ANNUAL OVERVIEW 2014 - 2015
What’s Inside...
April 17th, 2015 A look back at the accomplishments of the 2014-2015 ISCOPES season, complete with Learning Community profiles. A look forward for the 2015-2016 ISCOPES season, including our upcoming celebration of our 20th Anniversary!
OUR COMMUNITY IS A UNIQUE BLEND OF LOCALS, TRANSIENTS, & TRANSPLANTS, BUT ALL OF US ARE LEARNERS, COLLABORATING TOGETHER FOR HEALTH.
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DEAR FRIENDS, D
ay in and day out, participants of the Interdisciplinary Student Community-Oriented Prevention Enhancement Service (ISCOPES) program are learning and practicing what it truly means to be a person and community-centered, team-oriented, health-affecting professional. As a means of creatively and proactively addressing our country’s chronic disease epidemics, soaring healthcare costs, unjust health inequities, and growing dissatisfaction among our healthcare workforce, the ISCOPES process involves reframing how people collaborate: focus on strengths and work upstream so we get to the root of the health challenges we collectively face. All the members of our ISCOPES family - students, staff/faculty, community practitioners, our underserved DC neighbors, and our ISCOPES Leadership Team (ILT) - are breaking down barriers to authentic and sustainable collaboration. By becoming aware of, understanding, and appreciating the nuanced but sometimes critical differences in our values and priorities; by focusing on mindful communication that requires us to see the conversation from the shoes of the other; by distributing power and accountability so that shared responsibility can be felt, not just discussed; and by putting the collective good of the team before one’s self interests, ISCOPES members are able to build the meaningful relationships necessary for individual and systems level change. Through our three phase process, ISCOPES students are first trained how to reframe their perspective on serving and learning with others; then, they are guided by communityinformed Starter Projects to implement service programs that consider best practices, readiness, and fit; finally, students apply their training and experiences with our community partners and neighbors to preparation beyond ISCOPES, so that transformative lessons here translate to their future work environments. Meanwhile, community partners and neighbors have convenient and safe outlets for exploring health-related tribulations and for honing the assets they have to improve their current health situations.
We are excited, in our 2014-2015 Annual Overview, to highlight the role interprofessional service-learning can play in developing a more effective, culturally competent health workforce; to profile some of the people at the heart of ISCOPES; and to recognize and thank the forward-thinking schools, administrators, and practitioners who enable us to do this life-changing work. Moreover, we have included a sneak peek into our 2015-2016 20th Anniversary Year, a banner year that will involve us honoring where we have been, reflecting on where we are, and pursuing where we go next. We hope you will join us during this reflective and celebratory time! We are so grateful to everyone who makes ISCOPES a reality. Our students, coaches, team advocates, advisors, champions, and friends around DC catalyze this movement to change the face of health in our nation’s capital and beyond. We are indebted to your brilliance, resilience, and servitude.
Angie Hinzey Director Donna Javellana Community Engagement and Communications Manager
a n n o D & e Angi
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CONTENT 05
Introduction
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Mission, Goals, & Objectives
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Key Outcomes
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Guardian Engagement
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Healthy Teen Scholars
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Adult Health Literacy
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Veterans History Project
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Senior Wellness
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Alternative Spring Break
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The ISCOPES Process
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Student Profile
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Partners & Clients
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Leadership Team Testimonials
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Coaches & Alumni
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Outlook for 2015-2016
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Financials
New to ISCOPES? Be sure to start with our Goals and Objectives on page 8 to give you a good foundation. Curious about what we did in ISCOPES for the 20142015 year? Be sure to check out our Key Accomplishments on page 10 and check in with our Learning Communities on pages 12 - 23. Wondering about getting involved with ISCOPES? Talk with any of the people featured in the pages 28 - 35.
