Health Literacy Initiative

Additional comments 3/7/19:

I spoke with Julia Perrotta this morning from Atlantic General.

She has their budget breakdown (pending approval) she plans on sharing with us, and this wil cover their budgets from FY14-FY19. She will also list the funding sources for their health literacy curriculum, including the hospital, grants and donations. She requested a single point of contact be identified (this will be Becky Aiken), and for Garrett County Schools to come up with a budget estimate for the first year. I will update Becky and Phil when I receive any further information.

Update as of 3/7/19:

Health Fact Finding with Atlantic General for Garrett County School Development Employees:

Those present in Garrett County Karen Devore, Director of Elementary Education, Paul Edwards supervises PE, Health and all of secondary and athletics, he’s also a county commissioner, Ryan Wolfe, curriculum specialist, Rebecca Aiken, Phil Lauver, Director of Pupil Services and Shelley Argabrite

For more information regarding the school portion please reach out to the following:

Mr. Lou Taylor, Superintendent WCPS
Assistant: Barb Phillips – 410.612.5021

Dr. Quinn, Chief Academic Officer WCPS
Assistant: Dawn Peterson – 410.612.5025

Initial Questions and Answers

Q & A

***Cost for teachers time for curriculum development

Intro, why and how the program exists

Time frame, based on the curriculum developed

How was it received by the community

GRID that shows the alignment objectives/instructional activities

How did they get the teachers on board?

How do they track the results?

Has the Hospital seen a return on investment?

Student wellness or change in culture

Karen asked Becky and Phil to put together a plan of what is needed along with a budget.  Once we have that initial plan we can review it and ask our collaborative partners for funding.

Update as of 2/7/19:

Fantastic and informative meeting today with Atlantic General!

Update as of 1/17/19:

Had a conversation with Jennifer Light and Julia Perrotta (both work on the health literacy curriculum project) this morning. They are eager to meet again with our groups (Adolescent Group on Thursday Feb 7) and (Board of Ed group on Feb 8). They use the Zoom meeting platform, and they will host. If you are participating from work and at your individual computer on Friday the 8th, it is best to use chrome instead of internet explorer. They recommend ear buds for the best audio.

For the Thursday Adolescent meeting they will provide folks from the Integrated Health Literacy Team

For the Friday meeting they will provide speakers representing the BOE, and including the Instuction Coordinator, the Superintendant, and the principal of Ocean City Elementary School.

These meetings are sure to be informative!

Update as of 1/15/19: Had a great meeting at Northern High School with Karen Devore, Becky Aiken, and Phil Lauver who are very interested in learning more about the program.  Karen set up a meeting with key individuals from Garrett County Schools to learn more about the educational components.  That meeting is on the calendar for Feb 8, 2019.

Update as of 1/7/19:  Shelley connected with Julia Perrotta from Atlantic General who is thrilled to help Garrett County Pilot.   Next Steps: Becky Aiken set up a meeting for Friday 1/11/19 with Karen Devore, executive director of curriculum, instruction and administration for Garrett County Schools.

Julia is scheduled to join us virtually for a Q & A at the next Adolescent Well Child Check meeting 2/ 7/19.

At the Jan 3, 2019 meeting Becky Aiken revisited the notion of integrating health literacy into the school curriculum.   Shelley Argabrite  (author of this doc) shared how she learned of the model in 2016 implemented in Worcester County by Atlantic General.  She brought the idea back to Becky Aiken, and Phil Lauver and they worked collaboratively to set the stage for a pilot to begin in Garrett County.  Shelley has all the documentation via email and the contact at Atlantic General who was waiting on a date to present the program in Garrett County.

Action Item: Shelley will reach out to Chelsea Leonard, Health Literacy Liasion

Completed on 1/3/19… Chelsea is no longer employed by Atlantic General

The current Health Literacy Liasion, Julia Perrotta was contacted on 1/3/19.  Awaiting a response