Evaluation and Career Opportunities

This week we learned about evaluation and career opportunities. We definitely did not have enough time for evaluation. In my perfect Health Promotions program, there would be a definite order when classes had to be taken. This one should be taken in the first semester. Then maybe we could take the same communications campaign and evaluate it in PH 666. That could cut down a bit on the hell that was that class. They would complement each other nicely, and would make up for the limited amount of time available in this class. Evaluation is an important component and it deserves a lot of attention. PH 666 gave a lot of attention to it, but I ended up feeling overwhelmed. I would recommend spreading it out a bit.

Unfortunately, even though evaluation is so important, organizations don't seem to agree until it's time to get more money. The process should begin before the program does and continue after it ends. It also demands a lot of time and money. These are things that organizations are not willing to give. This is in contrast to how easily impressed they are when it comes to evaluation. During the summer, I had to help with a grant and I volunteered to do the Logic Model. Love it! It's easy and people are so impressed by it. The Public Health Officer actually commended it when she saw it. So that's why I insisited in class on the Logic Model.

Speaking of class, I'm not convinced of the utility of the game. Sorry.... Maybe all of us were feeling a bit worn down, but it didn't seem to get a response from the class. Plus, some people are new to the program-- that game is not helpful for them if they haven't have 666 or Research Methods. Wow I'm sounding high and mighty. Don't mean to! I'm feeling a little world weary since I've come to the end of the program.

And also: Everyone should work for the County. Love it! Just be willing to volunteer for awhile. It's worth it!

Group Project Presentations 2

In the spirit of seeing Public Health everywhere and trying to incorporate it into health campaigns... I'm watching "Grey's Anatomy" and my mom noticed that the doctors are typing at the computer with surgical gloves on. Hello sanitation. Very bad example. But maybe it could be part of a "what not to do" blooper reel for medical/nursing students? And I called it when I said that the guy eating random things has Pica. Thank you PH 604!

So about our group presentation:
I think that we did a great job connecting the objectives to specific messages. We also adapted well when our idea to use SDSU NOW as a focus group. Apparently three of my emails are now in the great abyss in cyberspace now. Or people don't feel inclined to help out someone they don't know. Even if I am a student. Note to self for the future: always have pity on poor little students. And answer emails.

Things we need to work on include having a set standard definition for Shakti. They already have explanations of the organization, but they involve a lot of jargon that might be confusing. We also need to think about what "method" we are using. I thought it was a general word, not a list of specifics.

Well I have faith in our group. Wish I had faith in myself to finish this stupid "Comprehensive Exam", oh and to pass my classes. I'll quit with the whining now....

Great job on the projects class! We're almost there!

Poopular Culture and Entertainment

It was fun watching clips in class and reading about other people's reactions. Laura brought up some old-shool examples (yay Saved By the Bell!) that used popular entertainment to bring up health issues. The 80's were great for that. Didn't Nancy Reagan guest-star on a popular show to talk about the dangers of drugs? It was part of her "Just Say No" campaign. I think that it can be a good idea to use popular shows to access certain sections of the population. But it can back-fire. Some of them can seem really trite and make a serious situation seem also laughable. Going back to the "Saved by the Bell" example, I remember the over-acting that went into Jesse's caffeine pills. It was a bit of a mockery.

On the other hand, maybe using characters that the audience identifies with to illustrate a health danger will help by-pass defense mechanisms. Maybe it will be like it happened to a friend, and that therefore it could also happen to them personally.

Ah, the double-edged sword.

Web 2.0

In class, we talked about how accessible the web is now. But I disagree- there is still an elitist element to it. Ironically, I've learned that while helping with this class. I can't format the course concepts correctly on this blog! This is interesting since I taught myself HTML! Ok, that was back in high-school, but please! The code I found shouldn't look like a complete foreign language. And yet... I still can't get the clickable table to work. So making web sites/content isn't as simple as the class, and the video example seemed to suggest. Web programmers and site masters will still be around!

But it is interesting that people feel more comfortable posting on the internet. In my opinion, it's an evolution because it seems kind of unavoidable. The internet made billionaires out of normal people, so it makes sense that it would become the forum for and by the people at some point. With all of the content (and some rubbish) out there, a need might arise for more content moderators. Does the Wikipedia style of public moderation work? Well, let me put it to you this way: We still can't list it as an academic resource in papers!