OUR GOALS TO ACHIEVE OUR MISSION AND WORK TOWARD OUR VISION, WE HAVE SET THE FOLLOWING GOALS
1. GW students will competently engage in intensive, health promotion experiences
2. GW faculty/staff will effectively serve as community health promotion coaches
3. Community leaders will facilitate capacity building through university-community health promotion partnerships
4. High priority target populations in the DC metro area will participate in health promotion activities
5. University-community partnerships will be strengthened
THE MISSION OF ISCOPES IS TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH A SERVICE-LEARNING EXPERIENCE WHILE ADDRESSING COMMUNITY-IDENTIFIED HEALTH NEEDS IN THE WASHINGTON, DC METROPOLITAN AREA. 8
OUR OBJECTIVES THE FOLLOWING LEARNING OBJECTIVES HELP US MEASURE OUR PROGRESS TOWARD GOAL 1. 1. Describe personal and professional values and ethics 2. Compare and contrast one’s own key values and ethics with those of others 3. Articulate the necessity of integrating self and others’ key comparable and contrasting values and ethics 4. Express confidence in one’s ability to integrate own and others’ values and ethics 5. Promote and integrate own and others’ values and ethics into team interaction 6. Share up to date discipline-specific knowledge with others 7. Express confidence in one’s ability to share accountability with teammates 8. Integrate own and others’ assets to optimize team functioning 9. Advocate for shared accountability for team performance 10. Describe to others one’s own responsibilities and limitations 11. Compare and contrast mindful and responsive communication practices to ineffective practices 12. Express the importance of using mindful and responsive communication practices 13. Express confidence in one’s ability to use mindful and responsive communication practices 14. Choose effective communications practices to facilitate interactions that enhance team functioning 15. Organize and share information with others in a manner that reflects their communication needs 16. Demonstrate active listening when communicating with others 17. Encourage others to share ideas, opinions, and feelings 18. Give and receive timely, sensitive, and constructive feedback to and from others about team interactions 19. Use respectful language reflective of the situation 20. Reflect on team development in practice 21. Reflect on effective team responsibilities and operations in practice 22. Identify one’s self as part of a team 23. Recognize the relationship between team functioning and outcomes 24. Express confidence in one’s ability to perform within a team 25. Apply and adapt cumulative knowledge and experiences to teamwork best practices 26. Apply leadership practices that support collaboration and team effectiveness 27. Adapt team practices within various environmental conditions 28. Engage self and others to constructively manage differences in order to support team purpose 29. Share accountability for team outcomes 30. Evaluate own and others’ performance for team performance improvement 31. Facilitate a collaborative climate grounded in personal and professional values and ethics as they relate to health and healthcare 32. Develop an understanding of one’s own responsibility and those of others toward achieving personal and communal healthy living 33. Communicate with others in a mindful and responsive manner that reflects a team approach to personal and communal healthy living 34. Contribute as an equal member of an effective team operating within various environmental conditions
OUR VALUES »» Universal healthcare access »» Authentic collaboration between university and community »» Service-learning as a core strategy »» Evidence-based, research-informed, and/or science-based resources enhanced with culturally appropriate adaption options »» Interprofessional teamwork »» Culturally competent services »» Sustainable, outcomes driven projects »» Empathetic professionals »» People from all walks of life
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KEY OUTCOMES
S
erving and Learning Together = Authentic Relationship Building: “My teammates and I learned about, with, and from each other during the times spent together. Whether volunteering at the CLC or simply having lunch as a group, we often talked, shared our opinions, asked questions, gave each other advice, and underwent extraordinary experiences together that ultimately made us depend on one another. We identified the strengths of each individual in our group and heavily relied on each other to be the leader at various times. Because our conversations ranged from planning VHP events to discussing television shows, and we genuinely enjoyed the company of our teammates, learning about, with, and from became natural.” MPH Student, Veterans History Project Learning Community Checking Professional Assumptions: “A crucial aspect that we all learned throughout the year was to keep an open mind as to what the [families] know…we made a lot of assumptions early on about what we as public health folks, future doctors, and future PAs would be bringing to the community in this sort of “we are GW…we are going to come to the community” way. I think we were continuously surprised with how much information was very well known within our population and by what we were constantly learning from the parents/guardians. So, it is really important to stay humble about that stuff and focus on listening…focus on the gaps to fill…be cognizant of the fact that these are families that really are in tune with their children’s health to begin with.” – Sandy, PA/MPH Student, Guardian Engagement Learning Community Seeing Health Challenges from Multiple Levels: “ISCOPES opened my eyes to the system level barriers and challenges that exist in communities. I found myself observing situations from a different perspective than I had before...[a perspective] that involves investigating different levels of the socio-ecological model [and] looking at multiple sectors’ involvement in the root causes of an issue. “ - Semira, MPH Student, ISCOPES Team Advocate, Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community
Haneen Abudayyeh, 1st year Epidemiology Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community Spring 2015 Blood Drive in partnership with Dunbar High School and the Red Cross
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GUARDIAN ENGAGEMENT Early Childhood Interventions? W hy Early childhood development is
considered to be the most important phase in life which determines quality of health, well-being, learning, and behavior across the lifespan (WHO). The course that development takes in each person depends critically on the quality of stimulation, support and nurturance that a child experiences in their family, neighborhood, & care environments. This Learning Community’s Goal - Engage and empower parents and guardians for the sake of child development.
