Overview

The Big Bend Area Health Education Center, in partnership with the Florida Action Coalition, developed a comprehensive Community Health Worker (CHW) training curriculum and a training program for Florida State University nursing students that focuses on CHW oversight.

Summary of the completed project

Development and review of the CHW curriculum was completed. Training was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They expect to conduct the trainings in collaboration with Florida State University College of Nursing in 2022.   

Outcomes

The CHW curriculum was developed and a working group was formed with the Florida Area Health Education Center network. This network helped develop and execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the Florida CHW Coalition to provide ongoing continuing education for CHWs across the state.

The post Florida appeared first on Campaign for Action.

Overview

The Indiana Center for Nursing, which houses the Indiana Action Coalition, developed the Indiana Nursing Education, Engagement, and Diversity Statewide Initiative (NEEDS) with the goal of improving health equity and increasing diversity and inclusion amongst nurses in the state. In collaboration with diverse partners including AARP Indiana, the Indiana NEEDS Initiative created toolkits offering resources to nursing programs interested in implementing Holistic Review for Admissions and Peer-To-Peer Mentoring.

Summary of completed project

The NEEDS Initiative utilized online platforms to design, implement and disseminate detailed toolkits for both the mentoring program and the framework for holistic admissions, along with evaluation plans for both. Students from underrepresented groups were recently admitted to the program, so the impact of this program contributing to a more diverse workforce will not be measurable for a few years. However, current students participated in focus groups and responded positively to the holistic application process and mentoring toolkits.

Additionally, the NEEDS Initiative helped establish a Community Advisory Committee, made up of more than a dozen organizations committed to diversifying and strengthening Indiana’s nursing workforce. It will be utilized as a mechanism to enhance partnerships and explore future projects.

Outcomes

1. Establishment of a statewide Community Advisory Committee with a dozen plus leading organizations committed to diversifying and strengthening nursing workforce.
2. Toolkits to assist nursing schools in advancing diversity within their programs were created:

1) a toolkit for holistic admissions, and

2) a mentoring program toolkit.

Both toolkits are accessible online and will be updated periodically. As a result of this initiative, 14 schools of nursing have committed to implementing a holistic admissions process and mentoring programs. And more than half of the partner schools are working together to submit a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to build upon and expand this work.

The post Indiana appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2019:

Overview

Building upon its 2018 Nursing Innovations Fund award, the Massachusetts Action Coalition and partner organizations created an anti-vaping curriculum resource guide and disseminated to school systems throughout the state.

Summary of completed project

The Massachusetts Action Coalition partnered with the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents and school wellness committees to create statewide Advisory and Curriculum Development Committees which provided input into the development and dissemination of the anti-vaping curriculum. An evidence-based approach was used to review and evaluate relevant anti-vaping materials and programs. The committee recommended appropriate materials based on grade level. Involvement of the State Department of Secondary Education, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Superintendents Association resulted in distribution of the curriculum guide to all elementary and secondary schools within the state.

The Advisory Committee included representatives from the Superintendents’ Association, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Health Council, the Massachusetts School Nurses Association, the Massachusetts Association of Public Health Nurses, school leadership including principals, counselors and schools resource officers, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the Massachusetts Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Health Safety & Wellness Initiative, the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Addictive Medicine, Collaborative Youth Program, the Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and the Department of Public Health Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program.

The Curriculum Committee included representatives from school districts across the state, including, school nurses, counselors, faculty, a superintendent and a curriculum consultant.

Outcomes
Statewide, multi-sector Advisory and Curriculum Committees were established. Their review and evaluation resulted in a comprehensive anti-vaping resource and curriculum guide that was circulated statewide. Additionally, the Action Coalition created a comprehensive communications plan, including key messages, strategies, and resources to promote the project.

2018: 

Overview

The Massachusetts Action Coalition’s project, Promoting Health Literacy to Influence Health and Wellness of Students in the Community, aimed to develop a health literacy initiative for students in select communities. The initiative focused on engaging nurses to become active participants in existing school wellness committees. Participating nurses received training and access to resources from partners so they could be better positioned to shape school policies concerning school nutrition, physical activity, and other student health issues.

