Volume 1, Issue 16, May 2023 |
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Our Monthly News & Updates |
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✨LHEATs Shine at the 2023 Governor's Public Health Conference✨
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Donna Swager (LHEAT Lead in Sherman and Thomas County) is one of the five leads being featured in a video at the 2023 Kansas Governor's Public Health Conference |
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Sarah Finocchario Kessler (COPE Project Lead)
and Christina Pacheco (COPE Project Director) at COPE's exhibition table
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The LHEAT video with Jocelyn Hernandez (Johnson County LHEAT Lead) in the frame playing in front of a packed audience at the conference |
KU's Center for Public Partnerships & Research tweeted a graphic recording of the presentation made by Sara O'Keeffe. |
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Building on last year's momentum, COPE once again was present in this year's Governor's Public Health Conference. This time, LHEATs took the lead.
A video (above) with stories from five LHEAT leads covering COPE's four regions was part of the presentation given by Jade Ramsdell (KDHE), Alix Guerrero (KDHE) and Tori Gleason (LMH Health).
Speakers used LHEATs' work to illustrate how to reimagine agility in health equity and inclusion.
From LHEAT leads' perspectives, the conception of COPE helps crystalize equity movement in their county.
"What has been so unique about the COPE project and bringing equity into that is that we have been talking with them [community organizations] for many years about equity. But, this [COPE] intensified our relationship in that sense," said Stephanie Simmons (Mitchell County Lead)
In the video, Simmons (Mitchell County), Donna Swager (Sherman and Thomas County), Jake Letner (Cherokee County), Jocelyn Hernandez (Johnson County) and Nancy Borthwick (Grant County) also describe what they have achieved so far. Funding hygiene closet and diaper drive, enrolling clients in essential services, taking the initiative to deter human trafficking and providing transportation in rural county are a sliver of projects to which they have committed in their 30-day action plan.
What is the key ingredient to success? Many mentioned the importance of being patient. "It takes time and it takes a lot of people working together," said Swager.
All LHEATs are gratified by what they have achieved and believe in the power of their work.
"Between the CHWs and the health department, I believe this community is going to get better and heal," said Borthwick.
Jeffrey Field, Department of Family Medicine & Community Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center, produced the video. Regional Community Leads contributed to the recordings.
Courtesy photos: Christina Pacheco and KU's Center for Public Partnerships & Research
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Two COPE Members Share their Wisdom at the Conference |
Vicki Collie-Akers and Elizabeth Ablah also presented at the conference. Collie-Akers and Kevin Kovach (Kansas Health Institute) discussed strategic reasons to form public health partnerships and approaches to forming successful partnerships. Ablah shared insights into using public health data to tell local health department's story. |
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Increasing Capacity to Feed More Families in Fort Scott |
Courtesy photo: The Bourbon County LHEAT Facebook
Rachel Carpenter contributed reporting
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Together with the First United Methodist Church in Fort Scott and United Health, the Bourbon County LHEAT purchased a three-door freezer to increase the First United Methodist Church's capacity to support 'Feed Families' program, which serves hot meals to 350-450 individuals weekly.
In its 30-day action plan, the LHEAT has identified not only food insecurity as one of its top priorities but also a key partner in addressing and sustaining initiatives to combat food insecurity, the First United Methodist Church. The church has a high-impact, program that is well-known to the community.
The new freezer will enhance the church's capacity to store perishable items donated from local stores and to increase its distribution capacity to 500+ individuals as needed. This new freezer will also make it easy for staff to track inventory and access food items in a timely manner.
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Period-Product Dispensers Become a Reality |
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Courtesy photo: Harvey County Now
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A lack of access to period products has severely impacted teens' access to education. According to the Alliance for Period Supplies, "4 in 5 teens reported either have missed class time or knew a classmate who missed class time because they did not have access to period products."
The Harvey County LHEAT has been working to provide period product dispensers in Newton Schools to unburden teens and their family.
This initiative recently caught the eye of the county's premier newspaper, Harvey County Now. With the installation of these dispensers, teens are guaranteed to have a steady access to period products.
This initiative was not possible without the careful coordination among Rebecca Barrett-Fox (the LHEAT Lead), Jay Hawes (CHW Supervisor) and the rest of the team.
