Life Sized Life Course Game in South Dakota

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to give a life course workshop in Pierre, South Dakota for over 230 members of the Department of Public Health. My host, Barb Hemmelmen, is a very creative woman and kind host. We tried very hard to find enough games for such a large crowd. When that didn't work, she and her 11 & 13 year old daughters made a life size board. The first hour of the workshop was a complete review of the life course theory with some examples and resources. I'm working on scripting that slide set and will make it available to Every Woman Southeast partners soon. After a break, we played the game as a group - talking about it a bit as we went. Everyone in the audience had a copy of the full board in front of them and their 'assignement' to a particular piece and what that color piece represented. When players landed on the red cards Barb read their fate. I read the green cards. Playing the game with real people was fun and brought laughter and definitely moans when people landed on certain places or received certain risk cards. When we were done with the game we asked people in the audience to get into groups of 3-4 and talk about a series of questions. We then heard back from different groups and closed with a brainstorming session for next steps for South Dakota. While we still recommend playing this game in small groups, the life sized version worked very well in this large group setting. I think we can expect to see great things coming from South Dakota!

Here is a picture of one part of the game. You can see the red and green squares.

Here is another view. We laid it out so the players walked across the front of the room.

These are the wonderful "game pieces" - all supervisors from the South Dakota Dept of Public Health.
Barb - the designer and mastermind is in the blue jacket.

The "death scene" of the game - finding out everyone's fate.

EWSE Meeting Reflections: Adaptive Leadership

By Carol Brady, Executive Director of the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition, Inc.

What a great kick-off for the Kellogg grant and Every Woman Southeast! There are so many opportunities and synergies with other initiatives focusing on poor outcomes among women and children in our region -- ASTHO, AMCHP HRSA, CDC Consumer Work Group. Our leadership group will be an important vehicle for implementing strategies within and across our states. The concepts of “adaptive leadership” (loved Sterling Freeman, the meeting facilitator!) and “leading from the middle” really resonated with participants. We have momentum!

Check out some pictures from the meeting below!

Some EWSE coalition members take a tour of  UNC-Chapel Hill after the meeting on May 22.

One of the facilitated activities from Sterling Freeman.

Megan Lewis from RTI presenting an update from the National Initiative on Preconception Health and Health Care Consumer Work Group.

Lori Reeves (Florida) and Sarah Verbiest (North Carolina) lead a group brainstorming session.

EWSE Meeting Reflections: Meeting of the Minds!

By Monica Murphy, MPH, Public Health Prevention Specialist, Metro Public Health Department

Attending the EWSE Regional Meeting May 22-23, 2012, was a great experience. It was truly “a meeting of the minds!” Representatives from each of the 9 member states were in attendance and full of energy and enthusiasm. The two day meeting was jammed packed with discussions about the vision, identity and direction of EWSE and the much anticipated launching of the W.K. Kellogg grant. Everyone at the table shared their expertise, practical wisdom, and hopes for the grant project and the overall work of EWSE.

As a new EWSE team member from Nashville, TN, this meeting was an opportunity to get an in-depth understanding of the mission and goals of EWSE and to be a part of the strategic planning process as the collaborative prepares to move into a new phase. As an emerging public health leader, I have learned that improving the health of our communities is not a one man or woman job. The work that we do in our communities and states will not reach its full potential nor have maximum impact without the vision for new approaches that include collaboration, systems thinking, and adaptive leadership strategies. The EWSE collaborative is one example of a multi-state effort to improve the health of all women in the Southeast regardless of race, place, or circumstance.

EWSE Meeting Reflections: A Student's Perspective

By Jessye Brick, Graduate Student at the UNC School of Public Health

I chose to study public health because I was shocked that the United States, despite having higher health expenditures, lags behind most other developed countries in birth outcomes. Throughout my first year of courses we frequently discussed why this may be and how the lifecourse model offers a new way of understanding and responding to the determinants of health. When Sarah first told me about Every Woman Southeast, I was eager to see how public health leaders were implementing the model. I believe that preconception health is one of the keys to promoting women’s health and it was incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to take part in this groundbreaking event.

The first thing that struck me was the wealth of diversity among the participants as far as age and experience. I loved hearing about everyone’s work and interest in Every Woman Southeast. As I saw nurses work with epidemiologists and nonprofit organizations work with government employees, I thought “this is what public health is all about!” Every participant was committed to learning from one another and that included me! I was encouraged to participate in every session and many people were interested in my opinions and career goals. The group was full of lifelong learners who continuously strive to improve their efforts. They recognized and embraced the fact that doing so may require them to move out of their comfort zone at times.

The existing programs in each state and the variety of ways that states have attempted to improve preconception health care also impressed me. South Carolina recently held a video competition for college students to develop preconception health materials while Florida is developing a request for proposals to improve the quality of the postpartum visit. Despite different focuses and approaches, many states identified similar challenges, including a disconnect between stakeholders fueled by competition for limited funds. It quickly became clear why a group like Every Woman Southeast is necessary. By working together we can learn from each other’s successes and failures, while developing new approaches to overcoming common barriers.