Summary of completed project

The project, Promoting Health Literacy to Influence Health and Wellness of Students in the Community, focused on developing innovative partnerships and collaborations with the National Library of Medicine and the Massachusetts Health Council (MHC) to provide collections of resources to local school nurses and other school wellness committee members through the engagement of nurses in the community. These nurses (called nurse facilitators) received training and access to resources from partners so they could be positioned better to shape school policies concerning school nutrition, physical activity, and other student health issues. Nurse facilitators were volunteers recruited from Massachusetts communities with the low rankings in the Health Outcomes and Health Factors categories in the 2018 County Health Rankings Report. Five initial nurse facilitators served as mentors to orient and support a total of 20 nurse facilitators who shared the resources to support and advance the work of their local school wellness councils.

Outcomes

The Action Coalition attributes much of its success to the partnerships that they forged with National Libraries of Medicine, MHC, Massachusetts School Nurses Association, Massachusetts Association of Public Health Nurses and the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. The primary impact of this project has been increasing the awareness of school wellness committees and their impact on the health and wellness of school children. The process of identifying topics of interest to local school wellness committees resulted in the awareness that statewide, there was a serious concern around vaping. This has led to a strengthened partnership with the state superintendent’s association to develop educational programming and policies related to the statewide public health crisis with vaping.

The post Massachusetts appeared first on Campaign for Action.

Overview

Building upon their previous Nursing Innovations Fund award, the Missouri Action Coalition recruited advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and students to participate in trainings designed to address population health concepts and to increase nursing capacity to support the advancement, efficiency, and sustainability of care providers. The initiative promoted policies, practice, and technology to increase access to equitable and exceptional care and encourage a continuum of services using best practices that improve wellness outcomes.

Summary of completed project

The Missouri Action Coalition partnered with the Missouri League of Nursing to identify areas in the state with rural health facilities that employ APRNs. They worked with the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Nursing and Health Sciences and Maryville University St. Louis to develop and promote online offerings through the Innovative Care Institute program. The education content focused on improving population health, preventing diseases, reducing health disparities, and presenting nurses with self-care strategies to prevent compassion fatigue and burnout.

Outcomes

The project resulted in the development and delivery of multiple training modules that are part of the Innovative Care Institute, which serves nurses statewide. Through the collaboration of the Missouri Nurses Association, Missouri League for Nursing, and Missouri Center for Nursing (Missouri Action Coalition) plans were developed to expand dissemination of the Innovative Care Institute to a wider audience in the state.

The post Missouri appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2021:

Overview

The Montana Center to Advance Health Through Nursing (MT CAHN) aims to advance health equity by involving two nurse leaders on the newly formed Montana Health Equity Task Force. This task force was created to influence policy and guide programs that will improve health equity for Montanans, and the nurse leaders will provide a nursing lens and act as a liaison for the state’s nursing community supporting local level, health equity-focused strategies. Additionally, the nurse leaders will utilize the Campaign for Action’s Health Equity Toolkit to help develop and deliver a health equity track at the MT CAHN Nursing Summit in June 2022.

2019:

Overview

The Montana Action Coalition’s “Reaching Rural” project developed an online learning community for rural, frontier, and tribal nurses who are Native American and representing the tribal communities in Montana. The initiative provided continuing education and professional leadership development with a focus on topic areas that incorporate Culture of Health and health equity principles, including chronic disease prevention and control, adverse childhood experiences, effects on health and trauma-informed care, mental health and substance abuse, interprofessional practice, integrated behavioral health management and practice, rural health leadership, building cross-sector collaborations, and health equity.

Summary of completed project

In collaboration with the Montana Office of Rural Health and Area Health Education, the Montana Action Coalition utilized an online learning management system to provide space for discussion and dialogue in a learning community. “Reaching Rural” was an easily accessible online community that connected nurses from rural, frontier and tribal areas to support their work in leadership and building a Culture of Health. During the project, additional partnerships were created with:

1. the Montana University System Institute for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (MUS IPE Institute) to extend IPE-related content and training opportunities for nurses and students;
2. the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council Epidemiology Center (RMTEC) to assist in the development of partnerships and relationship with tribal health, tribal public health, and Indian Health Service; and
3. the Montana Health Care Foundation to provide access to Integrated Behavioral Health content and connection to the National Center for Behavioral Health for additional trainings. Approximately 25 nurses participated in the courses.

Outcomes

The “Reaching Rural” project was the first online resource community for nurses working in rural, frontier and tribal areas of Montana. Because of new partnerships formed during the project, there has been an expansion of the training sessions and online modules offered and plans continue for upcoming school years.