Key Activities Hosted a Parent Meeting to begin relationship building and to gauge topic interest. Nutrition and healthcare arose as topics of interest. Used “Grab n’ Go” activities to engage busy families picking up their little ones, including: 1. A handwashing station used to teach proper washing technique 2. A burpee demonstration, complete with a 14 day workout plan 3. Taste-testing of kid-friendly smoothies: Pumpkin Pie; Kale, Apple, and Banana; Spinach, Strawberry, and Banana 4. Information on flu shots and how to prevent the flu 5. Maps of local healthcare providers 6.
82,958
The number of students enrolled in the DC Public Schools and Charter Schools in FY14, all of whom have to get a Universal Health Certificate filled out every year by their guardian and healthcare provider. -osse.dc.gov
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Guided resources for effective healthcare visits, including 10 questions to ask providers, immunization schedules, and information breaking down the pieces of the DC Universal Health Certificate.
ADVICE FROM THE STUDENTS OF GUARDIAN ENGAGEMENT: Keep an open mind! Don’t jump to conclusions and [make] assumptions about what the guardians at Southeast Children’s Fund know, where there may be knowledge gaps, and what topics are on their minds. Be aware of your own biases, and how your upbringing and education have shaped you. Be willing to learn and grow. Be willing to adapt and change. Understand other’s intrinsic motivations, skills, interests, & expertise.
SPREAD FUN, NOT THE FLU!
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HEALTHY TEEN SCHOLARS combine scholarship and health? The health workforce development W hy pipeline begins long before a young person enrolls in college during a time in life when people are most susceptible to forming lifelong health habits: adolescence. Moreover, “older children who consistently participate in afterschool activities are more likely to attend college, vote, and volunteer later in life” according to ChildTrends.org. This Learning Community’s Goal - maintain and further develop a Red Cross Club at Dunbar High School, a historically significant high school in the DCPS Public Schools System. Through such a club, GW students worked with Dunbar students interested in health careers to discuss health issues couched within the context of being a future healthcare professional. The intention is to ensure teens feel safe talking about the health issues that affect them while nurturing their interests in becoming future leaders in health-related fields.
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KEY ACTIVITIES OF THE RCC BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE IS TOUGH, BUT THIS TEAM MADE IT HAPPEN. GW students and coaches worked with Dunbar students and coaches to hold weekly after school Red Cross Club (RCC) meetings. Health topics during these sessions ranged from healthy relationships to proper nutrition to investigating chronic diseases like diabetes and HIV. An Executive Board of predominantly sophomore and junior students was elected and mentored for the purposes of ensuring the Dunbar students could practice the art of teamwork modeled by their ISCOPES team. Moreover, the age of the elected students will help continue the institutionalization process of the club in the coming years. In order to teach and practice servant leadership, community service was also at the core of the Red Cross Club activities. From participating in the Walk to End HIV in partnership with Whitman Walker Health to Eating with the Unhoused at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church to hosting a blood drive in partnership with the American Red Cross, the GW and Dunbar students amassed several hours of service.
This year’s activities concluded with a Health Careers Fair which garnered the participation of 20+ health professionals and hundreds of Dunbar students.
ADVICE FROM THE GW STUDENTS OF THE HEALTHY TEEN SCHOLARS (HTS) LEARNING COMMUNITY: 1. Be flexible, because no matter how many great plans you have, they will change. Have a solid Plan B, and maybe even a Plan C sometimes. 2.
Maintain open and appropriate communication. Establish what is preferred with your teammates, coaches, leadership team, students, peers, and [community partners] as soon as possible.
3. Build relationships with your coaches, teammates, and students. It’s a lot more fun as friends! 4. Be open and honest with your teammates about what you can and cannot do. Give it 100%!
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ADULT HEALTH LITERACY is Adult Health Literacy important? Health literacy is deW hy fined as the ability to obtain, process, and understand health information to make informed decisions about health care. The cost of low health literacy is $237 billion to the U.S. economy = up to 17% of related healthcare expenditures could be saved.
This Learning Community’s Goal - build adult health literacy related to over-the-counter v. prescription medications; knowing when to use your medical home v. the ER; and finding/using accurate, unbiased, updated health information on the Internet. Key Workshop Topics:
Low health literacy is perpetuated by: 1. Health information: where and how to locate valid medical information
• A health care system that is difficult to navigate • A health system that is designed to generate profits through insurance instead of being incentivized to produce better patient outcomes • The advertising & marketing communities who present misleading & sometimes misinformed information that clouds people’s ability to identify trustworthy health information • Cuts to public health programs that would otherwise increase access to quality care and resources • The ACA, which has provided millions with health insurance, but not the tools and resources necessary for learning how to navigate the healthcare system for the first time
2. Computer literacy: utilizing the Internet to find information on health, jobs, and professional development 3. Medication literacy: how to recognize and comply with the information presented on a prescription label 4. Healthy relationships: information and discussion about HIV/AIDS, prostate cancer, and practicing open communication 5. Dental care: oral health education in partnership with Smile Services 6. Summer safety: staying active, safe, and hydrated during the hottest months of the year 7. Stress relief: remaining calm and finding positive affirmations in times of stress
61%
The percentage of adults in the District of Columbia who read at or below a 6TH GRADE READING LEVEL. Only 40% of District residents have completed grades 9-12 (or their GED) as their highest level of education.
