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What Does Health Really Mean and Where to Start A Personal Journey By, Sandra Tavel Grants and Contracts Administrator
Amidst all this talk of health care reform and the very fact that NAHC’s name has the word “health,” in it—what does it really mean to be healthy? A couple of years back, I looked at my own health. I figured I’d try to align my behavior and choices with some kind of picture of health. If I work at a community clinic, shouldn’t I try to be healthy? The mainstream idea of healthy has taken rollercoaster turns throughout history. Certain cultures value strength, mass, thinness, etc. Even in the U.S. during certain eras, the meaty Marilyn Monroe image is compared to a willowy image of a runway model and the discourse is—which is, “better?” And for folks of color, looking at mainstream images, even in health-related media, can feel daunting. They feel daunting to me, anyway. Because when I look at mainstream media, health and beauty are often conflated. The images I see are of people that don’t look like me—and that makes me feel bored and frustrated at the same time. So I decided to shut all that out for a moment and look within. To me, health is very much aligned with NAHC’s commitment to holistic health. I value my body, my mind/spirit, my family, my partner, my finances, my professional and intellectual development, my friends, my dogs, etc. If I am nurturing those elements and values—that makes for a healthy me. But what does that mean in every day actions? Some practices that have helped my journey toward health are: running; yoga; journaling; finding constructive ways to
express feelings so I am heard and at the same time, respectful of the other person; spending time outdoors with my partner, friends, and my dogs. And really looking at myself. I weigh close to 180 pounds. It took me a long time to accept my body as it is—about 34 years. A couple of years ago, I couldn’t imagine running. Heaving my body around on the concrete, outside in exercise clothes felt silly and embarrassing. I started running on a treadmill for just 2-3 minutes at a time and after about a month, I was able to run a couple miles. Now running has become a part of me and a habit that I constantly turn to. It’s the time I use to be alone, think, and commune with my spirit. Another practice is yoga. I take the Monday class @ 7D where we recently celebrated a year of practice. Yoga helps me slow down and pay attention to my body for a quiet, but challenging hour. For me personally, I need a combination of alone time and exercising around other people to feel good. Another and final component of personal health is emotional health. How do I feel? Why? What do I need to do to feel better? What are my needs and how am I going to get them met? If you are asking some of these same questions, we work in a clinic that is rife with resources. From the CWD department to Nutrition and Fitness, there are many NAHC staff that work on their own health that can be great thought partners. We have a Wellness Committee that is happy to provide resources on exercise and wellness. We have an Employee Assistance Program that has a huge, on-line archive of health-related information. We have access to traditional, American Indian spiritual practitioners. We are very lucky. So for a moment, let’s put aside all the statistics and politics (although they are important) and take a look inward and see what’s there. Maybe take a walk or talk to a friend or do one action that takes you toward feeling better. Habits build upon habits and it takes 6 months to a year to build solid habits. Be nice to yourself. List all the things you’re thankful for. We have more resources at hand than we think.
March Anniversaries
Thank you for your service to our agency Karina Alcala-Barbosa SF Dental
Start Date: 3/15/2007 6 Years of Service
Christopher Lin Oakland Dental
Start Date: 3/15/2007 6 Years of Service
Topaz Persons Oakland Medical
Start Date:3/10/2008 5 Years of Service
Yesenia Escobar SF Dental
Start Date: 3/23/2009 4 Years of Service
Kurt Schweigman Oakland CWD
Start Date:3/23/2009 4 Years of Service
Adisa Willmer Oakland Medical
Start Date: 3/2/2009 4 Years of Service
Parke Ballantine Media Team
Start Date: 3/2/2011 2 Years of Service
Chao Liang IT
Start Date:3/15/2011 2 Years of Service
Antoinette Lopez Oakland CWD
Start Date: 3/9/2011 2 Years of Service
Tangeria Oliver Oakland Medical
Start Date: 3/21/2011 2 years of Service
Michael Sanders SF CWD
Start Date: 3/7/2011 2 Years of Service
Linda Aranaydo Oakland, Administration
Start Date: 3/1/2012 1 Year of Service
Alex Monk SF CWD
Start Date: 3/15/2012 1 Year of Service
Viviana Montano Oakland Dental
Start Date: 3/19/2012 1 Year of Service
! C H A N @ s New Hire
Hilary Tran WIC Nutrition Aide 3124 Oakland
Tina Benitez IBLC WIC 3124 Oakland
Ana Rosa Chang On-Call Physician’s Assistant SF and Oakland
Melissa Cannon Registered Dietitian Nutirition & Fitness
Sophia Taula-Lieras Care Coordinator I CWD 3124
