Book Club Anyone?!?!

Many, many, many months ago the FLAVE roommates and I started talking about starting up a small book club during the slow TV months.  Sadly with all the reading and paper writing I had to do over the last two years Anthony and I had a hard time setting aside time to read an extra book. 

Over the last two months I have heard a great deal about The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.    This afternoon my Book Mooch copy came and I thought to myself "I should start a book club with all my loyal readers."

So here is the plan.  Everyone get your copy from the library, Amazon, on your Kindle, etc.  We will regroup here on October 18th, three weeks from today.  That should give everyone enough time to get a hold of the copy.  I will start things off with some thoughts and questions and we can go from there. 

DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING HERE PEOPLE (or discussing this with only my Mom and Memere)!

Step Away from the Questions ...

and you actually might be able to do something for your client

Last week (yes I have gotten a bit behind with the posts) the staff at Health Care for the Homeless and Primary Health Care attended a three day Motivational Interview (MI) training.  At the beginning the lecturer stressed that the concept was easy to learn, but in order to get any good at MI we would have to practice A LOT.  As a result, the next three days were filled with real play and was probably the best free therapy we could have gotten.  Real play, not role playing, was used because many times people strive for the Academy Award performance and things can get out of control quickly.  Instead, we were asked to take from our own experiences which makes things a bit more realistic and applicable to the concept. 

In the broadest sense, MI is "a collaborative, person centered, evidence based, guiding method of communication for enhancing and strengthening intrinsic motivation for change."  When used, even among the more unskilled staff, it has been shown to double client/patient outcomes. 

One important note is that this is NOT a theory, but a series of techniques whose delivery will help facilitate communication.  Many of the techniques (empathy, sympathy, reflection, open ended questions) are skills that we all have.  MI merely allows us to use its spirit to create a dance of give and take through a series of simple and complex reflections, not through a series of directed questions.  The spirit of MI also emphasizes that we get away from person first language which I mentioned a few days ago. 

The MI spirit focuses on three main components:

1. Collaboration
2. Evocation i.e. listening and eliciting
3. Autonomy i.e. the ability of the client

As I mentioned before, this technique moves away from drilling (notice the language) the client with questions to dig (again, language) for information.  During an intake clients are asked an average of 148 questions.  With this technique there is a shift towards using both simple and complex reflections, with a few open questions sprinkled in along the way.  One of the other key components is that you are not supposed to express your opinion/a time when you were in a similar situation and are not supposed to give any unsolicited advice. 

Many of you who have been following my journey have somehow been involved in the field of human services through jobs/internships, volunteering, listening to me stand on my soapbox, ect.  As a result you all know that this field is all about empowering clients to make their own decisions and choose what is best for them.  Unfortunately when we ask clients questions their empowerment is taken away.  MI, however, allows people to reflect on what they want to work on which increases their empowerment. 

Workers in the human services field have an innate need to fix ... to fix the problem, to fix the person, to fix the environment.  Probably the best thing that I got out of this was that we are responsible for the intervention, NOT the outcome. 

Over all the three day training was extremely helpful and eye opening.  Much of what we covered pushed against and challenged me to rethink everything I have learned over the last few weeks. 

My major take aways:

1.      The client already has the answers

2.      We need to create a heightened ambivalence

3.      People are willing to do the wrong thing to maintain power in a relationship

4.      MI is a dancing relationship, not a linear one

While the real playing helped me to begin to understand the spirit of MI and ways I can incorporate it, I am still holding out until I can see its application in my clinics.  Many people who worked primarily in a clinical setting were unsure if they would be able to incorporate it into their programs.  The jury is still out for me, but I will keep you updated with what I find out in the field. 

UN Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases

Over the last few days, many of the public health/food policy blogs started to discuss the UN's meetings on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD).  When one things about the top killers in the world, one might think of natural disasters, famine and/or war.  In reality 67% of global deaths are caused by NCDs; the top four killers are Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Cancer and Chronic Respiratory Diseases. 