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ADVICE FROM THE STUDENTS OF THE ADULT HEALTH LITERACY (AHL) LEARNING COMMUNITY Our community members want to take an active role in improving their health and wellbeing. Keep them at the forefront of everything. It is of utmost importance to earn and maintain the trust and respect of your community members. With the broad range of [work to be done], use interdisciplinary teams to your benefit! Delegate and spread out the work. Allow people to use their expertise as well as to practice new skills.
COMMUNITY COACH, HERB BAYLOR, AND THE AHL STUDENTS AT THEIR HEALTH FAIR. As a culminating event, the intention of this event was to connect the men of Emery House to health organizations around DC so that they would have continued access to health resources in between ISCOPES years. Participating organizations included Back on My Feet, CVS, DC Health Link, Smile Services, Unity Health Clinic, and Whitman Walker Health. Resources about financial health, nutrition, and prostate health were also provided.
MARY’S CENTER WOMEN’S GROUP
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VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT
W HY ENGAGE IN STORY-TELLING WITH VETERANS?
31,839 veterans live in DC. 31% of these veterans are estimated to experience Post Traumatic Stress. Telling one’s story is a tool for coping with this stress and for building mental wellness. THIS LEARNING COMMUNITY’S GOAL Using the Veterans History Project Fieldkit developed and provided by our partners at the Library of Congress, the intention of this team is to engage with veterans at the Community Living Center of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and on GW’s campus to first build relationships and then recruit veterans to share their stories about their time in the armed services.
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KEY ACTIVITIES FOR VHP
TO BUILD MENTAL WELLNESS AND INCREASE PARTICIPATION IN THE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT: Hosted the monthly birthday celebrations at the CLC, which included serving food, providing crafts, and spending time with the veterans. Over time, visited CLC outside of birthday celebrations. Hosted a screening of Honor Flight.
ADVICE FROM THE STUDENTS OF THE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT (VHP) LEARNING COMMUNITY Talk to [experts] to best learn how to talk to [community members] and more importantly, how to listen. Reach out to [other organizations]; the more connections you have, the better you can reach the community and the [people] you are trying to serve. Go as often as you can to [site]; the [people] there may just want someone to spend time with them.
Collaborated with the Library of Congress and the Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community to get more students, including student veterans, involved. Built relationship with The DC Center, GW Student Veterans Association, and several interviewees.
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SENIOR WELLNESS focus on senior engagement? Seniors W hy make up an increasingly large percentage of our population and represent the portion of our population with the most life experience. However, healthcare tends to focus only on the disease burden of this population rather than on the health potential. This Learning Community’s Goal - Foster health and community-oriented lifestyles at underserved senior living centers via food, exercise, and arts-related activities.
Key Activities 1. Gardening sessions 2. Zumba and chair aerobics workshops 3. Heart healthy bingo 4. Card making 5. Meditation and stress-reduction workshops 6. Cooking demonstrations and healthy snack options
58% Of the population of seniors ages 65+ living within the District, 58% are either overweight or obese and 21% are living with diabetes. -CDC.gov
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ADVICE FROM THE STUDENTS OF THE SENIOR WELLNESS (SW) LEARNING COMMUNITY “No need to reinvent the wheel, just pimp the ride” – Christina Promoting “Health” may not always be visibly apparent...but if [you] can lift a person’s mood, promote social interaction, or bring them out of their apartment when they would have otherwise stayed inside alone, [you] have bettered their health if even in a small way.
Despite the similar site populations, the desires and needs of the residents differed greatly. [You have to] adapt projects and implementation processes to accommodate these differences.
erhen if
EVERYBODY LOVES BINGO
ered odate
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ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK C
ommunity-building tends to work best when there is food involved. We took this mantra seriously for this year’s Alternative Spring Break wherein GW students and the ISCOPES Leadership Team partnered with the staff and clients of Bread for the City (BFC) to create the 2nd Annual Healthy Community Cookbook...from scratch, of course!
