University

of Michigan Health System

Pa#ent Educa#on Center Lauren M. Johnson
Learning Objec#ves
HBHE Competency Plan, implement, and evaluate health educa#on and health promo#on programs across diverse sedngs and popula#ons. Learning ObjecDves Describe the steps for planning and implemen#ng pa#ent educa#on programming. Apply evidence-based approaches to the development of pa#ent educa#on programs. Enhance wriSen communica#on and interpersonal skills. Apply theories, concepts, and models to Understand the importance of using theory inform the development of health educa#on to develop programs. materials. Describe how theory is eec#ve in understanding pa#ent health educa#on behaviors.

Abstract
The University of Michigan Heath System (UMHS) Pa#ent Educa#on Center (PEC) has a mission to advance the UMHS Ideal Pa#ent Care Experience so pa#ents may be empowered to ac#vely par#cipate in their healthcare. The PEC is responsible for the UMHS Clearinghouse, training employees to create pa#ent centered educa#onal materials, and facilita#ng collabora#on and knowledge sharing amongst departments. My goal as an intern with the PEC was to develop pa#ent educa#on (PE) materials using a variety of media and gain experience planning, implemen#ng, and evalua#ng pa#ent educa#on programs. In addi#on, because the PEC is housed within the main oce for MHealthy and Project Healthy Schools, I hoped to gain exposure to employee wellness departments and school based educa#on and environment ini#a#ves. During my internship with the PEC, I edited PE materials to meet na#onal health literacy standards and rewrote a Preparing for Your Surgery book that will be distributed to University Hospital surgery pa#ents. I also assisted with the development of an online MLearning module that will be used to educate UMHS employees to develop PE materials that meet the na#onal health literacy standards while remaining consistent with UMHS guidelines. Furthermore, aRer aSending several PE events and planning mee#ngs, I wrote a strategic concept paper in support of PE. Beyond PE, I assisted with a variety of MHealthy and Project Healthy Schools events and screenings.

Cri#cal Analysis
Networking
Early on in my internship experience I realized that I had the opportunity to greatly broaden my professional network in addi#on to comple#ng my assigned projects. Many of my tasks required working with employees from dierent health system departments. This was a really rewarding experience as aRer introduc#ons, my supervisor allowed me to work independently with the employee un#l the project was completed. The health system is vast and there are many opportuni#es opening up for public health professionals, so networking was the most valuable component of my internship.

Future Career Goals

Achievements
Projects
Assisted with the development of an MLearning module Lowered reading level of Clearinghouse documents Composed Preparing for Your Surgery book Assisted with the beginning stages of a Pa#ent Educa#on Champion program Created an MHealthy calendar Developed and compiled evalua#on for MHealthy Champion Retreat Developed report suppor#ng PE at UMHS

Events
Pa#ent Educa#on ForUM Pa#ent Educa#on Strategic Planning mee#ngs Pa#ent Educa#on Retreat Visited Health Educa#on Resource Center and Womens Health Resource Center Pa#ent Educa#on templates class Project Healthy Schools and MHealthy Rewards screenings Project Healthy Schools eld day MHealthy Champion Retreat Baby Care Basics class Weight of the Na#on Part 4 screening Produce Cart at the University Hospital Michigan Health and Wellness 4 x 4 press conference

While I believe that there are future career opportuni#es for public health professionals in pa#ent educa#on, this experience has helped me to foresee the challenges that I will likely face. Lack of funding, minimal administra#ve support, resistance from providers and short appointment #mes will con#nue to make incorpora#ng educa#on into health systems dicult. Furthermore, I realized that if I choose to pursue a career in pa#ent educa#on, I want to work directly with pa#ents or providers and do more to facilitate behavior change. Overall, I found that my experiences working with Project Healthy Schools and the various MHealthy departments were more rewarding. At this #me, I plan to pursue future career op#ons in program and event planning. .

Challenges and Solu#ons

While I believe that crea#ng pa#ent educa#on materials that meet health literacy standards is a vital component of pa#ent educa#on, I also believe that much more must to be done in order to facilitate behavior change amongst pa#ents. It was challenging to discover that there is very liSle support and funding for pa#ent educa#on at UMHS. This tended to be consistent with my ndings while benchmarking with other health systems. As I developed my strategic concept paper at the end of my internship, I began to ques#on the vitality of the PEC as it is today. It seems pa#ent educa#on needs to be handled by each individual department as they all have their own unique needs.

Contact
Lauren M. Johnson jlauren@umich.edu MHealthy Program Oce 2060 Wolverine Tower 3003 S. State Street Ann Arbor, Mi 48109 mhealthy@umich.edu (734) 647-7888