A young man in MIKE Program’s Rosemary Anderson High School program asked point blank, “why do doctors always have to use words that nobody understands?” It’s a question for a growing segment of the population. Nearly 50 percent of Americans are considered to have low health literacy. To help improve the public’s understanding, Legacy Health Systems will host a conference this spring to help counter the growing trend.

Low health literacy means patients are less likely to understand treatment options because they cannot comprehend medical information or their doctor’s instructions. The issue is especially critical in populations over 65 and in communities of color, leading to increased health disparities. Other consequences include lower health outcomes, increased use of emergency room services, and increased severity of diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure which lead to kidney failure.

Legacy hopes to raise awareness of the issue with the “Making it Clear” conference to mitigate the consequences of low health literacy. Conference speakers include Christina Cordero of The Joint Commission, Cliff Coleman of OHSU, Alison Arevalo-Amador of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Dr. George Brown, President of Legacy Health.

The conference will highlight recent findings and best practices for health professionals, as well as offer ways to clarify communication between patients and health care providers. According to Rima Rudd of the Harvard School of Public Health, one of the founders of the field of health literacy, there are huge health disparities between individuals with low health literacy and those with strong health literacy skills. The National Patient Safety Council cites low health literacy as the single greatest impact on health status.

The Healthy People 2020, a federal campaign to improve health outcomes in the U.S., includes the issue in its plan to improve the health of Americans. MIKE Program was recently awarded a Healthy People 2020 Community Innovation Grant to introduce and reinforce healthy behaviors to low-income youth in an afterschool program at Miller Education Center-West in Hillsboro beginning this month. MIKE Program connects the youth with caring adults to build knowledge and skills to promote healthy lifestyles and healthy kidneys. MIKE Program’s curriculum offers youth an interactive way to understand health and consider career opportunities in the health care industry.

MIKE Program’s youth become empowered to advocate for healthy lifestyles within their own communities to increase their health literacy and outcomes. When they learn the language of health, they are able to communicate it to a broader audience in language they understand and can explain.

The focus of language is making its way to the forefront of several national policy initiatives, including the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the Plain Writing Act of 2010, and the Department of Health and Human Services National Act Plan.

Jessica Ridpath of the Group Health Research Institute, one of the speakers at the Legacy conference, will address the use of plain language in advancing health literacy. The Oregon and SW Washington Health Literacy Conference “Making it Clear” will be held on March 9 at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland. For more information, visit: http://www.legacyhealth.org/healthliteracyconference.

Eating Healthy Begins with Small Bites

When MIKE Program’s Dr. Cheryl Neal and Adrienne Daniels arrived at David Mickola’s classroom, the De La Salle North Catholic High School youth were absorbed in a conversation about teasing a fellow classmate for eating a healthy lunch. The youth were engaged in an exercise to highlight how teens respond to lunchroom situations. The majority laughed that they were eating pizza while their classmate was chewing on carrots.

Now in their seventh week, the mostly 14-year-olds still have much to learn as healthy eating extends beyond a classroom lesson. They are beginning to use individual health planners developed and provided by MIKE Program to guide them toward healthier choices. For MIKE Program, it’s a strategy for genuine change in behavior.

Dr. Neal and Daniels listened as Mickola took his students through the process of discussing the implications of the scenario and what effect it had on the boy and themselves. After the discussion, the youth not only were more aware of how their actions, but were also more open to understanding how foods affect their health.

Youth today are more likely to value pizza and junk food over vegetables and fruits. MIKE Program carefully realigns those values to empower youth to understand the importance of their choices for their health now and in the future.

MIKE Program incorporates sensible, easy to access foods and actions to help build far greater success toward reaching that goal. To instill healthy habits, MIKE Program mentors bring healthy snacks to class each week. They focus on fruits, vegetables and whole grains in healthy combinations as staples for the youth snacks. The process of bringing healthy snacks is also a learning process for the mentors. Catherine Stensby, who mentors two groups each week, commented that she was surprised by the price of grapes in the off-season, so she’s found other healthy foods that fit within her budget.

Greg Kluthe, who mentors with Stensby on Thursdays, said he’s watched the youth progress from ignoring the snacks during the first weeks, to now arriving at class looking for the snacks and water. The process helps youth adapt to the healthy choices through sharing a normal routine with their peers. It also builds consistency into their diet which may not be available at home.

The process is important to countering obesity. According to the Portland Plan, one in four youth are overweight in the Portland area, adding to the increase rates of diabetes at younger ages. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of kidney failure in the U.S. Losing weight and eating healthy can prevent the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.

A Gallop poll released this week, asked about ways Americans have lost weight successfully. Those polled sited dietary changes and exercise as most reliable. The recently released draft of The Portland Plan counted one in every four youth in the region as overweight or obese. Such data point to one of the fundamental reasons for MIKE Program. Equipping teenagers with knowledge, skills and values to make healthier decisions prepares the youth to advocate for themselves, peers and families and avoid joining the rising segment of the population experiencing chronic non-communicable diseases.

