Promising Practices

On November 7, 2015 I attended the Promising Practices: The Power of Community Partnerships Advancing Public Health & Human Rights through Education and Service. There were two sessions of the conference.

 

During the first part of this conference, I attended "It Takes A Village: A Collaborative Approach to Improving Diabetes Health Literacy and Clinical Outcomes for a Disparate Population".  The presentation was presented by a woman named Brenda Jenkins from Healthcentric Advisors. She explained the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and how it mandates development of programs to address health disparities for at-risk sub-populations. It specifically targeting certain groups. She spoke about diabetes and the lack of educational workshops for those who suffer from it and their families. At Healthcentric Advisors, Brenda assists in setting up groups of individuals to go out and speak about the challenges of having diabetes and how to manage the disease. She believes that this approach of educating this population will help promote better care and better health.

 

The next workshop I was registered for was "Creating Trauma Sensitive Environments: Middle School Youth and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder", but it was cancelled. My group was sent to other workshops nearby.

 

I ended up in "The Effect of a Healthy Diet on Brain Integrity". In this workshop I learned about the importance of a healthy/well balanced diet. We learned about the different nutrients and how each of them affects a specific part of the brain. This presentation was presented by a woman named Dr. Kathleen M. Laquale. She is a faculty member at Bridgewater State University.

 

Both workshops were insightful. I learned a lot and am able to apply some of the things I learned to my daily life and routine. 

Resilient Kids

 

 

 

Resilient Kids is a program integrated within the school day that promotes mindfulness and helps build self confidence. This program is offered to children in grades K-12.

 

Resilient Kids mission:

To foster the social, emotional and academic growth of children and young people through mindfulness curricula seamlessly integrated into the school culture.

Our professionally-trained, dedicated instructors work in partnership with school administrators and classroom teachers to reduce stress and behaviors that interfere with learning, to accelerate positive student outcomes.

 

Our vision is one of resilience:

We work in partnership to create a self-sustaining culture of fortitude for school, career, and life. We envision a community where all people live lives of strength, purpose, and compassion.

We inspire success one moment at a time

 

I think that this program is a wonderful opportunity for students to learn social and emotional skills they may not learn anywhere else. Often times teachers tend to focus just on the academic part of learning and forget that these children may be struggling in other areas.This program really helps these children learn how to be present with what is happening at the moment and constructs the path of a successful adult life.