According to a post on Jamie Oliver's Rood Revolution website "a new WHO study of the costs of scaling up a core intervention package to prevent and treat NCDs in low- and middle-income countries has shown that it will cost $11.4 billion a year for all of these countries. This is compared with the World Economic Forum’s estimated bill of nearly $500 billion a year between now and 2025 if a ‘business as usual’ approach is taken and disease rates continue to soar."

After the two days of talks the UN unanimously adopted 13-page document about the need to fight noncommunicable diseases around the world.  While much work has been done in the medical and public health community to combat these diseases, this document is the first global attempt at decreasing NCD. 

Unfortunately this document left many food and health advocates unhappy.  One of the primary reasons is because the UN did not create any SMART goals for delegates to take back to their home countries.  Instead, the UN has asked countries to come up and submit their suggestions by the end of 2012.  Some of the strategies that came out of the meeting:

• Raising taxes on tobacco and alcohol.
• Convincing food manufacturers and consumers to cut back on salt.
• Promoting public awareness about good diet and exercise habits.
• Providing generic drugs for people with diabetes and those at risk of heart attacks and strokes.
• Screening and early treatment of precancerous lesions to prevent cervical cancer
• Rolling out hepatitis B immunization to prevent liver cancer.

Success will only occur if the large manufacturing companies begin to take an active roll in pulling the high density, nutritionally void foods from restaurants and grocery store shelves.  Real change will only occur if each country makes this a top national priority.  It is one thing to say that they want change, it is another thing to stand up to the big junk food companies and demand a change to be made. 

It will be interesting to follow the opinions and perspectives of other countries as the battle against NCDs continues.  What are some of your thoughts on the matter?  Any great ideas that you have or things you have seen out in the community?

Check out the meetings:

• Round Table 1 – High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases
• Round Table 2 – High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases 
• Round Table 2 – High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases

Three River Trail Tour

The weather has been GREAT the past few days.  While fall has not kicked in in full force, I am not complaining about the 70 degree, non humid weather.

The Pittsburgh area has several biking trails including the Great Allegheny Passage which stretches from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, MD.  The end of the trail links up with the C&O path which will take riders all the way to DC  I have decided over the next few months I am going to bike the whole trail in sections.  I am still trying to rope myself some biking friends, but worst comes to worse you can take the journey with me through some pictures. 

As I was following the Three River Trail this afternoon I came across several jems including the Mr. Rogers Statue outside Hines Stadium (he was all decked out for this afternoon's game). 

Similar to the Einstein Statue in DC, people are encouraged to climb all over Mr. Rogers. 

I also came across the Fort Pitt Block House located in Point State Park. 

The fort played an important role not only during in French & Indian War and the American Revolution, but also in the birth of Pittsburgh.  The above picture of the block house is the only structure that remains; it is the oldest building in Pittsburgh, as well as the oldes building west of the Allegheny Mountains. 

The house was originally used as a cover during an attack and was later converted into housing until being given to the Daughters of the American Revolution.  

Little Italy Days

This year marked the 10 year anniversary of Little Italy Days out in Bloomfield, also known as Pittsburgh's Little Italy.



The festival stretched a few blocks and had tons of great food vendors!  Alexis and I strolled around for a while before grabbing lunch.  I had a fantastic Chicken Parm sandwich

followed up by a fresh ricotta cannoli

All the while we were serenaded by this guy (for the life of me I cannot turn the movie 90 degrees):

While this place has nothing on Little Italy in NYC, it was nice to pop into some great delis and grocery stores!

Volunteering In America

I came across Volunteering in America, a search engine/database on everything service related, thanks to an article posted on my LinkedIn account.  We all know how much I LOVE DATA (for once I am not being sarcastic)!  I will thank the countless years of doing research/playing with numbers as well as the new technologies that allow me to compare data side by side with just a few simple clicks of the mouse.