The process involved clients and staff first sharing their stories about their favorite family recipes with the GW team. Then, healthy options were researched and added to the mix to ensure folks with all sorts of diets could enjoy the recipes. Lastly, information about BFC’s food-related resources - like their food pantry, rooftop gardens, and orchard - were added as the final ingredients. The end result is a beautiful compilation of photos, healthy tips, mouth-watering ideas, and personal anecdotes. The culminating event of the Alternative Spring Break was the Cookbook Launch Party. BFC clients and staff were invited to taste test some of the recipes from the new Cookbook. Authors were able to add their signature to their recipe page(s) and prizes intended on making healthy cooking easier were distributed via trivia games and raffles. One of the highlights of the event was when a client at BFC’s SE location - who won the grand prize of a crock pot - said, “I was praying I’d win this crock pot...I was just able to move into my own home off the streets, and this will be the first thing I have there.”
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HOW DO WE DO WHAT WE DO? THE ISCOPES PROCESS IS NOTHING SHORT OF AWESOME.
Synthesis & Evaluation
Application & Analysis
Enga Peo
B
Who gets reso and what resp
Knowledge & Comprehension
Build
Each person has ow experience
Bui
Information and sk
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THE ISCOPES PROCESS - HOW WE DO
Tell Me About The Big Picture!!
Current Learning Communities determine next steps for Future Learning Communities
Concrete
Plan Subsequent Team Starter Projects
Contextualize Within Various Environmental Conditions
Skill-based, health-focused team projects – starter project to be implemented, and then analyzed and adapted for each partner site within each Learning Community
Focus on a Specific Health Domain
Learning Communities will grow around Guardian Engagement, Healthy Teen Scholars, Adult Health Literacy, People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Transitioning Veterans, Senior Wellness
Build Awareness, Understanding, and Value of Health and the Healthcare System
resources for living healthy, when/where/how do they get these resources, responsibilities do practitioners have for enhancing and distributing these resources
uild Awareness, Understanding, and Value of Others
Build Awareness, Understanding, and Value of Self
nd skills learned elsewhere, filtered through own brain = one’s own knowledge; Gaps in information and skills = room for growth
Abstract
as own filter and unique knowledge due to differences in access to information: ences outcomes causation; and sources books, people, media
The Evolved ISCOPES Model for Transcendence and Contextualization 9/2012 – 4/2013 25
OUR STUDENTS S
tudents are the lifeblood of ISCOPES. Hailing from GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Elliott School of International Affairs, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, and Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, students dedicate themselves to becoming effective members of interprofessional teams as well as mindful, skilled health professionals.
Molly Crenshaw, 1st Year MPH Student Senior Wellness Learning Community Card-making with the residents of St. Mary’s Court Holidays, 2014
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3%
PA/MPH, MA, PhD STUDENTS
12%
7%
MHSA STUDENTS
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
62% MPH STUDENTS ALL TRACKS
10% MS STUDENTS
8% MD STUDENTS
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PARTNERS & CLIENTS SERVING AND LEARNING WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS & THEIR CLIENTS IS OUR PASSION
A
ttempting to describe the bond you develop with folks when you experience joy, frustration, excitement, grief, and hope together is almost a fruitless exercise. However, we would be remiss not to try. Our partners and clients are our teachers, our guides, our cultural experts. They show us the ropes of the intersections between health, housing, education, transportation, and employment. They help us think though what individual and systems level change looks like in real time under the strain of real conditions. They cultivate our understanding of the plethora of assets every member of our community brings to the table and they remind us that we all have weaknesses. They model for us how to make impossible, possible; how to turn despair into resilience; how to find light even in the darkest moments. The volume of people - clients, consumers, patients, neighbors, or whatever you might label them - who have shaped our learning and service this year numbers in the hundreds. We honor them and the 2014-2015 community partner sites that brought us together. Those sites are as follows: A Wider Circle
Bread for the City
DCPS Head Start
DC VA Medical Center
Dunbar High School
Emery House
GW Student Vets
Library of Congress
Mary’s Center
Sibley Plaza
Southeast Children’s Fund St. Mary’s Court
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THE MOST PROFOUND STRENGTH OF ISCOPES IS ITS PEOPLE. KEY PEOPLE OUR COMMUNITY COACHES MAKE ROOM IN THEIR HECTIC SCHEDULES TO MENTOR OUR STUDENTS. THEIR DEDICATION TO THEIR WORK AND THEIR CLIENTS IS ALWAYS INSPIRATIONAL AND MOTIVATES ALL OF US TO GET INCREASINGLY BETTER EVERYDAY. THESE ARE SOME OF THE UNSUNG HEROES OF OUR COMMUNITY:
• Dr. Robert Gundling of Southeast Children’s Fund • Ms. Megan Patterson of Dunbar High School • Ms. Maria Andreina of Mary’s Center • Mr. Herb Baylor of Emery Work Bed Program • Ms. Liz Anne Ganiban of A Wider Circle
In addition to these community coaches, ISCOPES is fortunate to have the support of countless staff and personnel at all of our different community partner sites. From ensuring our teams can access the right locations, to helping us brainstorm about everything from electricity to bathroom access, to encouraging participation of clients/residents/ consumers, to assisting with our marketing/ outreach efforts, to relaying safety policies and practices, to advising us on neighborhood resources, the ways in which dozens of folks throughout DC selflessly pitch in is astounding. We couldn’t be more grateful for how welcomed we feel into your homes, organizations, and lives.