Week 10 (Already...ahhh!!!)

In class this week, a lot of the time was taken up by a speaker who taught us about Public Relations. When I think of PR, I do not think of Health Promotion. Instead, I think of people selling products/clients and manipulating the public into buying them. I know- that's really unfair! But this lecture showed how to harness the power of PR for good, not evil. None of us like to think of ourselves as "salespeople". But maybe we should. We've talked about this in class too, but it kinda clicked this week. By trying to "sell" health, we can better combat those who are selling the unhealthy products. It teaches us to try harder and pay attention to what the public wants-- and that translates into more effective Health Promotion. Tough to take in some ways, but I think it's true!

Personally, I did like the speaker. It was a little weird that she didn't have any visual materials-- is that some new presentation technique? Too many people use visuals in order to hide the fact that they don't know what they are talking about. Not so here.

I also thought it was interesting that she played "Spill Your Guts" with me when I walked her to her car-- and I didn't realize it until I got back to class! She could give lessons on that too! Anyways I got an intro to PR that I'm looking forward to applying in the project (what a nerd huh?).

Wildfires

I hope that everyone affected by the fires are doing better. The whole world is rooting for you!

It was quite a harrowing journey for my family and I (especially our dog Ginger). We evacuated Ramona on Sunday night by waiting in a line of cars for 2 hours. Then our temporary place in Escondido got evacuated, so we moved to my cousin's house in San Marcos. We got to know my cousin's kids well- they are very cute, but after awhile they are a bit draining! Luckily we went back to Escondido with my will to procreate battered but still intact.

So we are back in Ramona- no drinking water still! People in my classes will be happy to know that we can take showers now. I know that it's whiny to complain about water in a disaster, but it was completely avoidable. Ramona Water District didn't ask for help when they needed to. In fact, they had to be ordered to ask for help. They also didn't have spare parts for the system. I mean, come on! There needs to be a cleansing of personnel in that company- my humble opinion.

There's also a lot that we should learn about disaster planning. Evacuating somewhere around 700,000 people and having them rome around the county.... was that necessary? I say this because they will have a lot of trouble evacuating people in the future. Especially in Ramona. They wouldn't let us back in after the fire danger was gone because there wasn't any water. My dad pointed out that they wouldn't have made us evacuate simply because the water was out. So that was inexcusable. Speaking of my dad, he did not want to evacuate. He's still a little peeved at me for threatening to stay with him if he refused to leave Ramona. In the cedar fires, my family did not evacuate (I wasn't here). Instead they single-handedly saved the house. The firefighters went to save the town of Julian. We live maybe 2 miles away from a fire department, so there's a bit of resentment there too. My point is that the actions of authorities during crisis may threaten future orders to evacuate. And then there's the whole fire plane debacle and the FEMA "newsconference". No comment. Ugh.

OK- end of rant. This shouldn't be misconstrued as being cold and thankless. Firefighters and emergency personnel saved San Diego. Everyone is thankful. It's good to vent and to point out problems. We shouldn't be sycophantic enough to ignore some constructive criticism, that's all!

Take care!

Week 8: Message Strategies

Today's in class example from CDCynergy really matched what I am doing at work. My work is a bit frustrating at this point. I designed a perfectly lovely Women's Health payroll stuffer. But my boss' boss' boss'... no diggy. So it's back to the drawing board. I thought I had this health communications thing down. Should I really be telling "Shakti Rising" how to better advertise for volunteers? Good thing I'm part of a group on the latter project. As for my payroll stuffer- well, maybe I needed to be tossed down a few pegs. I'm going to look into the CDCynergy stuff a little closer. Anything can help at this point cause I've hit a wall!

Speaking of work, I will be helping with a fluoride/varnish dental clinic for Share the Care on Saturday. It's nice to work in the field sometimes!

Another thing that struck me in class was a "mad lib" style motivation/audience centering exercise. Here it is:

If I do instead if I will because .

So let's apply this:

If I actually work on writing my comprehensive exam paper instead of continuing to procrastinate, I will survive grad school in one piece because I will be able to graduate in December.

Or something like that. Still a little fuzzy on the support info part. Maybe this will work if I paste it on my mirror?
Blech.