Weiser Memorial Hospital School Outreach Project
Background:
Weiser Memorial Hospital is committed to serving our communities not only within the clinical realm, but also out in the public. As part of our strategic plan, we aim to partner with other organizations whenever possible and to find ways to benefit people where they live, work, and play. We believe that through education and providing opportunities to make healthy decisions we can positively impact the health of those we serve.
Project Description:
WMH’s School Outreach Project involves experts from the hospital, Family Medical Center, and partners from SWDH and Malheur County. We have a “Community Team” at WMH who have been coordinating the project to bring experts in certain health topics to speak to the health classes at Weiser High School.
This project follows a model that has been done in Caribou County with great success. They have mentored us along the way to help our project succeed. Details:
The health topics to be covered are Nutrition, Better Breathing, and Mental Health/Trauma. Scheduling will begin this fall and we plan to have one expert present to each of the health classes in one day.
For example – Nutrition may speak on Sept 15 to each health class, then on Oct 15 Mental Health with present, and so on… then this will repeat with the same presentations in the Spring Semester.
What’s Been Done:
We have organized our team and experts, chosen topics, created presentations, held a preliminary education session for staff at WHS, and updated WMH leadership along the way.
What Is Left to be Done:
Currently we are working on pre and post class questionnaires to help us gauge student knowledge levels and impact. We will also create an “opt-out” form for parents if they’d rather not include their students in the sessions. We will begin scheduling very soon.
Purpose:
Our goal is to bring health information to students in a way that engages them and helps them to make better choices. We also will give them resources to use as they move forward. In having local presenters, we will be arming them with another trusted adult if that is what they need. Our partnerships also allow us to better understand what teens are seeing, hearing, encountering and how we can better serve them.