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TESTIMONIALS FROM THE ISCOPES LEADERSHIP TEAM ADNAN AHMEDUDDIN ADNAN SERVED AS A GENERAL TEAM ADVOCATE THIS YEAR WHICH ALLOWED HIM TO ASSIST WITH ALL 5 LEARNING COMMUNITIES!
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his has been my third year working with ISCOPES. A lot of who I am today is because of my work with the ISCOPES program. When I first joined ISCOPES, I assumed the healthcare system could simply be fixed with good intentions. I was a na誰ve undergraduate student. I quickly learned that many have good intentions, but systemic issues prevent progressive ideas. Members of the ISCOPES Learning Communities face the same issues professionals in the healthcare field face: lack of funding, poor communication, rigid silos, competing interests, and time conflicts. I experienced first hand these issues and learned that collaborative thinking and big picture approaches to problems is the only way to solve such issues. I also learned of my personal and professional strengths and weaknesses and grew as an individual. I am very thankful for ISCOPES for being a catalyst in the health care field and in my life.
When things get too serious, Adnan lightens it up Countless times in large group trainings, during team meetings, at site, and/or in virtual planning spaces, things get tense because people want to do the best job possible. Adnan loves to sing, knows how to poke fun without offending, and has a great laugh, so he does a great job of keeping us grounded.
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He is always ready to have a good philosophical conversation Whether we are discussing systems level changes or the possibility of original thought, Adnan always brings an important perspective to the forefront. He is also a good listener and is skilled at respectfully disagreeing. You can always count on him to keep things lively!
SKILL AND CONFIDENCE ARE AN UNCONQUERED ARMY.
LAUREN VIOLETTE LAUREN (MIDDLE ABOVE) SERVED AS BOTH A FULL-TIME (ADULT HEALTH LITERACY) AND PART-TIME (SENIOR WELLNESS) TEAM ADVOCATE THIS YEAR!
I
joined ISCOPES in September of 2013 as an enthusiastic and arguably naĂŻve graduate student. Fresh out of college, I believed I had already experienced the real world and was ready to change the lives of hundreds of underserved individuals living in the DC area. My perspective was immediately challenged and I quickly learned that health is not merely about the presence or absence of disease. Health is about community engagement and opportunity. It is about understanding that the status quo does not need to be permanent. Health is about creativity and optimism. It is about empowerment. ISCOPES taught me that in order to change lives, you must first understand the lives that you work with. You must understand that behind every health statistic is a name, a face, and a story. By cultivating relationships, we have the capacity to create a culture that encourages collaboration and change, and mitigates circumstance and struggle. Today, almost two years later, I can proudly say that ISCOPES taught me the true secret behind health: the ability to build relationships and understand people.
Lauren is always ready to pitch in, practice fearlessness, charm the hardest curmudgeon, and secretly melt over the sweetest things Teammates who never let you down are priceless. Lauren is one of those teammates. Whether it is showing up early to make sure the last details are addressed or trucking to CVS for a forgotten supply or brainstorming a solution to the challenge of the day, she always comes through. Lauren also takes creative risks that keep us improving. Lastly, while she boasts a tough exterior, she never hesitates to engage with friends and strangers (and puppies) with a huge smile on her face, a quick quip, and a palpable consideration of that person’s circumstances.
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SEMIRA ABDULMALIK KASSAHUN SEMIRA (ABOVE RIGHT) SERVED AS THE FULL-TIME TEAM ADVOCATE FOR THE HEALTHY TEEN SCHOLARS LEARNING COMMUNITY THIS YEAR!
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joined ISCOPES excited to be able to work with and for young people in DC. I was sure this journey would suffice my passions and desires to empower and engage young people in underserved communities. Starting in 2013, as a member of the Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community, I worked with my team to provide students with opportunities to explore health topics and careers, build authentic relationships, and feel connected. The more I went to site week after week, the more passionate, motivated and dedicated I became to make an impact in individuals’ lives and leave imprints. The twist is that even though we planned and communicated consistently, sometimes we arrived at the high school and found an empty classroom. Hmmm…What did we do wrong? I will never forget the time I went to site and there was a lock down. A student shouted “Why you got to lock us in, this is SE, there are shootings every day!” I was appalled. I was so hurt inside. I couldn’t believe this was the life young people in this area had. This incident didn’t scare me but motivated me to fight harder for opportunities to connect with the students and bring a different perspective into their lives. As I continued my ISCOPES journey in 2014 as a Team Advocate, ISCOPES opened my eyes to the systems level barriers and challenges that exist in communities. I found myself observing situations from a different perspective than I had before. One that involves investigating different levels of the socio-ecological model, looking at multiple sectors’ involvement in the root causes of an issue. Oh! So that’s why the real world needs to have interdisciplinary teams addressing challenges. Obvious. As I finish up my Master in Public Health degree, I have found systems level work is a level I want to work and support change on. Thank you ISCOPES for a wonderful self-fulfilling journey. Not only did I widen my horizon as a professional, but I grew personally as an individual.
