On April 16, 2024, We Engage 4 Health (WE4H) held a showcase to celebrate over six years of hard work and the amazing accomplishments of the community-academic partnership funded by a NIGMS Science Education Award (SEPA). Open to the public, over 60 people were in attendance.
However, before one sees what was accomplished, it is important to know where we started. WE4H started with a simple idea that by improving health and science literacy in the community, we could reduce chronic disease, increase citizen involvement, and encourage STEM careers in youth.
Dr. Melinda Butsch Kovacic (also known as Dr. BK), Professor and Associate Dean, UC College of Allied Health Services and PEWS Faculty Affiliate, had been working with community partners at Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses in the West End of Cincinnati. Dr. BK recognized to accomplish the goal of improving health and science literacy in the community, she needed help from a diverse group of individuals. She first met with individuals from Miami University who were using hands on activities and graphic style stories to teach science concepts in primary schools. She also brought together numerous individuals with expertise on health and science topics, which is how I got involved in the project. She also connected with the team from evaluation services, to allow us to judge how well the project was performing. And, lastly, she included passionate community members from the West End in Cincinnati and beyond. With the help of the team, she was able to secure funding from the NIH by the Science Education Partnership Award.
I remember the first meeting of the WE4H team vividly. We met at Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses at 901 Findlay Street in the West End, but I think we all felt like we were fish out of water. As an academic expert and an introvert, I wasn’t sure how to interact with the community members and I think they felt similarly about interacting with the new larger group of academics. With each meeting, it got a little easier, and it was clear that we were all here for the same purpose, to find a new way to communicate health and science information. Over time, we started developing stories about health topics. But it wasn’t until the first graphical style story was created that the magic started to happen. With a cast of characters that were developed with community representatives, the stories were relatable to all of us in the room. And by reading the stories out loud together, we could envision ourselves in the story. Plus, the activities reinforced the concepts introduced in the stories. I still remember the antioxidant properties of dark berries, which was illustrated by adding berry juice to iodine, every time I eat blueberries.
But, it wasn’t just me who was impacted. One meeting, we had a community member share her story. She had had type 2 diabetes for many years, but it was poorly controlled. After attending our health program, she could better understand her doctor’s guidance on diet, and she was able to lose weight and better control her diabetes. She credited those changes to WE4H!
The program evolved overtime and we recognized the need to train community members to be advocates for health and research in their communities, so we created programs to support community members becoming health champions and offering vaccine outreach using our Take Your Best Shot and Voices for Vaccine stories and community research advocates discussing “research readiness” using our Research Ready and Becoming Research Ready stories. All of this would not have been possible without the amazing assistance of our student interns (25 over the course of 6 years), passionate team, and engaged community.
After 6 years of hard work, the grant funding this work is coming to an end but the products that we have generated, and the ground swell it has created will not stop. At the WE4H Showcase, there were 12 short stories displayed on poster boards which have been used at local health fairs. We also had 11 books containing one or more of the stories co-created by the team which are shared freely with interested individuals. At the meeting, several community members and interns were recognized for their contributions. we heard about the impact this project has had on the community members. A recurring theme from community members’ sharing was that WE4H, made a difference by empowering the community members to be advocates for their and their community’s health. I left the WE4H Showcase feeling proud of my small role in this project that has made a difference to so many individuals. By working WITH community members, our academic team has been able to be a part of positive change.
PEWS is excited to support faculty affiliate projects including this WE4H showcase.