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HR Buzz Steps to Follow when Getting a TB Test By, Michelle Shawnego HR Generalist Native American Health Center, Inc. requires all its new employees, interns, and volunteers to receive a TB Test prior to their start date. Title 22 requires all community care facilities workers to obtain TB Test. Existing employees must receive a TB Test annually. NAHC Medical Departments conduct all TB screens. TB Tests will be conducted following the schedule below. 7 Directions Test Date: January February March April May June July August September October November December
14th 11th 11th 8th 13th 10th 8th 12th 9th 14th 12th 9th
Result Date: 16th 13th 13th 10th 15th 12th 10th 14th 11th 16th 14th 11th
San Francisco Clinic Test Date: January February March April May June July August September October November December
9th 13th 13th 10th 8th 12th 10th 14th 11th 9th 13th 11th
Result Date: 11th 15th 15th 12th 10th 14th 12th 16th 13th 11th 15th 13th
Please follow the below steps when obtaining your PPD screening • The employee should report to the Medical Department on the Test Date. • The employee must return to the Medical Department on the Result Date to get their results and pick up their documented test results. • The employee must send the documentation to Human Resources. A message from NAHC Media:
Are you interested in Media Services? Outreach materials (flyers and postcards), department branding, video production, digital storytelling workshops, photo-booths, campaign generation, photo and video event coverage, and high-quality voice recording is available to you! We are also in charge of updating the NAHC website, so if your department needs a change made on your page, please contact us!
NAHCMedia@nativehealth.org
cc: LinaB@nativehealth.org or ParkeB@nativehealth.org
Running is My High By: Marni Weinstock, Dietetic Intern, Nutrition and Fitness Over 400 runners and walkers joined together on Saturday, March 9 at the Native American Health Center’s 12th annual “Running is My High” 5K and 10K event. This year’s theme, With all our Powers Combined, motivated participants of all ages and backgrounds to come together for a day of fun, fitness and friendship. The day kicked off with opening prayers and sage burning, followed by an honor song on the drum. The day continued with group stretching, the 5K and 10K races, more drumming, a vibrant display of Aztec tribal dancing, booth visits, honoring of elders and of children, and a healthy vegan meal to finish things off. The sun was shining brightly as nearly 415 participants ran the Lake Merritt loop in downtown Oakland, greatly exceeding our past participation record. Five alcohol recovery lodges participated in this year’s friendly competition for Best Combined Time. Three Rivers, Turtle Lodge, Friendship House, Tulle and FSH - Oakland Lodge all gave their best efforts, but Friendship House remains the undisputed winner for yet another year. They received an engraved trophy, while all race participants were gifted with either a hat or an environmentally friendly reusable jute bag. In addition, hundreds of people gathered at the race to visit booths and cheer on their community. Booths offered activities related to promoting a healthy mind, body, spirit, and environment. NAHC’s Community Wellness Department once again sponsored our “Wellness Tent,” complete with yoga, light recipes, and fresh samples of healthy foods to taste. Intertribal Friendship House wowed participants with their beautiful native garden display and plant giveaway. NAHC’s Nutrition & Fitness Department was on hand to answer
questions about diabetes prevention and challenge kids with the always popular “Vegetable Wheel of Fortune” game. The consistent focus on health and wellness is so important in our community, which faces the highest rates of lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. With the tripling of childhood obesity rates in the past thirty years, it was especially moving to see so many children running their first race and proudly accepting their awards at the finish line. It was inspiring to have 13 year-old Andrew Helmers win the 5K with a time of 20:57. Way to go, Andrew! With environmental concern growing across the globe, we continue to make “Running Is My High” an environmentally-friendly event by reducing waste, composting and leaving Lake Merritt as beautiful as it was before the race. Detailed banners were posted to help people dispose of waste in the proper containers, while biodegradable water cups and utensils were chosen so that nearly all the waste from the event could be composted. We would like to thank the community for their overwhelming support! We would also like to thank the Native American Health Center’s Community Wellness Department and Nutrition & Fitness Departments for cosponsoring this event. A special thank you is extended to NAHC’s School Based Health Center, Transports, Trader Joe’s, Wings of America, Piedmont Grocery, Bill’s Trading Post, Gathering Tribes, Peet’s Coffee, Noah’s Bagels, and Berkeley Bowl. Finally, thank you to all who volunteered and participated in our 12th annual “Running Is My High.” We could not have done this without your help and support!
