My Fellowship with the New York State Department of Health
Throughout this fellowship, I have worked with the Western Region Office of Emergency Preparedness. Through this time I have participated in trainings, workshops, and skill development within the public health field. I am currently working on an All Hazards Emergency Operations plan, coordinating with the department Health and Safety Committee, Tenant Safety Organization, and other offices to be as thorough as possible. I have also Completed BEAM through the University of Miami, and I am currently working on the Public Health Essentials course through eCornell. I hope to use the knowledge I have gained throughout this opportunity to advance my knowledge in Public Health and continue to learn and grow.
My Experience With the Cancer Services Program Of the Finger Lakes Region
Here you will find some of what I have completed throughout the duration of my internship.
Community Resource Guide
The purpose of this document is to provide a comprehensive guide for all 6 counties the Cancer Services Program serves. This includes hotlines, helplines, regionally accessible resources, healthcare, accessible nutrition and clothing, and much more. This document will be available online and physically. It will be used daily by the Cancer Services Program as well as brought to outreach events to ensure it is accessible to those in need. This is required in the new grant by the state and will also be sent to them as a resource for them to analyze and use. To make this resource, communication with the resources listed as well as research and time management was key.
Areas of Responsibility & Subcompetencies
6.1.2 Identify the assets, needs, and characteristics of the audience(s) that affect communication and message design (e.g., literacy levels, language, culture, and cognitive and perceptual abilities).
6.1.4 Identify environmental and other factors that affect communication (e.g., resources and the availability of Internet access).
6.3.3 Tailor message(s) for the audience(s).
6.4.4 Assess the suitability of new and/or existing communication aids, materials, or tools for audience(s) (e.g., the CDC Clear Communication Index and the Suitability Assessment Materials (SAM).
6.5.5 Deliver oral and written communication that aligns with professional standards of grammar, punctuation, and style.
8.1.4 Promote health equity
8.3.4 Build relationships with other professionals within and outside the profession.
8.4.6 Develop presentations and publications that contribute to the profession.
Lessons, Successes, and areas of improvement.
The biggest lesson I learned from completing this guide is that many resources available to the public are not easily accessible. Many of the listed resources were hard to find as well as difficult to navigate.
I would say the biggest success of this was ensuring the full completion of the guide and ensuring it was readable. I formatted it the way I did after finding other resource guides. I felt many of the guides I saw were hard to read and confusing, to avoid this I made sure this went line by line and that all fields were labeled to ensure it was readable at a glance.
Flyers & Screening
The purpose of including the flyers and pictures of sisters day is to display the flyers I faxed to doctor's offices, the board I created for events, and show the sisters day table. At sisters day I was able to educate those who came to the table on the Cancer Services Program as well as what Breast, cervical, and Colorectal cancer is and the importance of screening. In this picture, we spoke with many people from different backgrounds including Mennonites. Here I learned about their lifestyles, and education, and learned the do's and don'ts when talking with the community. They have an overall mistrust of the government and state governments as well as medical institutions and affiliates. Because of this as well as their view on modesty, I needed to keep how I described these cancers modest and learn what the individual was comfortable with as I talked to each one. I was able to learn so much about their community which was an amazing opportunity. The flyers I sent to the doctors also were very successful in informing clients about our services which increased the number we had enrolled.
Areas of Responsibility & Subcompetencies
3.1.1 Secure implementation resources
3.2.3 Implement a marketing plan.
3.2.4 Deliver health education and promotion as designed.
5.3.1 Use media to conduct advocacy (e.g., social media, press releases, public service announcements, and op-eds).
6.3.3 Tailor message(s) for the audience(s
6.5.5 Deliver oral and written communication that aligns with professional standards of grammar, punctuation, and style.
Lessons, Successes, and areas of improvement.
I learned alot about the different cultures and beliefs of the population through Sister's Day. I also was able to learn about different offices and doctors that were willing to not only help spread the flyers about screening days, but weren't aware of the program. I feel that i was successful in educating those I spoke with in throughout these experiences. I would mostly improve some of the handouts we put out by including a little less and educate myself on different ways to describe how to feel for different lumps or signs of them. These were two things I noticed I wasnt too prepared to answer and needed to ask for help with.
Social Media Posts & Outreach
These are some of the many posts I made through the time at my internship. These were meant for posting on our social media and to organizations that reach our target population. These posts are the most recent that I made that detail facts and information about the Cancer Services Program and cancer. These are meant to be a call to action for those who see them. This is because it is meant to inform and get those who need our services the information to reach out and enroll in the program to ultimately receive screenings.
Areas of Responsibility & Subcompetencies
6.1.3 Identify communication channels (e.g., social media and mass media) available to and used by the audience(s).
6.2.1 Describe the intended outcome of the communication (e.g., raise awareness, advocacy, behavioral change, and risk communication).
6.3.3 Tailor message(s) for the audience(s).
6.4.6 Revise communication aids, materials, or tools based on pilot results.
Lessons, Successes, and areas of improvement.
The main lesson I learned from this experience is that the messages used for educating the public are truly crucial to the success of a program like CSP. They have to be eye catching and serve as a call to action while being simple enough to understand quickly. I enjoyed this process and the feedback I received on these as well. In the future I feel that using less words than are what on them would be helful to the success of these as well as using more graphics when possible. Overall this was a fun activity to work on through my internship