This website should be included in every Human Service major's/non-profit worker/public health advocate's tool box!!

Under the age break down, most of you reading this blog will fall into the Millennial Generation category or "Individuals born in 1982 and after who are at least 16 years old. The Current Population Survey (CPS) also collects labor force and volunteering data for 15-year-old respondents. As in most other publications that use data from the CPS, 15-year-old respondents are excluded from the volunteer statistics published here."

According to the research collected over the past three years, the average national volunteer rate for our generation was 21.4% per year, with states ranging 12.9% to 39.9%.  DC came in 11th with 27.5%, PA in 22nd with 23.1% and NY 50th with 14.6% (pull it together NY, honestly).

The great thing is that you can play around with age, race, gender, etc. and even compare cities.  This is AMAZING for organizations that are trying to rev up their volunteer base.  For the first time they can see who their most loyal clientele are and also get ideas of populations they should begin to tap for resources; there is even a section on volunteer retention rates.  

I know you all work at desk jobs and fiddle with your Google reader and Facebook, so why not spend 10 minutes playing with some data.  DO IT!!

The Strip District

Yesterday I decided to venture out and explore the Strip District, which could easily become my new and favorite home away from home.

Thanks to my friends over at Wikipedia I can report that this area of town was hope to many mills and factories during the 19th century.  Its close proximity to the Allegheny river made it easy to transport goods and raw materials.  As year went by, many merchants began to set up shop in the Strip, and by the early 20th Century this area was filled with produce/meat/poultry wholesalers; restaurants and grocery stores quickly followed suit as workers needed a place to grab a quick bite after work.  Fast forward a  few years and goods were starting to travel the highways as opposed to railways/water.  It is estimated that nearly 80% of the existing produce industry and manufacturing plants/mills have left the area.  Over the past few years there has been a resurgence of the area with many ethnic food stores opening up, as well as art studios and small shops.

But lets be honest - we all know that I am in it for the food culture, ethnic grocery stores and farmers markets. 

The Strip is home to the Permanti Brothers Restaurant.  What they are really known for are their oversized sandwiches that are stuffed with homemade coleslaw and FRENCH FRIES.  The sandwiches are so famous that they have even been mentioned on Man vs. Food.  I am happy to report that Toni made my sandwich, pictured below!

 After being properly fueled, I decided to hit the streets and pick up some groceries for the upcoming weeks.

One of the original wholesalers, Wholey's, is still around.  As soon as I walked into the store I was greeted by this fish (he had seen much better days)

The sidewalks are PACKED with different vendors selling everything from grilled pizza to Steelers fanware, dessert to gourmet dog treats.  It was not uncommon to see something like this outside a bakery or my other favorite place, the Pennsylvania Macaroni Co.  If someone had told me I was dropped off somewhere in NYC's Little Italy I would believe them.  What is even better is that most of the shops in the area take FOOD STAMPS, which will be a lifesaver over the next few months. 

We all know that I LOVE ME A GOOD FARMERS MARKET and thankfully I stumbled across the Farmers@Firehouse, a local market that I had read super amazing things about. 

AMAZING!!!

Consider Yourself Enrolled in My Abbreviated (FREE) MPH Lecture Series

So as I get ready to dive into the field and work with a COMPLETELY NEW population, in a foreign city I decided that I should arm myself with the necessary tools/skills/information.


In an earlier post I showed you all the COPC cycle.  Before someone jumps into creating and launching an intervention it is important to do a through series of scans to learn about the community, determine what (if any) problems exist and explore the environment.  Without this information, the intervention will probably never take flight.  As a result, a series of profiles/analyses are created:

• Community profile
• Epidemiology profile
• Environmental scan
• Policy analysis
• Prevention and community health analysis
• Cultural/global analysis

Now this may seem very academic (and yes this was the format of my 208 paper), but it really helps to pave the way for a successful intervention.  Some professionals may see this extra work as a waste of time and/or resources, but in the end this extra information can make or break your case. 

