Volume 27
Number 18
September 2, 2016
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Celebrating Those Who CARE
Each year, Penn Medicine doctors, employees, and students from the Perelman School of Medicine volunteer their time and talents to help those less fortunate in the communities that we serve. Grants from the Penn Medicine CAREs program help them fill a variety of needs that might otherwise go unmet. Since beginning in 2012, the program has awarded more than $270,000 to over 220 worthwhile programs.
INSIDE Fellowship Offers Real Life Learning to Nursing Students....2 Want to Cut Calories?...............2 Promoting Healthy Behaviors and Self-Empowerment...........3 Join the 5K for the IOA and Memory Mile Walk....................3 Quality & Patient Safety Award Submission Time Is Here!........4 Bringing Back The "Good Catch"...4
`` (From left) Penn Medicine CAREs grant recipient Qunbin Xiong and his wife, Liping Wang, Gift of Life’s Diana Elbanna with grant recipient Janelle Mirabeau, and Walter Stuhlemmer and Michele Fletcher of CPUP.
“These grants serve as catalysts for the kind of work you do,” said CEO Ralph Muller at a special luncheon honoring this year’s grant recipients. It’s not surprising that so many UPHS staff reach out to our community, he continued. “People who go into health care want to help people,” Muller said. “You devote your time outside of work — on weekends and nights — in addition to taking care of your families.”
If you volunteer for a community organization, you may be eligible to receive a grant. Go to http://uphsxnet. uphs.upenn.edu/community/CARE/ grant.html to learn more. To see more photos from the CAREs luncheon, go to http://news. pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate/.
This year’s CAREs grants helped a wide variety of outreach efforts, including:
• Second Chance Threads, which provides
weather-appropriate clothing for patients discharged from the emergency room. • Reach Out and Read, which offers free books to encourage daily reading aloud at home, promoting both literacy and family bonding between children and parents. • Connect by Night, a shelter program in Upper Darby that feeds the homeless and transports them to a host church for an overnight stay. `` Grant recipient Walter McCoy and his wife Cynthia.
What’s Up at HUP?....................4
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FELLOWSHIP OFFERS REAL LIFE LEARNING TO NURSING STUDENTS Earlier this summer, three student nurses completed the Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Fellowship Frederick Flynn, Jr established in memory of his wife, who lost her battle to cancer in 2013. The program selects rising senior nursing students enrolled at the Penn School of Nursing or Villanova University and provides the opportunity to learn from, interact with and shadow nurses through the continuum of cancer care. This year, the participating students were Mia Alexander and Anna Wilcoxon from Penn and Kimberly Nowakowski of Villanova. At the closing celebration, Mauri Sullivan, MSN, clinical director of Oncology, Medical, and Women's Health Nursing, thanked Flynn “for his vision in creating this program. He has opened a vast amount of knowledge and exposure to oncology care” for these students. Each of the nursing fellows is required to do an evidence-based practice project during the fellowship. Alexander chose to examine oncology nurse burnout, which impacts many who practice in
`` (From left): Kimberly Nowakowski, Fred Flynn, Keri McDevitt (of Rhoads 3), Mia Alexander, Anna Wilcoxon, and Paula Watkins (of Rhoads 7) celebrate the completion of this year’s Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Fellowship.
this field, and recommended several strategies available at HUP to reduce the stress. Nowakowski spoke about the benefits of educating nurses — starting as early as nursing school — on the use of complementary and alternative medicine by oncology patients. Wilcoxon examined dyspnea (shortness of breath), a very prevalent symptom in oncology patients that she said can cause the same anxiety as pain and should be assessed as regularly. “This is a commitment to the future — to our families, our communities,” said Julie Sochalski, PhD, of the SON. “For those who have received much, much is expected.” Concluding the event, Flynn thanked all who “make the program so successful. Behind the scenes with preceptors and nursing staff is where the real learning, comradery and understanding of patient care occurs… compassionate nursing care.”
Want to Cut Calories? New Studies Suggest Placing Orders Before It's Time to Eat Want to cut calories and make healthier meal choices? Try avoiding unhealthy impulse purchases by ordering meals at least an hour before eating. New findings from Penn researchers and Carnegie Mellon University show that people choose higher-calorie meals when ordering immediately before eating and lower-calorie meals when orders are placed an hour or more in advance. The results, which have implications for addressing the nation’s obesity epidemic, are published in the Journal of Marketing Research. “Our results show that ordering meals when you’re already hungry and ready to eat leads to an overall increase in the number of calories ordered and suggest
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that by ordering meals in advance, the likelihood of making indulgent purchases is drastically reduced,” said lead author Eric M. VanEpps, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the Penn Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. “The implication is that restaurants and other food providers can generate health benefits for their customers by offering the opportunity to place advance orders.” Researchers conducted two field studies examining online lunch orders of 690 employees using an onsite corporate cafeteria and a third study with 195 university students selecting among catered lunch options. Across all three studies, the researchers noted that meals with higher
calorie content were ordered and consumed when there were shorter (or no) waiting periods between ordering and eating. To read more about this study, go to http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_ Releases/2016/07/vanepps/.