"Thanks to Jay, Rebecca, and the rest of the team for their work on this. What a great accomplishment to have these installed," said Nadine Long (Regional Community Lead for the Central Region).
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Cross-County Collaboration to Address Transportation 🚌 Barriers
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Transportation is one of the issues that many rural counties have identified. The recent success from the Cherokee County LHEAT, which was reported in our newsletter Issue 14, is now serving as a role model for other counties to follow suit.
In April, the Finney County LHEAT invited Jake Letner (Cherokee County LHEAT Lead) to share his LHEAT's lessons-learned at a meeting. This topic also attracted Seward County LHEAT members.
In a packed conference room with members joining in on Zoom, Letner described how his LHEAT launched a general transportation program that saw a huge increase in rides just two months after the launch.
The Q&A session with the Finney and Seward County LHEATs was particularly insightful.
"It was very inspiring to listen to Letner about his county's transportation initiatives," said Birgit Lemke (Finney County LHEAT lead). Through sharing lessons-learned, Finney and Seward County LHEATs might just find the solutions they need to address transportation barriers.
Courtesy photos: Clarissa Carrillo Martinez
Clarissa Carrillo Martinez contributed reporting
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A Day Shelter Will be Underway Soon |
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Supporting individuals who are housing insecure requires a careful coordination that takes time and efforts from many community partners. Identifying key partners and continuing to engage in conversations is the first step.
Johnny Curtis-Parker (CHW Supervisor of Jackson and Brown County) has been steadily meeting with county agencies, YWCA and Kanza Mental Health - Hiawatha to gauge their interests in providing a day shelter to serve one of the community needs. This shelter will not only provide basic needs for individuals (e.g., shower, clean their clothes, receive a meal, take a nap and shelter themselves from inclement weather) but also take a step further. Mental health screenings, access to therapeutic services and crisis intervention will also be part of the integrated care.
At present, partners are looking into funding sources and regulation to bring the day shelter to reality.
This day shelter initiative "goes beyond the regular role of a CHW serving clients and families in the community," said Ton Miras Neira (CHW Project Manager). The ways in which COPE's CHWs cultivate connections and listen to their community encapsulate their immediate and future impact of CHWs. It is their skillful means that brings related organizations together.
"Due to my position as a COPE CHW and the many conversations with community members and leaders, I was in a unique situation to bring these agencies together to target a common goal," said Curtis-Parker.
Johnny Curtis-Parker contributed reporting
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Supporting Community College Students 🎓
through Mindfulness and Resource Sharing
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41% of undergraduate students (8.9 million) are enrolled in community colleges. A significant portion of community college students are first-generation students, English language learners and minorities, according to Community College Daily. They are also likely to be from a low-income background.
With this in mind, the Geary and Sedgwick County LHETs and CHWs understand the positive impact of providing resources to support students' well-being and to prepare them for the future. Below we highlight their partnership efforts.
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Take a mindfulness breath has never been so easy. Twenty-five Wichita State University students attended the "Mind, Body & Soul" event organized by MaKayla Knox and Latitia Murdock (the Sedgwick County LHEAT members).
The Sedgwick County LHEAT partnered with the Mindfulness Program from the Wichita State University's Black Students Union.
Students learned how to use mindfulness techniques to reduce stress and obtained information from Candra Jones (CHW Supervisor) and Thien Doan (CHW with a home base in GraceMed) regarding COPE's services.
Students praised how useful this program was to them.
"I definitely feel that I need to go to therapy and figure out a lot of things, but it really just gave an opening to connect with friends and family in a deeper way,” a freshman student said at the event.
Courtesy photo: Candra Jones and Thien Doan
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Providing quality education is one of the ways to achieve equity. In mid-April, the Geary County LHEAT and CHWs housed in Konza Prairie Community Health Center visited Cloud County Community College to discuss potential collaboration opportunities and learn about the unique needs from this important college population.