So you are probably thinking, "Okay, great Emily, but why should we care?"

Here is where the lecture series begins.  Over the next few days/weeks I am going to start to pull all this information together which will hopefully give all of us a more accurate description of the community I am serving.  It will also give me the opportunity to take another crack at the government databases and create a reference for myself as I move forward.  Also ALL THE NEW CENSUS DATA IS STARTING TO COME OUT WHICH IS SUPER EXCITING!!!!  Okay, public health/geek out over!  

But in all seriousness, the up to date data is a god sent because most of the data public health professionals have been using is ten years old.  The new information will allow government and non-government agencies to have a better idea of the communities they are serving.  They will also be able to see if resources are being distributed correctly - if not they will be able to funnel that money into areas/programs that will be more effective. 

Fall is Here!

As you all know fall is by far my favorite season of the year!  You will all think I am crazy for writing this, but two nights ago you could hear the wind change (and now I will put on some flannel, grab some granola and hug a tree).

Anyway I am super excited to head out to some of the local trails around Pitt and do some hiking.  Some of the AmeriCorps members and I have talked about apple picking too!  Hopefully I will be able to capture some snapshots like these in the coming weeks.

Apparently fall here has a VERY SHORT window, so the next few weeks will be action packed.  

So here's to wearing vests and cords, hearing the leaves crunching under our feet, chai lattes and gourds/pumpkins at the farmers markets!

Person First Language

During the first week of being an AmeriCorps member, I have already had two cultural sensitivity seminars (one during pre-service orientation and the other during my first POW WOW meeting).

I will say that both were pretty interesting and surprisingly covered different topics.  During the POW WOW lunch the moderator gave us a card with either a word or a definition and as a group we had to match the two.  My word, well it was a phrase, was "Person First Language" or the idea that you first talk about the person and then the condition.  Thankfully I was able to successfully match my phrase with the definition with no hesitation because it is something that Alex has drilled into my head over the last few years. 

The thinking behind this structure is that a person's attribute, in this case medical condition and/or disability, is the secondary attribute and NOT necessarily a part of their identity.  For example:

• The child with Autism NOT the Autistic child
• The woman who is homeless (i.e. does not have a home) NOT to the homeless woman

I can say that the last one sparked quite a discussion among the clinicians and case managers who attended the lunch.   Many discussed that their pet peeve was when people used the word homeless as the primary attribute of a person. 

So what are some of your thoughts on Person First Language?  Is it a valid concern inside and outside the clinic or just another way for people to be PC?

Clinics!

So today I received my clearance and was given the go ahead to start working in the clinics!  You know, doing what I signed up for, not that I have not had a great time in our office (SUPER GREAT staff who are doing amazing things)!

Thanks to Google Maps I can show you the various locations I will be each week.  There are seven locations on the map and one site hosts medical/mental health one day and dental on another day.  As a reference point, I live under where it says East Allegheny. 

Slowly, but surely I am getting used to all the roads and am starting to rely on my GPS less and less which is nice.  Now I know I told many of you I would be working in McKeesport, but it looks like that site is going to Maria (the other AmeriCorps member with Health Care for the Homeless). 

Each clinic is slightly different, but several of the sites are trying to integrate a coordinated care system with medical, mental health and social services all running out of one place at one time.  With a structure similar to a medical home, it helps to make sure that people are not getting lost in the system.  It also allows the doctors/nurses/case managers to work with each other to get people hooked up with the services they need (more about this concept to come). 

The nurses and PAs are GREAT and really want to make sure that I get as much as possible out of my 11 months of services.  So over the next few weeks as I start to settle in we are going to see what other projects I can pick up and skills I can add to my repertoire.  Let me know if you have any ideas or if you want me to do some investigating for you! 

