Week 14

4/13/20

I had a couple of projects I needed to work on today. Interning in a healthcare setting has been an amazing experience this semester because I’m able to see how quickly practices need to change to benefit the health of their patients. Clinics have to be innovative in the ways they handle pressing health issues like this- especially something like this unprecedented pandemic. I received corrections for my online resources brochure from one of the employees at WHA to make it more understandable for patients. I also was able to get in touch with some companies about their services who I wasn’t able to get in touch with last week. I added their services to the brochure as well. From this resources document, I created a post on local virtual doula resources and tagged the respective companies on Instagram. This way, patients have a fast and easy way to get in touch with local resources to receive the doula support they want during their pregnancy. Many women have been worried about receiving that same quality care, so online services are a way to continue that care even though it won’t be face-to-face. I also emailed Cheryl with updates I would like to add to the homepage on our website for easy access to information about our practice during this pandemic. On Facebook, I updated our hours to not include Fridays which I will update again when our office reopens on that day of the week. I also found information on the NIH website about how to create DIY face masks from bandanas and t-shirts at home and posted this to Instagram. Finally, one of the doulas we recommend inquired about allowing fathers in the delivery room with the mothers at Piedmont Athens Regional/St. Mary’s Hospital. I found out they are allowed and contacted her letting her know this information. Again, I worked for 5 hours.

Competency 1.6.3.– Identify existing and potential partners for the provision of health education

4/15/20

Today consisted primarily of putting together other online resources to post on social media. I drew from the brochure I created on local, online pregnancy resources to create these posts since I completed the research prior. I created separate posts on online childbirth education resources as well as breastfeeding resources. These provided contact information, the respective websites, and logos of the companies. It’s incredibly important to make these resources as accessible as possible during this time through information dissemination. It is likely many woman feel they can no longer access these resources at all during this time and others do not know which places offer online services or which ones are still open. It’s important to know that options are still available so I am posting on as many platforms as I can to get this practical information out. I also have been keeping up with the NIH website at nih.gov/coronavirus to see new updates on COVID-19. I saw a new news release posted about a new study being conducted on 10,000 volunteers for antibody testing for the virus. The purpose of this is to get an idea about asymptomatic transmission since people are contracting and recovering for the virus without ever knowing they had it or getting over it on their own. This study will also allow us to see how demographics and geographic location are related to the virus. I put this information together into an easy-to-understand Instagram post and also sent this information to Cheryl and Dr. Leach. I worked 5 hours today.

Competency 1.6.3.– Identify existing and potential partners for the provision of health education

4/17/20

Today began by posting about different local breastfeeding resources and the Georgia DPH Daily Status report on COVID-19. I then began searching again for useful resources for the public to look at for relevant information on the spread of COVID-19. I came across the WHO COVID-19 Health System Response Monitor which was a really cool and innovative tool for the public to use. Essentially, it allows people to look at different country’s responses to this pandemic in a variety of different domains. Not only can you look at an individual country’s response, but you can look at countries side-by-side to see how they compare to each other. I spent a considerable amount of time figuring out how to navigate this site and figuring out the different ways it can be used. This allowed me to create a more comprehensible post on it and its benefits. Later in the day, I was on the phone with Dr. Allen for a while to discuss changes she wanted made to the WHA website. We both sat on our computers and went through different parts of the website to see what needed some updating. As we spoke, I compiled a list on a word document of things she wanted changed so that I could come back to them next week.

Competency 6.1.1– Assess information needs