MIKE Program thanks Mary Anne Harmer and Emily Boscacci for their invaluable service to our mission and community as they cycle off the Board of Directors.

Harmer was appointed to serve on the U.S. Health and Human Services Health Equity Council for Region 10, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Executive Council for Health Disparities. She served as chair of MIKE Program’s Marketing Committee and co-chaired our 2011 Autumn Evening Benefit and Dinner. Harmer is the Corporate Director of Account Management Strategy and Planning at Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield.  Joining the MIKE Program Board in December 2010, Mary Anne will remain on the Advisory Board.

Boscacci, joining MIKE Program’s Board in June, 2009, served as a MIKE Program health mentor at Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center in 2008-09.  She also co-chaired the Autumn Evening 2011 event. Boscacci, a Wellness Coordinator with The Regence Group, is an avid basketball player and fan and she will put her college playing skills and talents to use coaching at Westview. Boscacci is set to complete her Master’s in Public Health at PSU in March, 2012. She also volunteers with the Big Brother Big Sister organization. Her “little sister” participated in MIKE Program at De La Salle North Catholic High School last year.

Board of Directors Welcomes Melissa Preston

MIKE Program welcomes Melissa Preston to the Board of Directors. Preston discovered MIKE Program through Board Vice-President Kathrine Gilstrap, a former colleague at what was Citi Financial, now OneMain Finacial.
Preston, now an independent agent of United Healthcare educating seniors on their health care options, brings a background of finance, team building and sports to the governing body. Preston was the captain of the women’s soccer team at Hardin-Simmons University, where she graduated with a degree in Business Administration.  She understands the importance of physical activity in the lives of youth and how leadership skills are important to building healthy outcomes. Preston also serves with the Vose Neighborhood Association.

Measuring four feet in length, MIKE Program’s BIG WOODEN KIDNEY catches a lot of attention. It’s a colorful depiction of a human kidney that has become a signature part of MIKE Program’s curriculum and community outreach. Its impact is most effective because it was created by youth for youth.

In MIKE Program’s first partnership with Benson High School in 2002-2003, students in the Health Occupations Program, looked for a visual way to tell the story of their kidneys. They created the BIG WOODEN KIDNEY to share their knowledge in an interactive demonstration at a local middle school.

The efforts of the students at Benson High School continue to provide a robust teaching tool that has a greater impact on the students than many conventional methods. This week at De La Salle North Catholic High School, 95 youth in four freshman health classes learned about their kidneys from BIG WOODEN KIDNEY. It has found a home in our curriculum where we manipulate it to demonstrate common-sense logic about our how our bodies are organized: bladder to store the urine below the kidney which produces it, the relationship of the blood supply of the kidney to the general circulation, etc.

While the students at Benson High School created BIG WOODEN KIDNEY, another youth group at the now closed Youth Opportunity Center (YO!) youth agency held a “Kidney Karnival” to show how their kidneys function. In a clever twist, the students filled two-liter-sized plastic soda bottles with water to demonstrate the amount of filtering kidneys do in one day. They filled a couple, then more and more and more—until they filled 120 bottles. The immediate impact of discovering that kidneys process the amount of blood that filled those 120 two-liter-sized bottles is not soon forgotten. In addition to the amount of liquids, the bottles also serve a nutrition function. They help remind youth that water is key to good health, whereas soda and other sugary beverages contribute to obesity and other health-related issues.

Another visual involves lots (and lots and lots) of counting. The youth at YO! filled glass canning jars with varying amounts of kidney beans (counting each one meticulously). The jars are used to demonstrate kidney anatomy and invite student teamwork to guess the amounts of beans in the jars through extrapolation.

The bottles and beans are part of a process that conveys numbers in visual and hands-on expressions that youth more easily comprehend and retain. This shared-learning process includes peer-to-peer learning that is guided by mentor-to-youth support for a foundation that truly is life-long.

Only 170 efforts nationwide were recognized and we are proud to be chosen in Oregon. Although smaller grants, the award signifies a new level of recognition for MIKE Program’s work and mission.

The grant is a facet of Healthy People, a roadmap for health released every ten years by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.  Healthy People 2020 was developed through a collaborative effort the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and seven lead government agencies and dozens of support agencies. In part, it renews national focus on identifying, measuring, tracking and reducing health disparities by recognizing social determinants that affect health.

Finding that one in three adults and one in six children are considered obese in the U.S., an underlying factor in leading causes of kidney failure, Healthy People 2020 Innovation Grant invited organizations and programs to help address objectives to reverse recent trends. MIKE Program’s project will address 10 key Healthy People 2020 topics: adolescent health, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, educational and community-based programs, nutrition and weight status, physical activity, social determinants of health, heart disease and stroke, substance abuse and tobacco use.