Arrrrrr You Ready for Some Baseball?!?!

When I arrived home from work today I had a FANTASTIC e-card from the LOVELY Ms. Vonnie

So with this phrase in mind, Alexis and I made the quick ten minute walk down the road and over to one of the last home Pirate games of the season.  Tickets were SUPER cheap, which was nice, and we were able to sit relatively close for $10.

One of the best parts about the stadium being right on the water is a SPECTACULAR view of downtown Pitt (sadly my blackberry picture does not do it justice).  This is what National's stadium wishes it could be. 

Now if I could only find someone who has tickets to the Steelers games.  Apparently those are quite a feat to get.  Their first home game is this Sunday so I will make sure to find some of the most outrageous outfits, cars and tailgates.  Maybe I can snag a hot dog while I am walking around :)

The First Day!!

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

 * from my favorite Dr. Seuss book, Oh the Places You'll Go *
____________________________________________________________________________________

So today, armed with the perfect playlist (manly made up of jams from the Hot Jam Listserv), I drove over to Homewood to where our main office is located to meet Elizabeth, one of my new bosses.  Most of the day was typical first day stuff, filled with job orientations and meeting some of the other staff members.

Sadly I have been GROUNDED because my FBI background check still has not come back yet.  If any of you out there know of anyone that works over that way let me know.  I sadly will not be able to work in the clinic until my background check comes through. 

To read the job description (and get an idea of what my schedule will look like) click here.  It looks like I will be spending most of my time in the clinics filling out intake forms, handing out vouchers, signing up people for appointments and doing some health education work.  The last part was something that they touched on briefly last year, but really want to expand this year.  Maria (the other AmeriCorps volunteer who I am working with) is also doing some health education stuff so we are hoping to be able to double team each other throughout the year.  It also looks like we will be planning a 5k run for June.

One thing I was really impressed about was how they are looking to create more of a team approach to  medical care.  They are hoping to do this through a series of team meetings between the medical staff (apparently they come from a variety of locations) and the Health Care for the Homeless staff.  We have out first POW WOW meeting (no joke - this is what they are called) tomorrow.  We also have a really cool three day training next week which will help us to communicate with clients better and find out what their needs are - what a novel thought, right?

Two major points came out of our orientation:

1. Do not go in with any preconceived notions about the homeless populations.  Instead keep an open mind because this will help you to get a lot more out of your experience. 
2. If you look out for your community, they will look out for you.  This was something we would tell out DC Reads tutors all of the time.  Say hi to the people on the street, stop into some of the local stores and restaurants.  If people see you in the neighborhood they are more likely to look out for you in the future and come to your rescue if you may ever need it.  Good rule to live by for those of you looking to venture outside of your comfort zone for work/volunteer opportunities. 

Not to alarm anyone, but apparently I am apparently living/working in three of the more dangerous areas it is all about being aware of your surroundings; I got this information from one of the social workers that is in our office.  Living in the Shaw neighborhood and working in Anacostia has definitely prepped me for what I am getting myself into over the next few months. 

Tour of the Hood

Today was the annual Mexican War Street House and Garden tour.  First I would like to disclaim that my whole day should have been followed by #whitepeople.  No joke.  I am surprised that house and garden tours are not on the Stuff White People Like blog. 

I figured that this would be a great way to start seeing some of the neighborhood.  While I don't live in the Mexican War Street area, it is a 15 minute walk away and also is where my new INDIE COFFEE SHOP is located.

The War Streets neighborhood is a federal and city historic district of Victorian-era rowhouses on the North side.  It was laid out by William Robinson following the Mexican-American War.  By the late 1960s many of the houses had fallen into disrepair and it was slated for demolition.  Thankfully they were saved, and a revival of the streets began in earnest.  For a more in depth history check out the Mexican War Streets Society website.  

While some of the streets are a mixed bag of restored and dilapidated houses, the houses on the streets named after the Mexican-American battles reminded me a lot of Georgetown.