The post Montana appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2020:

Overview

The Nebraska Action Coalition’s, “Striving for Health Equity in Nebraska,” aimed to address social determinants of health by piloting a project delivering school health fairs, and improving access to care via an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN)-led clinic for rural and underserved populations.

The project team was able to complete both projects. Additionally, a manuscript to Nursing Education Perspectives journal is being prepared for submission.

Summary of completed project

Project 1:

• Nursing students who participated in the school health fairs project were educated in social justice and health equity topics and learned how nurses can play a role in supporting their communities while promoting health-wise behaviors amongst school-aged children. Relationships with Creighton University were strengthened to aid in the school health fair project.

Project 2:

• Building off the 2019 Nursing Innovations Fund, the University of Nebraska Medical College APRN nurse-led clinic continued to integrate the Community Health Worker as a key member of interdisciplinary health care teams, especially as it relates to mental health for those in rural and underserved communities in the state.

Outcomes

The Nebraska Action Coalition continued to be successful in fostering local partnerships and implementing projects, including a Certified Nursing Assistant Mentoring Program and a diversity in nursing pipeline intervention. They built on their history by continuing to forge new relationships while bringing innovation to their work.

2019: 

Overview

The Nebraska Action Coalition focused on three projects designed to address health equity in under-resourced areas through innovative programs that focus on housing and access to health and health care. The project included:

1. a pilot to identify and improve housing in a defined vulnerable area within the state;
2. a survey to assess and establish a baseline of the Community Health Worker (CHW) role in the state; and
3. a pilot study to assess the effectiveness of a mentoring project to support nurses’ aides in furthering their education.

Summary of completed project

In partnership with Live Well Omaha, the Action Coalition developed a pilot project to inspect and grade properties in collaboration with the Omaha Housing Authority, Nebraska Tobacco Alliance, and the Omaha Health Kids Alliance. They also developed a model worksheet for tenants to use to maintain healthy homes.

The Coalition administered a CHW survey in partnership with the Center for Reducing Health Disparities, a division of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health.  The survey results were disseminated through a report to stakeholders.

Lastly, the Nursing Pipeline Committee was formed, and a pilot program was developed to increase the number of nurse aides becoming registered nurses in the state. Phase one of the mentoring program was implemented with five nurse aides joining.

Outcomes

1. Development of an evidence-based checklist tool for tenants to maintain healthy homes; this tool is now in use by the Omaha Housing Authority. Results from the pilot showed “improvement of tenant knowledge of healthy homes” and “improvement of the grade of the property.”
2. A CHW survey and subsequent report, which was foundational in securing a state-wide CHW workforce assessment and three-year HRSA grant, focused on promoting and supporting the CHW in the state.
3. Five nurse aides participated in the mentoring program, with two participants applying to nursing school and one being accepted.

2018: 

Overview

The Nebraska Action Coalition planned on pursuing two projects. One project focused on involving nurses on a health literacy taskforce to develop a health literacy tool. Due to the departure of the lead for this project, the tool was not completed. The second project focused on involving nurses on a multidisciplinary supervision committee to develop guidelines for Community Health Workers (CHWs) across interdisciplinary settings. The third goal of project was to educate and engage nurse leaders on the role of CHWs and the supervision and value of this role to interdisciplinary teams.

Summary of completed project

In collaboration with the Douglas County Health Department and other partners, the Nebraska Action Coalition brought the perspective of the nurse as supervisor as part of the range of backgrounds of supervisors of community health workers to be included in a community health worker supervision toolkit. Following a “2018 Leadership/Culture of Health Conference,” the Action Coalition collected data on community health workers across the state. The Action Coalition did this in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, its Center for Reducing Health Disparities, and Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, an open house included 40 participants from varied backgrounds including business, academia, diverse nursing organizations, and health care leaders to brainstorm and develop action plans focused on building a diverse nurse pipeline. In partnership with the A Place at Home, a homecare agency which employs diverse nurse aides, the Diverse Nurse Pipeline implemented a pilot for five pairs of mentor/mentees.

Outcomes

Members of the Action Coalition have participated in a number of statewide conferences to share information on the project to “raise up” the CHW role as an important interdisciplinary healthcare team member and the supervision direction, delegation, policy, regulation, and leadership roles related to the CHW role. Over 300 nurses (10 percent of the state’s nurses) were informed of the CHW role and the transformation of the interdisciplinary care team. A curriculum on the CHW supervision began in February 2019. The interdisciplinary team produced a report (Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services as the lead author, along with the Action Coalition and four other authors) that will be available in April 2020.  Education of the healthcare profession on the importance of the CHW role to interdisciplinary health and healthcare teams remains a priority of the Nebraska Action Coalition.