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Semira has found a quiet, but powerful voice.
Semira is great at maintaining perspective.
When Semira talks, people listen. Her combination of thoughtfulness and brilliance gently commands attention and respect.
When the details threaten to drown us, Semira always reminds us to take a step back and focus on what truly matters in life.
DONNA JAVELLANA DONNA IS THE “MOM” OF ISCOPES. SHE ALSO SERVES AS OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, AND THE VETERAN’S HISTORY PROJECT TEAM ADVOCATE/COACH!
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n grad school, a wise man once said, “We’re not here to help you get the right answers. We’re here to help you ask the right questions.”
I believe ISCOPES embodies this quote to a certain extent. As a member of the ISCOPES Leadership Team, I’ve learned that at times there are no “correct” answers. Often times you have to think on your feet, trust your teammates, trust yourself, utilize the resources around you and the lessons learned from previous experiences. It also requires acceptance that you might “fail.” But how do you reframe “failure” so that it is an opportunity for continuous improvement and learning? With our teams, we purposefully allow a healthy level of ambiguity to occur. We try our best to provide guidance without hand-holding. We encourage creativity and support the out-of-the-box thinkers, solutions-oriented problem solvers, and brave risk-takers. While it would be easier to provide the “answers,” we don’t. We understand that at times this could be met with anxiety, discomfort, and frustration. But it is in these “messy” moments when individuals are forced to figure out what they and their teams are made of - “What kind of team member am I? How do I enable leadership to occur? Will we succumb to self-interests? Will we rally together for a common purpose?” I am grateful that ISCOPES challenges me to ask these questions of myself with every interaction with the Leadership Team, Learning Communities, community partners, coaches, and clients we serve alongside each day. It is this exercise in mindfulness that pushes me to grow, develop, and continue on this journey of life-long learning. To our newly minted ISCOPES alumni, it is my hope that ISCOPES has helped you ask the right questions of yourself. Carry these questions with you as you enter a new semester, internship, or workplace, and assist your future teammates in thinking through them as well. Donna is the fire at the heart of ISCOPES. Never will you meet somebody with more patience, more endurance, or more empathic capacity. Donna embodies the values of ISCOPES. She is a role model in everything from planning, to relationship-building, to finding solutions in impossible situations. She makes ISCOPES come alive!
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ANGIE HINZEY ANGIE (ABOVE LEFT) SERVES AS THE DIRECTOR OF ISCOPES. SHE ALSO SERVED AS THE TEAM ADVOCATE/COACH FOR THE GUARDIAN ENGAGEMENT LEARNING COMMUNITY THIS YEAR!
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hen I come to work with the ISCOPES Leadership Team, our ISCOPES Coaches, and our ISCOPES Champions at GW, I am among some of the most passionate, determined people I know. When I am at our community partner sites, I am among people from every walk of life who make me feel like the work we do matters. When I am with our student teams, I am among the people who I know will someday change our world by giving people a fighting chance at being truly healthy. I love my job, even the late-night text messages about last minute preparations for a team’s next morning service event. I love watching people learn from one another. I love experiencing the growth in connectivity between those who would otherwise be strangers. I love dissolving the gap between research and practice. I cannot imagine having spent the last 5 years of my life any other way.
Two other notable accomplishments: 4 ISCOPES students (current/alum) participated and won the DC Regional Case Competition in October 2014. Angie got to serve as one of their faculty coaches in partnership with Beth Tuckwiller of GW GSEHD.
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Additionally, ISCOPES hosted its first annual Winter Survival Movement, an ISCOPES-wide effort that generated hundreds of donations for those forced to live outside this winter season.