Equine Therapy
An Interview with Crystal Marich Why is Equine Therapy a good fit for our community? In May 2012 myself and our other youth coordinator had the chance to go to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe to learn about how they had implemented the tool of equine therapy to serve the youth in their community. We got to see how youth got to work with animals and horses and the type of impact it had on participants. We want to take the skills they provided us with to bring back to our community and implement those things that have worked. Coming from an Urban setting, we don’t always have that chance or that access to get out to the outdoors and work with animals, and it’s also part of our culture, and in living in a western world and an urban setting, it’s something we can become really disconnected from. I see in my experience working with young people, that they really crave those connections and so if our program has the resources and the capacity to provide those opportunities, then I think we really should.
What have been some challenges in getting this going? Obviously, developing a whole infrastructure for an equine therapy program is a really challenging task, it really requires a lot of collaboration from our staff, and a lot of commitment. Also just the resource, we are in an urban setting, it’s not like you can walk down the block and find a horse stable.
What’s something that people don’t know about equine therapy that might surprise them?
With equine therapy you really work with the horse, it’s no just a child receiving services, but it goes both ways, the hors is impacted by how the client or the youth or the communit member interacts with the horse and vice versa. When you’r implementing curriculum, a lot of it has to do with the mood and that day, like how the horse feels, how the youth feels, an that’s what makes it such a dynamic tool because you can really predict how those elements are going to come int play, but you really just learn from whatever experiences ar happening in that moment, and that’s something really special
When do you see us being able to begin equine therapy with our youth?
I know that we did get the experience to take our youth to start riding horses, so we’re hoping to expose them mor to learning about animals, bringing them around, but to actually start the infrastructure for a program, probabl wouldn’t be until fall, until we implement her, because o how therapists would be documenting their notes, and any type of training that would be required.
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A big thank you to the staff who participated in creation of the Staff Wellness Committee logo. The four colors represent the the way the Wellness Committee will approach the year, beginning with the Physical for this year’s Running is my High! Interested in joining our Committee? Please contact Yvette Torres at: YvetteT@nativehealth.org
EHR is Live at NAHC! By: Lillawa Willie, Project Assistant Electronic Health Records From top to bottom: Chir P., David S. Rebecca M., Kelly C., Joanna K., Maggie W. Michele M., Michelle G., Michael D.
On March 5th, NAHC’s first group of providers went live with NextGen’s EHR system. This team of Behavioral Health providers from the Community Wellness Department’s Fog Building site in San Francisco acted as a pilot for the organization. The much anticipated launch went remarkably smooth, with only a few minor identified issues. The staff at the Fog Building’s positive attitude, willingness to learn, and attention to sharing feedback was a key to the success of the launch. During their training, the staff helped to identify issues, develop solutions, and provide suggestions for future trainings. “Our staff did really great on this go-live; all of our colleagues at CHCN and our sister clinics were really impressed that our intake flow was even faster with NextGen than our old process on the first try!” -Meriah Gille, RD, PM/EHR Project Manager
“Congratulations to the Community Wellness team on a successful launch! I appreciate all the hours of planning by our behavioral health workgroup – David Samlan, Chirag Patel, and Rebecca MacKenzie – as well as all the time and effort of the E.H.R. team – Meriah Gille, Lillawa Willie, Linda Yoshino, Aarati Sawhney, David Lichtenstein – who have been working diligently on this project for many, many months. I am also very proud of our Fog Building Team who came together with openness and collaboration to pilot the launch of NAHC’s E.H.R. Great work, team! Thank you!” -Serena Wright, Director of Community Wellness Department
Please congratulate the staff on their successful launch! Next up: First group of Behavioral Health providers at 3124 and School-Based Medical providers in Alameda
March 2013 @NAHC Calendar