Trip Report Assignment You are still the assistant to Gloria Emmanuel, founder and director of MEND, a public health advocacy and education organization which serves the population of the west San Fernando Valley. Ms. Emmanuel has received some grant funding to attend the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting (see links on Canvas). Since Ms. Emmanuel believes that continuing education is important, she has asked you to attend the conference. While you are there, you are expected to attend at least three sessions—programs, caucuses, continuing education, or meetings. The material presented in these sessions should be something that will be relevant to MEND—something that will facilitate in some way the services MEND provides to the community. Your task is to attend these meetings, pay close attention and take careful notes, and then on your return, compose and deliver a report that will update Ms. Emmanuel on your experience. The report should make it clear to Ms. Emmanuel that the money spent by MEND to send you to the conference added value to the organization. To carry out this assignment, you’ll be researching through the conference program website (APHA conference link that was provided) picking three sessions. Then you will read—and re-read—the information carefully—and then synthesize that information into your report. The conference on the website was a year ago but you have to make it sound like it was a week ago. Remember that the sessions you choose have to be in some way relatable to your employment and your employer’s mission. So while a session on the epidemiology of TB in India might be really, really interesting to you, it will be a tough sell to convince Ms. Emmanuel that this was worth the conference fee. You should plan to do some very preliminary research on the issues of the San Fernando Valley, or your personal experience might be enough to help you choose your programs. The final report should be in memo format—it’s an internal communication—and not to exceed two single-spaced pages in length. Keep in mind that the material has to be organized around a common concept—how your acquisition of this material will be good for MEND and for the clients you serve. Additional audience and purpose analysis will help you focus your results and your message. Addendum: To the memo, you should also append a list of the sessions you attended (title, presenter, and any other pertinent information) and any contacts you made. This can be in any format, but it should be consistent with the memo and easy to read. Adapted from Professor Kathy Leslie http://mendpoverty.org/ MEMO TO: From: Date: Subject: Gloria Emmanuel Jane Doe, MEND Assistant Manager November 9, 2017 Report on the 2017 APHA Annual Meeting & EXPO I had the honor of representing MEND at the APHA 2017 Annual Meeting & EXPO in Atlanta, Georgia from November 4-8 and it was a remarkable success. I attended two continuing education sessions and one meeting, and I am excited to report that I learned a great deal that will improve MEND’s health services immediately. 1. Population Heath and the Future of Healthcare Contacts: Richard Thomas, Ph.D., Ronald Deprez, Ph.D., MPH, and Henry Stabler, MPH. Discussion: The healthcare system in America is failing, and Americans are getting sicker by the day. Population health is a new perspective on healthcare where the assessment and focus of care is on the population rather than the patient. By considering the population, matters such as nutrition, drug addiction, diabetes, and obesity can be addressed for everyone, whether under a doctor’s care or not. Experts agree, the current system is not effective, and will continue to deteriorate without radical shifts in concepts and approaches. In this continuing education class, we learned the details of population health, including methods for applying the concept to our assessments, treatments, and goals for community health. I am now able to identify potential root causes for health issues in the population level, and apply the concepts of population health to the public healthcare sector. Next Step: At MEND, we must consider population health in our healthcare services to better serve the San Fernando Valley where many people have limited access to individual health services. I plan to discuss ways to incorporate this new concept into our services at the next monthly meeting. Henry Stabler, MPH, assured me he would mentor and support us in our goals to help our community by taking the public health approach. He will be at our meeting this month to lay out a preliminary transition plan. 2. Public Health Law: Understanding it and Using it (to Your Advantage) Contacts: Montrece Ransom, JD, MPH, Marice Ashe, JD, MPH Discussion: The law is always instrumental in achieving public health goals, but it is complicated and public health practitioners need more training in this area. The law is currently focused on assisting with childhood obesity, prescription drug abuse and overdose, and nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections. When the public healthcare providers and advocates understand how the law works in conjunction with their efforts, the outcome for the patient and the community is improved. It is also important to realize how the law is affecting the practitioner’s decisions and work so that the practitioner can maneuver most effectively on behalf of the patient. This interactive course introduced me to the foundations of law and specifically, public health laws and policies. Next Step: MEND is best served with a strong understanding of how public laws and policies are impacting us as caregivers and our clients and the community. With this new knowledge I will update our healthcare practitioners and impart new understanding of the most recent laws and policies to them. This knowledge will allow us to work more effectively with our patients. 