The post Nebraska appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2021: 

Overview

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition (PA-AC) will expand its current mentoring program that aims to equip nurses from underrepresented backgrounds with the tools they need to be successful nursing students and nursing professionals. Key components of the 2021-2022 program include mentorship matching from the PA-AC’s Nurse Diversity Council, along with exposure to public health advocacy to inspire health equity and justice. Additionally, the coalition will enhance and promote its PA-ACCEL Toolkit as a model for replication nationwide.

2020:

Overview

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition expanded on previous Nursing Innovations Fund projects to build upon their podcast series “At the Core of Care.” They produced ten additional podcasts that highlighted nurses working to address social determinants of health within their communities. Additionally, they worked with nursing school professors to further the reach of their podcasts into nursing school classrooms.

Summary of completed project

Season three of “At the Core Care” focused on nurses and issues related to the social determinants of health. Examples of topics included: school nursing, oral healthcare in “dental deserts,” LGBTQ+ inclusive care, sexual assault nurses, and more.

In addition to collaborating with partners to market and distribute the podcasts, they worked with their Pennsylvania Academic Progression in Nursing (PAPiN) workgroup to build a pilot program for professors to highlight one episode each week in nursing school classrooms.

Ten additional podcasts were created. The most listened to episode, “What’s Next for the Future of Nursing?” had 3,293 plays/downloads. Seven professors signed up to participate in the pilot project, committing to share one episode per week in their classrooms during the Fall 2021 and/or Spring 2022 semesters.

New partnerships that were formed to produce season three include:

• Sanctuary Farm: an organization that addresses health inequities by converting abandoned and neglected areas in north Philadelphia into farm plots
• National Association of School Nurses
• Medical Oral Expanded Care, an initiative of DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement in rural Pennsylvania
• Luke’s Miners Hometown Federal Rural Health Clinic
• Pennsylvania Youth Congress
• Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health

Outcomes

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition produced ten episodes, which focused on topics related to the social determinants of health, for season three of their podcast series, “At the Core of Care.” To expand the reach of the podcast, they piloted a project with nursing school professors to implement relevant episodes into their curriculum. They plan to expand this project after receiving survey feedback at the end of the Spring 2022 semester. Additionally, the Pennsylvania Action Coalition hopes to collaborate with other organizations to sponsor future episodes that will feature the work of those organizations.

2019:

Overview

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition developed a podcast series, “At the Core of Care,” to showcase how nurses are improving health by enhancing consumers’ experience in the health care system. They adapted and executed a marketing and dissemination plan to promote the podcast and increase revenue generation.

Summary of completed project

Ten new podcast episodes were developed, along with a trailer that highlighted how nurses are driving a Culture of Health. Their marketing efforts resulted in an increased number of downloads, subscribers, and listeners. Through their partnership with the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC), the Action Coalition received funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Agency (HRSA) and the Gender Justice Fund to produce additional episodes.

The titles of the ten new podcasts are:

• Resiliency in Nursing Through Covid-19
• School Nurses and Their Role During Covid-19
• Social Justice in Nursing
• Building Resiliency in the Nursing Workforce
• Nursing Student Perspective of Covid-19
• Preventing SIDS with Cribs
• Examining the Impact of Covid on Community Health Center – Part 1
• Examining the Impact of Covid on Community Health Centers – Part 2
• Empowering Nurses to Change Public Policy
• Nurses Cultivating Patient-Centered Care

Outcomes

The “At the Core of Care” podcast series was accepted into the Health Podcast Network, a collection of 8,000 podcast episodes that feature topics in health care. The reach of the podcast extended beyond Pennsylvania, with listeners from Virginia, California, Ohio, Tennessee, and New York.

2018:

Overview

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition’s project, a podcast series titled “At the Core of Care,” is an effort to showcase the stories of patients, families, and communities, and the creative efforts of nurses and other partners to better meet their health care needs. These podcasts will present a health care need through the lens of the consumer and highlight the ways that nurses and other organizations intervene and partner to transform the health care system.

