Overall reflection of area 7:  

Much of my interests in the field of health education are issues requiring advocacy. I feel passionate about promoting these issues and providing information to diverse audiences that would benefit from health education. Throughout my masters program, including my capstone project, as well as in my professional life, I have experienced and mastered using strategies to create, deliver, and evaluate the impact of health related communication. One of the things I am most proud of that proves my competency in this area, is an artifact I created for my role as a Medical Cannabis Consultant. I researched and developed a PowerPoint Presentation to educate on the history of cannabis and how it got to be what it is now in our society, as well as current medical research and safe use. This presentation was presented  to medical cannabis patients and their friends and family, as well as anyone in the community. 

 

Artifact: Cannabis 101 

Description

This is a PowerPoint presentation that I developed for community events hosted at a medical cannabis provisioning center I worked at. It covers the history, research, and current understanding of cannabis, and was designed to reduce stigma and increase social support for patients safe use of the plant. 

Health Education Competencies

This artifact is a consumer-focused PowerPoint focused on reducing stigma and providing basic information on the safe use of cannabis, which I based on the Theory of Reasoned Action model in hopes of influencing the audiences attitudes towards cannabis and reducing the social stigma surrounding it, therefore increasing social support for medical cannabis patients (7.1.1). For this presentation, I used plain, everyday language both on the PowerPoint as well as in my talking points. I used many pictures and defined any topic specific terms that are not general knowledge. During my presentation, I spoke slowly and clearly, and repeated key messages. I engaged the audience by using pictures and engaging slides, asking for a show of hands, as well as discussion and Q&A time (7.1.2). I tailored this presentation specifically so that anyone interested in learning more about cannabis could be engaged and learn something. Cannabis has a very unique culture, and yet still carries with it immense stigma in spite of its current legalized status in Michigan. This message was developed to educate and reduce stigma regardless of the lifestyle, attitudes or beliefs of the audience (7.1.3). Before offering this presentation to the community, I presented it to other cannabis consultants and professionals in the industry to see if I was missing important information. I then pilot tested it to friends, family, and members of the community that have expressed interest in learning more about cannabis. Both pilot tests were given in the environment that was selected and regularly used for community engagement activities (7.1.4). I received feedback from both professionals and the community, and revised the presentation to include specific messages they both wanted shared (more details on how it became stigmatized, and cannabis history throughout time, as well as current use and harm reduction) (7.1.5). When developing this presentation and deciding how best to educate on this topic, I decided to approach both organizational channels as well as community channels (trusted source and location, ability to reach larger audience) (7.1.6). After identifying the delivery method, location, and accessing channels for the audience, I delivered the presentation to the community (7.1.7). After the presentation, participants were sent an online survey to determine if they learned anything about cannabis, and if it changed the way they felt about their loved one or their own cannabis use. Not everyone who participated at the event took the survey, but those that did recalled points of interest as well as changes in attitudes towards cannabis (7.1.8). This presentation was a passion project that stemmed from a current issue that required advocacy. As legalization of adult use cannabis in the state of Michigan approached, there was great interest in the topic and not many avenues of reliable information. This required consideration into the social justice issues related to cannabis, as well as the gaining acceptability of the topic (7.2.1). I worked with the Community Outreach Coordinator to identify stakeholders, allies (many in Washtenaw County where the presentation was given, including local policy makers) and advocates of the issue, as well as adversaries (7.2.2). I developed the plan for the presentation in accordance with state policy in admitting non-medical marijuana patients into the building and abided by all restrictions (7.2.4).

Summary

I am so grateful for the opportunity to create and conduct this event. This topic is close to my heart and an important issue in my community. I learned so much as a health educator, but also about my own ability in public speaking, event organization, as well as my capacity to hold space for people to learn about a heavily stigmatized topic and watch them question and begin to shift their own beliefs.