I came across some great street signs:

I also stumbled across RandyLand.  With a name like that on the map I of course had to investigate.  Upon walking up I came across a larger than life urban garden that had a NOLA, whimsical flair to it.  On the outside was a map of the North Site (VERY cool) which was labeled with all the streets and major sites in the area.

Check out some pictures I took while walking around - they definitely do not do it justice!!

 The artist has a larger than life personality and I was able to talk with him for about 15 minutes as I was wondering around.  He took up renewing the neighborhood/urban gardening as a hobby about 25 years ago.  Not only has he painted and planted many plots around the area he also founded the Olde Allegheny Gardens, small gardens around the North Side.  Randy has a great sense of community and really was trying to create a community that looked out for the youth and older generations; a community that can learn from one another.  It is AMAZING how one man has started to change the neighborhood - I guess the old cliche holds true!  Check out the piece the TODAY SHOW did on him.

First Day of Service Was A Success

In honor of the September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance, three of the AmeriCorps branches came together on Saturday to do some service.  This day is an opportunity to honor the herorism that we all saw on 9/11 through service.

I was first introduced to this idea when I was working at GW's Office of Community Service.  A few years ago a Freshman Day of Service was created and tied into the National Day of Service and Remembrance.  It has always been a well attend event by both the incoming freshman class and the upper classmen who serve as student group leaders.  While many of the projects would only last a few hours, it was an amazing way for students, faculty and staff to be introduced to what OCS did, as well as to broaden their horizon and hopefully allow them to step outside the Foggy Bottom/GW Bubble.  Many of the individuals who came to the event became year long volunteers with the Office and began to serve as advocates for their organizations and educators among peers. 

This is by far one of the greatest things about one time service events.  Once individuals are exposed to the passion other volunteers have and/or the social issues that plague this country, many cannot get enough.  While it may take a while for an individual to find their cause, the one time service opportunities allow them to try a bunch of things along the way. 

This Saturday, we partnered with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, an organization formed in 1994 to "foster a clean, safe, accessible, and vibrant Downtown through a wide range of strategies and advocacy for actions that will strengthen the city, enhance its beauty and vitality and make it a better place for business and pleasure."

In true AmeriCorps fashion, we "Got Things Done" (their moto).  The Pittsburgh Health Corps stood out in our Carolina Blue shirts, but in a few hours we had the abandoned lot cleared.  While park clean ups are not my favorite volunteer opportunity out there, it was a great way to chat with the Corps Members outside our three day long orientation. 

Hills, Hyperglycemia, Hypothermia, HIPAA ... You Get the Idea

So day two came with a vengeance and was a day filled with lectures.  I would also like to note that for those of you who have never been here before the hills are a killer (think San Francisco, no joke).  My ride to work was a 15 minute uphill ride the entire way.  No me gusta!

We kicked off the morning with a 4.5 hour CPR/First Aid class.  The instructor (a 30 year old veteran Paramedic) taught everything from memory.  Thankfully she kept things rolling with some great jokes and stories from the field.  So now if you begin to choke on an M&M or suddenly fall unconscious I will hopefully be able to come to your rescue.  The major bummer was that she did not bring the practice AED and we all know how much I LOVE to play with that thing ... I'm clear, you're clear, shocking patient.  Ahh, it brings me back to the days of athletic training!

Today some of the site partners came to present on some of the demographics we would be seeing at our placements.  For the first time I began to see the health statistics for Allegheny County and many of the problems mimic the data we found in the DC Metro area.  For those that have lived in/around Pittsburgh all their lives, they were surprised to learn about the high rates of HIV/AIDS and infant mortality. 

To my COPC followers:  Please check out the Healthy Start program.  This was by far the favorite lecture of the day because they use many aspects of the COPC cycle (depicted below).

For those of you who want to learn more about COPC (and what my degree actually focused on) click here for more info.