Courtesy photos: The Geary County LHEAT Facebook
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Deepening Connections with Health Department, K-State Extension and Wichita Habitat for Humanity |
Candra Jones (CHW Supervisor) and Thien Doan (CHW with a home base in GraceMed) joined the Community Baby Shower and Resources Fair at the Sedgwick County Health Department. |
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On March 29, 20 individuals attended the first monthly nutrition education workshop "Shake Off Excess Sodium," a Hypertension Awareness and Prevention Project from the K-State Extension Office.
COPE - Sedgwick County is a partner of K-State Extension Office. This partnership also allows COPE's CHWs to be present at meetings and to promote COPE's overall mission.
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Jones presented information to new homeowners at the Wichita Habitat for Humanity on the role CHW plays in the community and the type of services homeowners could obtain from her team.
Courtesy photo: Candra Jones and Thien Doan
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ASTHO Highlights COPE in its Blog Post |
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COPE's Partners Spotlight Fruitful Collaborations |
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Peace Connections gave a special shoutout to COPE in Harvey County, thanking the team's hands-on demonstrations of cooking with pressure cookers. This post garnered a total of 28 likes, 5 comments and 5 shares (as of April 27).
Many Facebook followers appreciated the cooking demonstration.
"Love these partnerships for the good of our community," commented one follower.
Courtesy photo: Peace Connections
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The Health Department has twice recognized COPE in April. We appreciate the shoutout!
Courtesy photo: The City-Cowley County Health Department
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Click to read a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation here.
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COPE's Northeast Region recently held a retreat that brought CHWs and LHEAT leads from Wyandotte, Shawnee, Johnson, Jackson/Brown, and Geary County together for a fruitful discussion.
Courtesy photos: Christina Pacheco
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COPE Wins the Keep It Moving Challenge |
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Susan Lukwago getting ready to get moving |
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Susan Lukwago (third from the left) with her fellow walk and run group during one of their outings |
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Walking has many health benefits. But, for COPE members who love to walk and compete, winning the "Keep it Moving" challenge is a badge of honor that make all the health benefits of walking feel even sweeter.
On April 13, APHA announced that the COPE Kansas team won the "Keep it Moving" challenge with over 2 million steps (2,343,640 to be exact). The runner-up was not far behind, accumulating 2,018,769 steps. In fact, the runner-up passed COPE Kansas a few times during the 99-day competition.
Susan Lukwago (CHW of Seward County), who loves to walk and jog, initiated the idea and invited Sarah Kessler (Project Lead), Christina Pacheco (Project Director) and Ton Miras Neira (CHW Project Manager) to join the competition.
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Susan Lukwago (CHW of Seward County), who loves to walk and jog, initiated the idea and invited Sarah Kessler (Project Lead), Christina Pacheco (Project Director) and Ton Miras Neira (CHW Project Manager) to join the competition.
"Susan probably walks at least 15 miles a day, according to my calculation," said Kessler.
Despite being a leading contributor to COPE Kansas' success, Lukwago wants to make sure that the shoutout goes to the whole team. "There were four of us walking on the COPE Kansas Team," said Lukwago.
Congratulations, COPE Kansas!
Courtesy photos: Susan Lukwago
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Shining a Light on COPE's Equity Efforts |
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Nadine Long, Clarissa Carrillo Martinez and Jody Hoener (Regional Community Leads) represented COPE at the KU Medical Center's 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Symposium. Hosted by the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, this symposium focused on "access to education, health, and advocacy for Indigenous People in Kansas and Missouri."
In their talk, Long, Carrillo Martinez and Hoener described how each of their region tackled health equity and the work LHEATs and CHWs have embarked on to initiative positive changes in their respective community.
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Image: Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the KU Medical Center |
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🎊 Cheers to A Successful Thesis Defense!
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Ruaa Hassaballa-Muhammad, COPE's former Regional Community Lead for the Northeast Region, successfully defended her thesis on April 17. We are so proud of her achievement and for everything she has done for our community. |
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month |
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Discussing mental health can help normalize conversations about this health issue that impacts millions of people in the U.S.
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- 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year.
- 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24
- Anxiety disorders (19.1%) are the most prevalent among U.S. adults.
- Depression and anxiety disorders cost the global economy $1 trillion in lost productivity each year.
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Missed our prior issues? Want to share our work with community partners? See links to prior issues below.
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