PROMOTING HEALTHY BEHAVIORS AND SELF-EMPOWERMENT A new initiative created by students from the Perelman School of Medicine will help a local community get better access to health care and develop healthy lifestyle habits. Collaborating with Dance for Health, a community program run by Terri Lipman of the Penn School of Nursing, and Cornerstone Christian Academy, the program will initially provide dance fitness classes for the Academy students and mini-health lessons for students, families and staff. “We want to get people more invested in health and activity,” said Abigail Fessler, a second-year medical student working on the project with fellow students Sonya Davey and Drew Goldberg. The mini health sessions will focus on the specific needs of the population, including talks about asthma and diabetes, both of which are prevalent in this southwest Philadelphia community. Although the start date for the dance class is still up in the air, Fessler said they’re hoping to kick it off in early spring. But these classes are just the beginning. “We want to eventually start a clinic for basic screenings and primary health care within The Common Place (a local community center) for the entire school community,” she said. “Right now the school has no onsite nurse, and the population lacks easy access to primary care providers.” She said med students could also help by performing vision and auditory screenings.
`` (From left): Sonya Davey, Drew Goldberg, and Abigail Fessler are working to help a West Philadelphia community get better access to health care and develop healthy lifestyle habits.
Eventually they hope to reach out to pharmacy students, nurses, optometry students and others to volunteer their time. “Getting together an interdisciplinary team would be great,” Fessler said. “We all bring different skills to the table and could help deepen our partnership with Cornerstone Academy in unique ways.” The Penn Medicine CAREs grant Fessler received will help cover the cost of dance classes, educational material, and equipment necessary for screenings. “We hope to promote healthy behaviors and selfempowerment among children who currently suffer from limited access to wellness education and physical activity,” she said. The endeavor will also strengthen “the relationship between Penn and the West Philadelphia area. We want to uphold Penn’s commitment to improving wellness among our local under-served populations.”
JOIN THE 5K FOR THE IOA AND MEMORY MILE WALK There’s still time to register for Penn Medicine’s 5th Annual 5K for the IOA and Memory Mile Walk! The event, to be held on Sunday, September 25, will take place on Penn’s campus, starting at Shoemaker Green between the Palestra and Franklin Field, and running through Penn Park, with its skyline views of Center City Philadelphia. The 5K Run will begin at 8:00 am and the Memory Mile Walk will begin at 8:15 am. Dogs are welcomed to join in the walk! The cost to register is:
• $25 before September 9 • $30 before September 25 • $35 the day of the race
Proceeds will help further innovative research by Penn’s Institute on Aging through the Pilot Grant Program, to fill funding gaps and foster exploration of new directions in research for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. To learn more and register, go to www.pennmedicine.org/5kIOA. For additional information, contact Elizabeth H. Yannes at 215.573.4961 or elyannes@upenn.edu. Online registration closes on September 15.
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Quality & Patient Safety Award Submission Time Is Here!
BRINGING BACK
THE “GOOD CATCH” The Good Catch program was created to improve patient safety by publicly recognizing outpatient staff who proactively identify potential process issues, report them in Penn Medicine Safety Net, help resolve the issues, and share the lessons learned across the organization.
The UPHS Quality & Patient Safety Awards acknowledge Penn Medicine departments or teams that have exhibited leadership and innovation in activities that ensure high quality clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, patient safety, and/or operational improvement. This award has been a longstanding opportunity for teams to formally document their achievements in quality and patient safety over the last 12 months.
Help us recognize those who demonstrate a commitment to patient safety and prevent harm to patients. To learn more or nominate a person — or team — go to http://uphsxnet.uphs.upenn.edu/ceqi/ and click on “Ambulatory Quality Resources Center.”
Submissions for the 2016 awards are now being accepted. All applications must be submitted electronically by September 30. To learn more and apply, go to http://bit.ly/2bgDXPL.
UP HUP?
The Good Catch Committee will evaluate all submissions and present awards on a quarterly basis, beginning in December. For additional questions, please email agoodcatch@uphs.upenn.edu.
atWHAT’S
Beverly Brown
Chelsea Muhlbaier
Annie Gilbert
Doris Smith-Outerbridge
QUESTION: Why did you choose to work at HUP?
HUPdate As a child I came here with my parents and thought, “One day I’m going to work at this hospital.” I was a volunteer first.
I started as a volunteer and have learned so much working with people, helping patients. It’s been a great experience and I’m still here today!
— Beverly Brown, Food and Nutrition Services
— Annie Gilbert, Patient and Guest Relations
It’s a prestigious place that touches the lives of thousands of people every day. I am an aspiring nurse so I wanted to be a part of that. — Chelsea Muhlbaier, Silverstein 11
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I heard a lot about it. It was the place to be. —D oris Smith-Outerbridge, Ambassador
EDITORIAL STAFF Sally Sapega Editor and Photographer Lauren Hochenberger Graphic Designer
ADMINISTRATION
Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs Holly Auer Director of Communications CONTACT HUPDATE AT: 3535 Market Street, Mezzanine Philadelphia, PA 19104 phone: 215.662.4488 fax: 215.349.8312 email: sally.sapega@uphs.upenn.edu
HUPdate is published biweekly for HUP employees. Access HUPdate online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.