Probably the most vital component of their program outline is the use of their community in the decision making process.  For instance the board is comprised of 6 community members (usually those that have used their services) and 12 "field experts" ranging from lawyers, business people, medical staff and social workers.  In order for any kind of a policy to be put into place, it has to pass by 2/3 majority PLUS ONE.  This way the "field experts" cannot make a decision when those in the community will feel like it will do more harm than good. 

A comment was made later by a member that "seeing the partners get so excited about the work and their dedication to the cause is getting me excited to start at my site on Monday."  I could not have put it better myself.  Hopefully someone can remind me of this when I hit the mid service slump which apparently happens to all the volunteers at some point or another.

After a recommendation from the Trempus Labor Day BBQ, I bought a ticket for the Mexican War Street House and Garden tour.  The neighborhood is about a 10 minute walk from my apartment.  I have seen many of the houses from the outside, but am excited to see the work they have done in the gardens and inside the buildings.  I will try to snag some pictures and we can all wish together how we wished we lived in them.

Welcome to Your 46 Week Long Interview

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

These words could not ring any more true as the 17 newest members of the Pittsburgh Health Corps filed into the Allegheny Health Department for their first day of orientation.   Thankfully several of us knew each other from a brief get together on Sunday afternoon so things were not as awkward as they could have been.  As things began to settle and people grabbed breakfast we were greeted by Dannai, our Program Coordinator, with a cheery "Good morning and welcome to your 46 week interview."  As we had previously discussed in our phone interview the next 11 months would be a great way to not only gain some hands on experience, increase our knowledge and skill set, but also network.  You never know who you will meet, who will see your work and most importantly who might offer you a job at the end of our service. 

The majority of our group grew up in the Pitt area and there are some repeat AmeriCorps members.  All in all the group seems like it is going to mesh well.  After all the group work I have done I can say that with some confidence.  While the majority of members have not worked in the health arena before, many are looking to gain some hands one experience before jumping into med/dental/nurse practitioner/nursing school or the field of social work (myself included ... maybe).  I will admit that I was not that surprised. 

Sadly the first lecturer was not able to make it to her presentation, but I was spared a "What is Public Health?" lecture.  Next up was a cultural diversity and competency lecture.  After the diversity shuffle (my GW readers who worked for some university department will be all to familiar with this activity) we got down to it.  I was surprised at how much I remembered from my COPC classes, including Preventing Health Disparities and Soc and Behavior. 

One of the core concepts for any Public Health Professional.  It is important to intervene at a variety of levels if one wants to insure any kind of change occurring at the individual/community level.

While this 45 minute talk only began to skim the surface, it was a good starting point for those who have never thought about these kinds of issues in a public health/clinical setting.  Hopefully we will gain some more tools, either from future lectures/trainings and/or our sites, which will help us to address these issues once we start working for our sites. 

The last lecturer was AMAZING.  You will be amazed to hear me say that once you know that the lecturer was the Chief of Epi and Biostats at the Allegheny County DOH.  For those of you not in the loop these two classes caused more angst during my MPH career than possibly my other classes combined (capstone included).  Dr. Voorhees was not only captivating, but had several great takeaways that I will share to those of you still reading this post:

1. He had one of the best definitions of public health I have ever heard of.  Public health is "constantly defining the unacceptable."  GENIUS!!
2. He also (re)told us the up stream story.  Now we got a bit more of a dramatic one, but the point is still driven home in this link.  Much of health care in the United States comes from down stream thinking - we have a sick care system in the US where not much money is placed on primary prevention with some money being thrown at secondary and tertiary prevention. 