MIKE Program will launch the after-school youth project at MEC-W to help demonstrate how grassroots community groups can empower participants to choose healthier lifestyles. Dr. Cheryl Neal and MIKE Program’s AmeriCorps Volunteer Coordinator, Adrienne Daniels will recruit, train and support health mentors from the ranks of Pacific University students and other community members to guide our comprehensive health education curriculum through youth development and leadership activities from January through the rest of the school year.

Stan Esselstrom, Principal at MEC-W, will provide oversight and Therese Rice, health and PE teacher, will facilitate the youth. Pacific University’s School of Professional Psychology is partnering with MIKE Program to provide evidence-based evaluation tools to track student and mentor outcomes under the direction of Susan Li, director of the Child/Adolescent Track.

For more information:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2020: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/default.aspx
Pacific University School of Professional Psychology: http://www.pacificu.edu/spp/

George Lekas, Tanasbourne Branch Manager of Bank of the West, became aware of MIKE Program through President Cheryl Neal. The more he spoke with her, the more he became enamored with MIKE Program’s mission and work. In line with Bank of the West’s new campaign of the spirit of possibility, Lekas saw the possibility to support MIKE Program. He met with Dr. Neal this week to present a check for $500 to help guide a new generation of healthy youth. We believe that investing in a healthy future for young people and our community is important for us all. MIKE Program is proud to partner with Bank of the West to continue our work.

Juan Young Trust Grant to Increase Capacity

Juan Young Trust awarded a grant of $10,000 to MIKE Program this month to help us increase our capacity to reach youth in Washington County. The challenge for Dr. Neal and MIKE Program has been that the need has far outweighed the ability of the organization to respond to the increasing demand. The Juan Young Trust grant will help MIKE Program begin the much-needed expansion. An after-school program is set to launch at Miller Education Center-West in Hillsboro in January, 2012.

Juan Young Trust, a sunset trust, was established by the will of Juan Young, a former employee, officer and stockholder of Kienow’s Food Stores. It awarded its first grants in 2000. The mission of Juan Young Trust is to promote the health, education and welfare of children in the state of Oregon. It operates a Western and Eastern Division.

MIKE Program was awarded the grant for its expansion with an after-school program at Miller Education Center-West (MEC-W) in Hillsboro. MEC-W is an alternative high school which serves low-income youth. MIKE Program designed the afterschool program to ally health professions students from Pacific University, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and others to mentor youth in credit recovery and health classes; along with coordinating outreach and support to other area high schools.

One of the main focuses of the program will support youth to prepare a health leadership project which centers on their individual experiences and interests in their community to address the causes of kidney failure. Obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, risky behaviors and adverse social circumstances hit socio and economically-challenged communities much more than others. The youth projects are one way they can positively impact the lives of their families and communities.

The youth will gain the skills and knowledge to better understand how they can help prevent such diseases through nutrition, exercise and changed behaviors that lead to healthy lifestyles. It’s a focus that implements the vision and goals of the Juan Young Trust and MIKE Program for today’s and tomorrow’s generations.

MIKE Program is Back in Rosemary Anderson High School

MIKE Program’s AmeriCorps Volunteer Coordinator, Adrienne Daniels, and six other volunteers began mentoring with teacher Dennis Butler at Rosemary Anderson High School/Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center (RAHS/POIC) in Portland this week. The RAHS team of volunteers includes Robert Brown, who provides a direct connection to kidney failure. He currently is undergoing regular dialysis treatment. He joined MIKE Program’s team of mentors to “give back.” He says many young people grow up without role models. Brown sees MIKE Program as an opportunity to help youth understand themselves, their health and their future.

RAHS is a community-based alternative high school which serves some of the most vulnerable youth in Portland. Most of the students face numerous hardships in school and home including experiencing homelessness. RAHS provides a vital support system by creating a community through partnerships and mentoring. It is at this juncture that MIKE Program merges into the school’s academic process.

MIKE Program is no stranger to RAHS. We have been connected since 2003. Kim Filla, a former member of MIKE Program’s Board of Directors, is the Director of Community Programs at RAHS. She is the lead author of MIKE Program’s award-winning curriculum. As MIKE Program youth at RAHS discovered this week, the curriculum opens them to a holistic approach to nutrition, healthy lifestyles and preventing diseases that lead to kidney failure.

MIKE Program Mentors for 2011-2012: Mentor of the Week

Anthony Miglore mentors at De La Salle North Catholic High School on Tuesdays, where he hopes to inspire youth to accomplish success in all they do. Miglore is currently completing a degree in Biochemistry at Portland State University, then will continue his studies in medical school. Miglore, a former cook with the U.S. military, is building his knowledge of nutrition with MIKE Program. A native of Italy, Miglore keeps fit with soccer, fencing and weight lifting.