Foundation for Healthy Communities Newsletter, May 2016

The Foundation for Healthy Communities celebrated its 20th Anniversary at an event held May 12th at the Bridges House, thanking all those who have contributed to the success of the organization.

More than 70 people attended the celebration, representing board members, funders, colleagues and staff who have partnered with the Foundation over the past two decades to improve the health and health care in communities. The Foundation's work to improve community health began with visionary leaders anticipating health care reform and opportunities in New Hampshire to work better together for health on behalf of patients and communities.

Pictured left to right: Steve Ahnen, President, New Hampshire Hospital Association; Shawn LaFrance, Executive Director, Foundation for Healthy Communities; and Mary Deveau, Chair, Foundation for Healthy Communities Board of Trustees address the attendees at the 20th Anniversary Event.

Elliot Health System RN Receives

2016 Clint Jones NH Nursing Award

The Foundation for Healthy Communities is pleased to announce that Anna R. Lamothe, RN, a registered nurse at Elliot Health System, as the 2016 recipient of the Clint M. Jones New Hampshire Nursing Award.

Lamothe, a graduate of Worcester State College, received the annual award during a special Nurses Week celebration held Thursday, May 5th at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, NH.

The Clint Jones Nursing Award was created in 2006 by the Foundation for Healthy Communities to honor the memory of the former director of the Foundation's N.H. Nursing Workforce Partnership. The award recognizes a registered nurse practicing in New Hampshire for at least one year but not more than six years, who exemplifies quality, compassionate nursing care and demonstrates a commitment to a career in nursing.

Pictured left to right: Jim Woodward, President & CEO, Elliot Hospital; Anne Diefendorf, MS, Associate Executive Director, Foundation for Healthy Communities; Beth Gustafson Wheeler, MS, Director of Community Health, Foundation for Healthy Communities; Anna Lamothe, RN, Clint Jones Award Recipient; Matthew Jones, son of the late Clint Jones; Jean Ten Haken, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, Elliot Hospital; and Sharon Kostansek, RN, Clinical Nurse Manager, Elliot Hospital. Photo taken at Elliot Hospital's Annual Nursing Awards Ceremony.

To learn more about why Anna's colleagues nominated here, read the full announcement here.

Nominations Now Being Accepted for the Noah Lord Patient & Family Engagement Award

The Foundation for Healthy Communities is now accepting nominations for the Noah Lord Patient & Family Engagement Award. This award recognizes the work done by a hospital in partnership with the Patient Family Advisors (PFA) to improve patient safety, quality improvement, and the patient experience, and will help facilitate the sharing of success stories across the state.

Noah Lord was a vibrant, fun, silly, 4-and-a-half-year-old, whose outgoing and inquisitive nature drove him to explore the world around him. His constant questioning of the details had his parents endlessly scrambling for answers that would satisfy his insatiable curiosity. Discussions of dinosaurs, Star Wars, death, life, playgrounds, work, Toy Story and so many other topics were a constant in Noah's household. He spent many days cooking with his mom and planned with great enthusiasm to be a "chef cooking man" when he grew up. Sadly, those dreams were never realized. Noah died from a series of medical errors following a tonsillectomy, errors that could have been prevented. Upon realizing that her son Noah's death provided many opportunities for healthcare improvement, including the importance of engaging patients and families at the bedside, as well as within the organizational structure, Tanya created the Noah Lord Patient & Family Engagement Award to recognize the innovative work being done in NH to better engage patients and families in improving healthcare.

Tanya Lord, PhD, MPH is the Director of Patient & Family Engagement at the Foundation, and is recognized nationally for her work in patient & family engagement. Tanya has shared her son's story of medical error and the importance of engaging and communicating with patients & families with audiences across the country.

For more information on the Noah Lord Patient & Family Engagement Award , the award criteria and the deadline, click here.

Shared Decision Making Training Attracts SDM Champions

Register Now for the Next Session

The New Hampshire Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration's Shared Decision Making Task Force held a workshop on May 5 that was taught by Manish Mishra and Stuart Grande from The Dartmouth Institute's Preference Lab. The Shared Decision Making (SDM) Task Force coordinated the workshop in an effort to increase access to shared decision making for cancer screenings, an objective of the NH Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan.

Eighteen health care professionals and three Task Force members participated in the workshop, eleven health care organizations were represented, and attendees were from eight different disciplines including eight physicians, cancer center directors, nurse care coordinators, navigators, and radiologists. The workshop offered practical role play exercises, giving attendees the skills needed to implement SDM within their organizations, and help them to serve as champions. SDM is now a reimbursable component of lung cancer screening under CMS, but the skills learned can be applied to a multitude of clinical scenarios.

In the true spirit of collaboration, the Elliot Health System provided the continuing education credits and the American Cancer Society provided lunch. This workshop will be offered again on June 22 at the Foundation for Healthy Communities (FHC) in Concord. The NH Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration is an initiative of the FHC. Space is limited, so make sure you reserve your spot today!

Plan4Health Nashua Chosen to Receive a NADO 2016 Excellence in Regional Transportation Award

Plan4Health Nashua, led by HEAL NH, an initiative of the Foundation for Healthy Communities, will be recognized at the June National Rural Transportation Peer Learning Conference for its successful efforts to integrate planning and public health where people live, learn, work and play.

The 2016 Excellence in Regional Transportation Awards recognize the outstanding work of regional organizations on a diverse set of planning, programming, and project delivery related to several modes of transportation.

The goal of the Plan4Health Nashua coalition, which began in January 2015, is to advance street planning and design to support safe and accessible active transportation. During its 15-month grant period, the Plan4Health Nashua coalition conducted a street study to assess the bikability and walkability of Nashua streets, developed a Complete Streets guidebook and policy recommendations, and provided training to city staff, planners, elected officials and other community members.

Congratulations Nashua!!