Summary of completed project

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition created a podcast series titled “At the Core of Care.” The first 10 podcast episodes that were developed showcased the stories of patients, families, and communities, and the creative efforts of nurses and other partners to better meet their health care needs. The podcasts viewed a health care need through the lens of the consumer and highlighted the ways that nurses and other organizations are intervening and partnering to transform the health care system.  The list of episodes includes:

• At the Core of Care Trailer to preview all episodes
• The Fight for Full Practice Authority in Pennsylvania
• Breast Feeding Support at the Philadelphia Nurse-Family Partnership
• Pediatric Home Care for Medically Complex Children
• Bodies and Barriers-LGBT Health Equity
• Immigrant Health Care: Chester County
• Refugee Health Care Parts I and 2
• Nursing Perspectives, with interviews with nursing champions from AARP’s Center to Champion Nursing in America

The Action Coalition focused on reflecting the geographic diversity of the Action Coalition work and the diversity of Pennsylvanians. The Action Coalition contracted a professional radio and podcast producer to both develop and assist in the marketing of the podcasts.

Outcomes

The podcast series had listeners from across the United States and internationally though the greatest number of listeners are from Pennsylvania. The podcast has been played 1,985 times with the most listeners in the two largest urban areas of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. One episode has been adapted for an episode of WHYY’s The Pulse, a weekly radio program and podcast about health and science. WHYY is the Philadelphia region’s National Public Radio member station. A second season of 10 episodes have been prepared and a third is in the planning stages.

The post Pennsylvania appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2019:

Overview

The Rhode Island Action Coalition’s (RIAC) project focused on reducing stigma and increasing nurses’ awareness of substance use disorders (SUD) by creating professional development opportunities, promoting interprofessional engagement, and identifying best practices. They sought to organize community support for those seeking to recover from SUD, and expanded the Action Coalition’s cross-sector network, while engaging nurse leaders to raise community awareness, scale successful programs, and improve hiring practices that address stigma reduction.

Summary of completed project

The RIAC convened a cross-sectional group of over 30 stakeholders from across the state’s health systems, addiction recovery and harm reduction providers, state agencies, and interested community members. The group identified common objectives, including expanding continuing education opportunities to reduce stigma, and educating the public on how to help individuals with SUD. The RIAC brought together a cohort of nurse leaders from across to the state who became familiar with best practices around SUD and shared these practices within their organizations.

Outcomes

The RIAC developed a website, https://www.recoveryri.org/, to be a resource for individuals and organizations who want more information on addiction recovery. To promote awareness on SUD, they hosted a two-part play series and a panel entitled “What Providers Need to Know.” They received $10,000 from the Rhode Island Foundation for the performances and outreach.

The RIAC also served on a team of professionals participating in the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Opioids and Overdoses annual hackathon. Their winning idea ultimately led to the concept for Mainstay, RI, a recovery center for those who have overdosed on opioids.

Work from this project helped familiarize nurse leaders and the state officials the best practices for assisting people with SUDs while addressing stigma and raising awareness of SUD among health providers.

2018:

Overview

The Rhode Island Action Coalition had two primary goals. The first goal was to prepare nurses to provide care for populations with health disparities by utilizing the community-based enhanced primary program developed by a local college. The second goal was to disseminate resources and educational opportunities that promote interprofessional team practices among Rhode Island health practices by developing an awareness and integration campaign to aid in dissemination of these resources.

Summary of completed project

Due to external factors and varying levels of institutional engagement, the Action Coalition was unable to move forward with their first goal. The Rhode Island Action Coalition was successful in expanding participation in the Rhode Island Interprofessional Education (IPE) and Practice Collaborative (RICIPEP) to include the Community College of Rhode Island. The RICPEP had been composed of the Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School, the Rhode Island College of Nursing and School of Social Work, and the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, and College of Health Sciences. The clinical practice partners were two large health systems (Lifespan and Care New England), the Providence VA Medical Center, and the southern Rhode Island Area Health Education Center (AHEC). The Rhode Island Action Coalition was also successful in promoting the interprofessional educational efforts through its network and email distribution list; a garnering media publicity of the joint education effort and working with communication personnel from the participating partners to increase participation in joint education efforts and the annual RICEP conferences in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Outcomes

In the first year of the program, over 200 health professional students from the community college (CCRI) who previously would not have had an opportunity to learn in a multi-disciplinary, interprofessional health team settings were able to participate in and work with health colleagues in a variety of diverse teams. The plan is to expand the current programming to increase the number of students in each subsequent year. Additionally, the publicity achieved in promoting the IPE activities has raised awareness among the general public and health leaders about the importance of health teams to practice collaboratively.