3. Assessing the Needs and Barriers to Treatment for Substance Use Disorder among Undocumented Immigrants Contacts: Sarah J. Cousins and Desiree Crevecoeur-MacPhail Discussion: Undocumented immigrants make up 10% of Los Angeles County’s population and they are persistently underserved for substance use disorder (SUD). MyHealth LA was a program designed to reach this vulnerable population and provide the care and resources they need. However, up to 77% of undocumented people are still unable to use the services of MyHealth LA. Reasons for this include fear of deportation, lack of bi-lingual employees, language barriers, long and confusing admission forms, long wait-times, and feeling that they are misunderstood by the staff. This meeting provided valuable information regarding the barriers but also many avenues for improving those barriers and increasing the number of undocumented people served by MyHealth LA. Next Step: MyHealth LA is a crucial resource for the people of San Fernando, and MEND has worked successfully with them in the past. We do need to improve our success rates with MyHealth LA by assisting with paperwork, reducing wait times, and conveying a more understanding attitude. Currently all our employees are bi-lingual, so this is not an issue, but we must also try harder to educate our undocumented individuals on the necessity of reaching out for help and the fact that they will not be deported for receiving care. Sessions Attended Saturday, November 4, 2017 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Population Health and the Future of Healthcare Presenters: Richard Thomas, Ph.D. Ronald Deprez, Ph.D., MPH Henry Stabler, MPH New contacts: Kristen Perna, Ph.D. Sunday, November 5, 2017 9:00 am – 12:30pm Public Health Law: Understanding it and Using it (to Your Advantage) Presenters: Montrece Ransom, JD, MPH Marice Ashe, JD, MPH Wednesday, November 8, 2017 9:00 am – 10:50 am Assessing the Needs and Barriers to Treatment for Substance Use Disorder among Undocumented Immigrants Presenters: Sarah J. Cousins Desiree Crevecoeur-MacPhail New Contacts: Sean Whitman Trip Report Assignment You are the assistant to Gloria Emmanuel, founder and director of MEND, a public health advocacy and education organization which serves the population of the west San Fernando Valley. Ms. Emmanuel has received some grant funding to attend the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting (see links on Canvas). Since Ms. Emmanuel believes that continuing education is important, she has asked you to attend the conference. Backstory of MEND to get an idea of what kind of company it is to help picking programs that beneficial to the company: First opening in the 1970’s, MEND has grown primarily by word of mouth into one of the leanest operating non-profit organizations in existence. More than 94% of the support and donations received by MEND provides emergency food, clothing, medical, vision and dental care, services for the homeless, job skills training and job placement assistance, English as a Second Language classes, and youth activities. Ms. Emmanuel believes strongly in her mission and works hard, but the organization is not well known in the area, and sometimes the lack of donations makes it difficult to serve the population who would benefit from its services. MEND has one other parttime employee besides you; Miguel Abdulian, who helps with event planning, computer technology, and various logistical functions. In addition to the three paid employees, MEND has 10 volunteers who work various amounts of time each week, helping with tasks such as leading client support groups, community outreach, preparing education materials, translation, and other duties as needed. While you are there, you are expected to attend at least three sessions—programs, caucuses, continuing education, or meetings. The material presented in these sessions should be something that will be relevant to MEND—something that will facilitate in some way the services MEND provides to the community. Your task is to attend these meetings, pay close attention and take careful notes, and then on your return, compose and deliver a report that will update Ms. Emmanuel on your experience. The report should make it clear to Ms. Emmanuel that the money spent by MEND to send you to the conference added value to the organization. To carry out this assignment, you’ll be researching through the conference program website (APHA conference link that was provided) picking three sessions. Then you will read—and re-read—the information carefully—and then synthesize that information into your report. The conference on the website was a year ago but you have to make it sound like it was a week ago. Remember that the sessions you choose have to be in some way relatable to your employment and your employer’s mission. So while a session on the epidemiology of Adapted from Professor Kathy Leslie http://mendpoverty.org/ TB in India might be really, really interesting to you, it will be a tough sell to convince Ms. Emmanuel that this was worth the conference fee. You should plan to do some very preliminary research on the issues of the San Fernando Valley, or your personal experience might be enough to help you choose your programs. The final report should be in memo format—it’s an internal communication—and not to exceed two single-spaced pages in length. Keep in mind that the material has to be organized around a common concept—how your acquisition of this material will be good for MEND and for the clients you serve. Additional audience and purpose analysis will help you focus your results and your message. Addendum: To the memo, you should also append a list of the sessions you attended (title, presenter, and any other pertinent information) and any contacts you made. This can be in any format, but it should be consistent with the memo and easy to read. Adapted from Professor Kathy Leslie http://mendpoverty.org/ 
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