FACULTY COACHES & ISCOPES ALUMNI The faculty coaches that serve in ISCOPES truly embody what it means to go above and beyond. Without recompense, they faithfully show up at large group training events, team meetings, site implementations, and special coaches’ events. They share their academic expertise and their practical experiences while giving our students room to grow in their own expertise and experiences. They help the ISCOPES Leadership Team sustain relationships with our community partners and they model what it means to be scholar-practitioners. Lastly, their dedication to service and social mission is profound, a rare characteristic which only makes them more special to the entire ISCOPES family. This year, Shawneequa Callier, MA, JD, and Joelle Simpson, MD, MPH served as faculty coaches for our Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community. Toni Thibeaux, MPH, served as a faculty coach-in-training for the same Learning Community. Karyn Pomerantz, MLS, MPH, and Sandy Hoar, PA-C, MPAS, served as faculty coaches for our Adult Health Literacy Learning Community. Sarah Meadows, MEd, served as a faculty coach-in-training for our Senior Wellness Learning Community. Paul Tschudi, EdS, MA, LPC, serves as a part-time advisor for our Veterans History Project Learning Community. A BIG THANK-YOU TO ALL OF THESE COACHES!
ISCOPES Alumni also play a part! From serving as volunteers, guest speakers, and judges during some of our large group training events to serving as content experts at various sites, our alumni are simply awesome. Each year, they also aid in the knowledge transfer process between teams by participating in the recruitment process and by giving advice early on in the ISCOPES year. Moreover, they are an active network of practitioners that are constantly trying to link our students to resources and opportunities. We are so excited for our newest ISCOPES graduates to join this prestigious group of phenomenal people!
“I LOVE MY COACH...I’VE LEARNED MORE FROM HER THAN ANYONE ELSE” 35
LISTEN UP. NO NEED TO BE SCARED OF THE FUTURE. 2015-2016 IS GOING TO ROCK! 36
OUTLOOK FOR 2015-2016 Just around the corner is the 20th Anniversary of ISCOPES. We intend to celebrate and we want you to join us! In honoring where we have been, reflecting on where we are, and pursuing the next phase of ISCOPES, we are going to need all hands on deck. From your memories to your commitment to making ISCOPES increasingly effective - both for our students and the folks we serve - there will be numerous ways for you to give back and help us make this the best year yet of ISCOPES. A few steps you can take today: 1. Update your contact info with our office via iscopes@gwu.edu 2. Submit a favorite ISCOPES story or photo of yours to iscopes@gwu.edu 3. Set up a time to chat with us about the next steps of ISCOPES and ways you can help shape our future! 4. Get your ISCOPES friends to join in, much like Kristely Bastien (2 year participant of the Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community) is doing so well in the photo below!
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FINANCIAL SUPPORT ISCOPES would not be possible without the financial support of the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. Dean Lynn Goldman, Associate Dean Vigilance, and the entire dean’s suite have truly gone to bat for ISCOPES by providing us with space in the new Milken Institute School of Public Health building and with the funding to make interprofessional workforce development and service-learning with our DC neighbors a reality. We are humbly grateful for the opportunity to do this meaningful work. ISCOPES is also excited about a new adventure with the GW School of Nursing (SON). This year, with the financial support of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the SON and ISCOPES partnered up to design online training modules for interprofessional teamwork and chronic disease self-management. The modules will be used with nursing students in the coming year and once again, nursing students will be welcomed back into the fold of ISCOPES Learning Communities. As a result, a new Learning Community will also
be formed that focuses on chronic disease self-management. Old and new community partner sites will make up this sixth Learning Community and the focus of its Starter Project will be person-centered medicine, peer-to-peer development, story-telling, and empowerment. We appreciate the opportunity to work with the SON on this project! Lastly, we appreciate the in-kind support of the web design team within the School of Medicine and Health Sciences!
90% of financial support for ISCOPES comes from the Milken Institute School of Public Health
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5%
from the School of Nursing
5% in-kind from the SMHS website crew
CONCLUSION A
nother year has gone by...a year full of transformative learning, mindful service, constructive failures, affirming successes, painful shortcomings, and lovely surprises. We started out the year with the intention of changing the way people see themselves, each other, and healthcare. We finish the year confident that those seeds have been planted. We hope that you can bear witness to that fact in the pages of this Annual Overview which has been collaboratively created by many members of the ISCOPES family.
Now, as this cohort graduates from ISCOPES and considers how to apply the lessons they learned from each other, from their community partners, from their coaches, and from our DC neighbors, we begin to prepare for our next cohort...our next group of servant leaders and change makers. They will have big shoes to fill. The future is bright for ISCOPES. We hope you walk with us as we continue to push boundaries, reframe old paradigms, and make a difference in the lives of so many.
ISCOPES: LIFE BEGINS AT THE END OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE.
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STAY IN TOUCH 950 New Hampshire Ave NW #230 Washington, DC, 20037
Check out our blog at https://iscopes.wordpress.com/
Ph. 202.994.3274
iscopes@gwu.edu http://iscopes.gwu.edu
GET READY. Our 20th Anniversary Celebration is underway. Join us on our epic journey of reflection and preparation for the next 20 years!