Overall reflection of area 3:

I am looking forward to continuing to gain experience in implementing health education programs. The experiences I have thus far have really ignited my passion for doing this work, and for being involved in active education. I have many years of experience teaching and facilitating group activities, and have confidence in being able to deliver a message to a group and create a safe space for both the learning of and integration of new skills.  

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Artifact: Escaping the Cycle Workshop

Artifact Description

This reflection is for a program that I both created and implemented as a part of my graduate studies in the MPH program at Eastern Michigan University. The assignment was designed to gain experience in developing a repeatable program, along with supporting resources, that can be implemented by any qualified professional to the target audience. The artifact attached is the program document (Artifact 2). The program was developed for people in addiction recovery of any kind, any age, any race or ethnicity, and any background that has at least high school level education. The “Escaping the Cycle'' program can be implemented at community centers, dedicated group recovery spaces, or yoga studios, and was designed to take 60 minuets to complete. The participants of the program receive a packet containing information and activities to be reviewed and completed within the hour long workshop. The activity topics include: Belief systems, Rationalizations, Personal Addiction Cycles, Triggers, Sensory Check Tools, Personal Addiction Cycle Review, Decision making, and Positive Decision Table. Each of these topics include an introduction to the topic, an activity on the topic, as well as a movement break to facilitate moving emotions through the physical body. The participants are provided a survey upon completion to evaluate the effectiveness of the workshop. 

Health Education Competencies 

For this program to succeed, I worked with studio management and program advocates to create a learning environment that was inclusive to all participants, taking into consideration the space available, the room lighting and temperature, comfortable seating options (chairs, cushions/bolsters), and room setup for participation  (3.1.1). I developed all materials including an implementation guide, project plan, and curriculum (3.1.2), secured resources like personnel, space, and supplies to implement the plan (3.1.3), and applied ethical principles during the implementation process such as maintaining participant confidentiality  (3.1.5). 

I specifically applied the constructs of the social cognitive theory (3.3.2) to this program, emphasizing the participants' self-efficacy, and offered reinforcement techniques and modeling behaviors. Because addiction is a disease that affects people of all racial and ethnic groups, it was important that this workshop apply principles of diversity and cultural competence (3.3.4), which I did when I conscientiously included conversations around barriers and health objectives matching the diversity of the group and audience, and created the program based on a high school literacy level.  I delivered this program (3.3.6) to a small group of people in addiction recovery at a yoga studio that I teach at. I partnered with the studio to offer the workshop to interested members that qualify as the target audience. I carefully followed the design and implementation plans, which resulted in a successful workshop with positively rated participant surveys. As a yoga instructor I was also able to use teaching skills and techniques to facilitate participants to physically move, which was a different and welcome approach. I also selected strategies that included conversation, media, and educational printed materials (3.3.7). 

Summary

Implementing this workshop was a very rewarding experience. I was honored to hold space for these activities and conversations around such an important and personal topic, and felt accomplished that evaluation surveys from the participants suggested that they had new skills and information to be able to make healthier decisions. This workshop and the experience of facilitating a health education program was great validation for the profession and being of service to this population and community. I hope to be in a position to implement program planning in the future, as I believe it is a great tool for promoting and educating healthy lifestyles and behaviors.