Public health prevention has some of the best return on investments (ROI) out there.  For decades public health professional knew this, but up until recently no one had been able to prove it.  In a recent study the Federal Reserve decided to tackle childhood obesity programs to see what economic impact, if any, they would have on health outcomes.  Art Rolnick found that for every $1 that was put into prevention, you would get back $17.  That's right my friends $17.  THAT'S HUGE.  Can anyone please tell me where I can get such a high ROI?  Seriously I would love to make some quick money with this so call living stipend they have given me.  This idea can be applied to many prevention programs and the studies are starting to show the return. 

Sadly many of these changes are not seen in the program evaluations that organizations submit to state and federal funders.  One of the main reasons is that most grant periods are for two, maybe three years.  In such a short span of time it is hard to show any major behavioral/attitude changes.  Studies really need to be funded for much longer periods of time to see these kinds of returns.  Unfortunately it is hard to make people think in such long terms.  (See I was paying attention during Professor McDonnel's evaluation class). 

One of the reasons why I am writing this blog is to inspire you to think about how public health plays a role in not only your daily life, but also (and maybe more importantly) in your local/state/national communities.  The other reason was to SPARK DISCUSSION.  Feel free to write your reactions, post links to articles/stories/pictures.  

I want this to be as much of a learning experience for you as it will be for me. 

Movin' On Up to the East (Allegheny) Side

On Friday afternoon Alex and I headed out of town - me in the boat (i.e. the U-Haul) and Alex in Betsy.  We took off down U Street when CRASH - I took out my right side mirror.  Thanks to a truck parked partially in my lane and a car to my left, I had no other option, but to push on through.  OOPS.  Even Alex hear the thunk in the car a head of me.  Now you might be looking at the picture and think no big deal, but let me tell you had I hit a wrong bump the whole mirror would have fallen out of its arm.  Sadly the mirror was unusable as it dangled.  I did have a great view of the sidewalk though.  

We maneuvered our way out of the city until we stopped for gas.  There was a very nice mechanic who was able to secure my mirror with some balsa wood and clear duct tape.  The whole time I was glad I sprung for the $45 insurance because I could have had a serious bill on my hands. 

No need to worry about speeding down the highway - we made our way slowly, but surely all the way to Pitt. 

Later that night Alex, Tom and Alyssa helped move everything into the apartment (I owe them a MAJOR thank you).  Things went super quickly and we had everything moved into the apartment in under an hour.

As you can see I am now living in a great apartment with another Pittsburgh Health Corps Member.  We have the second and third floor of the house (there is a porch out the back).

After unpacking this is the (near) final product:
My bedroom

Living room/my second "room" (use the vacuum to help with the room's layout)

I need some pictures!!  I am looking for 8 horizontal pictures to hang in the frames above and on a wall in my bedroom.  Send me some of your faves - I don't have to be in them, but would like to know all the people/the place in the picture.

The kitchen

Thankfully the tropical storm has brought some cool weather!  I forgot how hot things can be without an AC.  It is probably karma because I have been living in a cool basement while two of my roommates have been sweltering in the top floor of our DC rowhouse. 

So long, farewell auf wiedersehen, goodbye!

So the moving van is PACKED mainly thanks to the SUPERHERO moving and packing skills of Messrs Todd Hansen and Alex Trempus.  Six years of pictures, chachkies and memories are ready to hit the road!  It is a miracle that we were able to get most of it into the truck with some overflow in the car. 

Wish me luck as I maneuver the U Haul out of DC, down the highway and eventually onto my new, quiet side street.  How am I going to fall asleep anymore?  Over the past six years I have lived blocks away from an ER so this will be a bit of an adjustment, but one I think I will somehow survive. 

It's been real DC.  I am sure our paths will cross again in the not too distant future!

We Are Up and Running

So here goes nothing - my first go at social media!

First I must give a MAJOR SHOUTOUT to Ms. Erica Evans who came up with the title.  For those of you who are feeling a bit in the dark click here to learn about the title's inspiration.

Check back every now and again.  I am going to do my best to post a few times each week - stories from the trenches, fun adventures in Pittsburgh, etc.

Here's to an exciting 11 months!!