Center, featured Furman’s Dr. Shaniece Criss, associate professor...Read more

Communities thrive when people have a shared understanding of the factors that influence health and well-being. To help build that foundation across South Carolina, the Institute for the Advancement of Community Health at Furman University is proud to launch Foundations in Community Health, a new online learning series designed...Read more

Furman University’s iconic Bell Tower glowed red on Feb. 6 for the American Heart Association (AHA) Go Red for Women campaign, raising awareness for women’s cardiovascular health. Furman’s Institute for the Advancement of Community Health (IACH) has long partnered with the AHA to collaborate and provide students the...Read more

February is American Heart Month, and the first Friday of the month is National Wear Red Day. Furman University’s Dr. Kerry Sease joined Dr. Saria Saccocio on WSPA’s “Your Carolina” with host and Furman alumnus Jamarcus Gaston ’07 (music and communication studies) to talk about the No. 1...Read more

In a WYFF News 4 story, Furman University’s Dr. Kerry Sease speaks to reporter Nate Stanley about the federal government’s newest guidelines on childhood vaccines. Sease, a pediatrician and the executive director of Furman’s Institute for the Advancement of Community Health, says the new childhood vaccine schedule could...Read more

The Furman University Board of Trustees approved promotions and tenure for a number of faculty members during its spring meeting in May. All recommendations for promotion and tenure are effective Aug. 1, 2025. The following faculty members were granted tenure and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor: Anastasia...Read more

Furman University student Roger Abim-Karmon ’26 spoke steadily and confidently as he discussed his summer research with the staff of Hollingsworth Funds, the foundation established by the late Greenville industrialist John D. Hollingsworth Jr. to support Furman University and other local nonprofits, on June 26. The public health major...Read more

Kirby Mitchell prescribed his Furman University class a healthy dose of perspective during this year’s summer May Experience term. “Poverty, Medicine and the Law: Greenville’s Medical-Legal Partnership” challenges students to consider how low-income people navigate court without a lawyer or access healthcare without insurance. They don’t just ruminate...Read more

Furman's campus is included among 54 "Most Beautiful" college campuses in Condé Nast Traveler. Greenville City Economic Development Corporation has something to say about that. The post Furman campus makes another ‘Most Beautiful’ list, Greenville City EDC takes note appeared first on News.Read more

How can a community fight food insecurity if they don’t know what’s causing it?  Furman University’s Institute for the Advancement of Community Health (IACH) has partnered with Food is Medicine South Carolina (FiMSC) and Openfields to map food...Read more

Tucked away from the snipping of scissors and the hum of hair dryers, children lounge in plush chairs, books in hand. They have their own cozy libraries where they can read in private, or where parents can sit with their children and flip through books they pick off the...Read more