Greater Detroit Area Health Council

Population Health, Health Equity Intern

The Greater Detroit Area Health Council (GDAHC) is a cross-sector, multi-stakeholder

non-profit dedicated to improving health, increasing access to whole-person care, and ensuring
affordable health care in Southeast Michigan. Currently, GDAHC has six grant funded projects,
one of which is a four year grant from MDHHS and the CDC. This project, Health Around the
Corner (also called 1422), is focused on improving care management and reducing the rates of
obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke in Eastpointe, Roseville, Center Line, and Warren.
There are four priorities that guide activities, which include reinforcing healthy behaviors,
improving support for healthy lifestyles, advancing health care delivery, and implementing
community collaboration for chronic disease prevention.
Up to this time, I have put over 200 hours in Health Around the Corner initiatives,
specifically for reinforcing healthy behaviors, improving support for healthy lifestyles, and
implementing community collaboration for chronic disease prevention. I especially enjoyed
working on these initiatives because of my interest in chronic disease prevention, but also
because of the great learning opportunities I was exposed to. On my first day, I told Lisa that I
was open to any and every experience she thought would be beneficial, and she made sure to
do so. I had the opportunity in creating my own physical activity program that will be
implemented in three workplaces in our target cities for 1422. I also worked on creating
sustainability and equity measures for the grant activities once the grant funding has ended, and
created surveys for our partner. The surveys included CHW referral process, perceptions of
healthy retail, perceptions of 1422 initiatives, and an interest survey for Owen Jax Rec Center.
In addition to these initiatives, I also had the opportunity to attend and participate in several
webinars and health forums, including the American Heart Association Culture of Health Cohort,
Authority Healths Population Health Forum: The Impact of Spatial Racism, and Contemporary
Issues in Urban Health conference presented by Wayne State College of Nursing. Additional
learning opportunities was one objective of mine this semester.
A large portion of my goals and objectives were referring to the evaluation process. To
make sure I met this objective, I attend two meetings that evaluate 1422 activities every month.
The Diabetes Prevention Planning Team meeting involves all of the partners that are associated
with the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). With my experience volunteering for the DPP
classes at University of Michigan and knowledge of the classes that occur at the Y, I am able to
give an outsider perspective into new recruitment strategies, marketing techniques, and
activities to add on that could be beneficial to the DPP participants. I enjoy attending this
meeting because I get to hear from multiple health organizations and see the process
evaluation occurring and how those changes are being implemented and how well those
changes worked. The second meeting I attend monthly is the Macomb Partners in Health
meeting. This meeting involves every partner and stakeholder involved in all activities of 1422.
Partners range from Walgreens, to Henry Ford Macomb, to Greenway Collaborative, to Macomb
County Health Department. This is also a process evaluation meeting. Each partner discussing
what is going well with the activity they are implementing and what barriers and challenges they
are facing. Again, seeing evaluation being implemented has been very beneficial and it has
given some experiences that I can take to my future employer.
I was also interested in learning and participating in community engagement and
participation techniques, more specifically learning the process of getting partners involved and
staying involved and engaged in activities and programs. This objective was met by the DPP
planning team meetings, Macomb Partners in Health meetings, and planning Get Fit Macomb. I
was responsible, with supervision of the Project and Outreach Specialist, Andrell, for planning a
county-wide physical activity program. It was later named Get Fit Macomb. As Andrell and I
started planning, we realized doing a county-wide program would be too much to take on with
the limited time we had, so I suggested doing a workplace wellness competition. We had to get
three worksites (Macomb County Health Department, Chrysler Mopar, and McLaren Macomb
Hospital). Throughout this planning process, I had to make sure each workplace was kept
up-to-date with the changes and progress we were making. It was also important to understand
their input and concerns and take those into account.
To make sure employees were interested in participating, I thought it would beneficial to
have incentives for participants. Only the top three participants who earned the most points will
earn the incentives, so it gives them the push to really work hard. To get the incentives, Andrell
and I had to contact local business because 1422 does not allow the money to go toward
incentives. We were able to get Dorsey School of Massage Therapy to donate a free massage
certificate and a local gym to offer a free month membership. We are still working on the third
prize. As for community engagement, I was responsible for revamping the Brown Bag Events at
Walgreens and getting the community engaged in Owen Jax Rec Center and the programs they
offer during the weekdays. I have a new outlook in community engagement. For marketing and
engagement techniques I was sure would work, at least one person said that it was already
done or not successful or due to neighborhood crime. This is why it is so important to know and
understand the community you are working in.
I also wanted the opportunity to create program and community resources. I created
the flyers for Brown Bag Events and Get Fit Macomb. I also created an infographic, fact sheet
for the accomplishments GDAHC has made throughout 1422 so far. This document was
handed out at the most recent Coffee and Controversy event in the beginning of March. Finally,
grant writing. I think this is great experience to have, especially working in a non-profit. I was
able to help with a handful of grants this semester. I started out doing grant research for
prospective grants GDAHC could apply for. I then was able to write portions of the grant that
required background information on the target communities or topic. This included getting in
contact with MDHHS and asking them to send me the most recent data for Macomb, Oakland,
and Wayne County so I could express the need for programs in these counties. I also sat in on
collaboration meetings for work GDAHC and Wayne State will be working on.
I could not have asked for a better internship site or preceptor. I felt like more than an
intern at GDAHC and the GDAHC team made me feel like a valuable member of their team. I
was invited to attend all of their staff meetings and they made sure to give me the best
experience I could have. They strive for me to be successful. Kate, the CEO and president,
and Lisa have sent my resume out to their contacts and have set up meetings for me to meet
with members of the board. The purpose of this is for my name to get out into the community
and for employment to come my way because its all about who you know, not what you know.
Im sad to be leaving the GDAHC team, but am so grateful for all of the opportunities
they have given me. I will take these experiences and learning moments with me for the rest of
my career.