The post Rhode Island appeared first on Campaign for Action.

Overview

The Virginia Action Coalition aimed to promote mental health awareness by convening nurses and behavioral health professionals to discuss opportunities for removing barriers to equitable, quality mental health care throughout the state, along with developing resources and toolkits. The Action Coalition developed a plan to work with community organizations on a program for reducing mental health stigma in economically disadvantaged schools in the state which they will implement in the future.

Summary of completed project

The Virginia Action Coalition was able to strengthen partnerships with cross-sector organizations to advance mental health awareness and training. Through these partnerships, they hosted a roundtable focused on mental health and the criminal justice system, and they created a webinar series on maternal mental health. Nurses, including school nurses, were sponsored to attend conferences and trainings on mental health, leading to a train-the-trainer model being executed for additional trainings in school-related settings. Additionally, discussions were had with Richmond Public Schools about developing an age-appropriate mental health program for kindergarten-12 students.

Outcomes

The Virginia Action Coalition partnered with the Commonwealth Attorney and the City of Richmond Police Department to host the 2020 Mental Health Roundtable Meeting, a convening of stakeholders to discuss reframing the lens on public safety and root causes of crime.

In partnership with the Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaboration, a five-part webinar series on maternal mental health was released, including one during Black Maternal Health Week centered on Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMAD) within the Black community.

Twelve nurses were sponsored to attend the Mind Matters: Improving Mental Healthcare Delivery Across Settings conference, and one school nurse attended the Mental Health First Aid Instructor Training, Youth Module.

The post Virginia appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2020:

Overview

The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON-WA) oversaw the “Bayanihan Response to COVID-19″ project to address health and wellness issues in the Filipino American Community in King County. The three-pronged project included:

• establishing the Telephone Tree Program to reach high-need senior members,
• participating in the International Drop-in Center (IDIC) Grocery and Meal Delivery Program for high-need Filipino families, and
• creating and distributing a Community Wellness Survey and hosting focus groups to determine community needs and establish appropriate interventions.

Summary of completed project

The IDIC Grocery and Meal Delivery Program continues to be successful, mobilizing volunteers to help deliver culturally appropriate meals to high-need Filipino members of the community. Since April 2020, over 20,280 meals and 75,000 pounds of groceries were distributed to 150 elders who are clients of the IDIC.

The partnership with the Filipino Community Health Board (FCHB) was strengthened through this project and the collaboration on work revolving around health and wellness issues for Filipino community members in the Seattle-King County area. Additionally, through partnerships with FCHB and Seattle University College of Nursing, NAFCON-WA was able to recruit three nursing student interns to work on this project, two of which were assigned leadership roles related to the Community Wellness Survey.

Capacity was a challenge for the project, especially since NAFCON-WA relied on volunteers and members. However, the IDIC Meal Delivery Program was very successful, and plans are underway to continue this program.

Outcomes

Through partnerships with other community organizations, NAFCON-WA was successful in their execution of the IDIC Meal Delivery Program and continues to partner with these agencies in other relevant work. They continue to work on the other deliverables.

2019:

Overview

The Washington Action Coalition built on previous research showing Washington nurses are eager to promote a Culture of Health in their communities but want additional guidance around implementation. They focused on working with motivated health care facilities in the state to create action plans for nurses to address the social determinants of health (SDOH) at the point of care, and to track key performance indicators following the implementation of these action plans.

Summary of completed project

The Washington Center for Nursing collaborated with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health to identify and track key performance indicators for implementing a systematic approach to screening for SDOH. The implementation of the SDOH screening tool started as a pilot and was expanded to additional units. Involving front-line nurses was key to the success of the project, which led to the development of tools, resources and training aimed at strengthening staff skills on leading SDOH conversations with patients. Ongoing feedback resulted in the increased usability and sustainability of the tool.

With many facilities focused on the pandemic of 2020, the Action Coalition decided to scale back the project to focus on one key partner rather than multiple partners. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health shared data on key indicators and monitored progress on the implementation of the tool and the effect on patients’ health.

Outcomes

A public use SDOH assessment tool was adapted based on feedback from front-line staff. The tool was then expanded to additional units within the hospital and translated to other languages. Based on feedback from staff about their comfort level using the assessment tool, additional resources and trainings were developed to aid them in conversations with patients on SDOH. Ultimately, the identification of key indicators and data from this project provided staff with information that may otherwise have gone unknown and allowed them the opportunity to create individualized interventions to improve health outcomes.

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