Mariam Merced, MA

Mariam Merced, MA has been the Director of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Community Health Promotions  Program for 32 years. She is responsible for coordinating accessible quality preventive health care services and education for local vulnerable communities. By collaborating with houses of worship and community-based organizations, she coordinates health promotion initiatives such as park and open streets initiatives, community fitness/wellness programs, chronic disease management programs, health research initiatives, violence prevention initiatives, and healthy homes & health literacy initiatives.

Ms. Merced uses non-traditional outreach strategies to engage diverse communities in Central Jersey in health prevention initiatives, including theater arts education in areas of breast & prostate cancer awareness, domestic violence, and smoking cessation. She has developed a number of community-based health initiatives using Community Health Ambassadors as a model to engage residents in healthy behaviors and connect them to the resources available in the community.