Harness the Power of Community Engagement by Hosting a Community Cafe

Robin Cogan

Camden City District

Robin Cogan’s Nursing career spans more than three decades. In 2001, she joined the Camden City School District, in Camden, NJ as a Certified School Nurse. Her specialty is Early Childhood Health Services. Robin also teaches School Nursing at Rutgers University in Camden, NJ. In 2016, her program was awarded a grant through the New Jersey Nursing Initiative (NJNI) to redesign Nursing Education to infuse Population Health and Leadership in the School Nursing Curriculum. Robin is active in community engagement in Camden, NJ.Robin serves on several statewide initiatives including the NJ Department of Education’s Statewide Preschool Nurses Committee that is tasked with coordinating an annual educational conference. In addition, she was appointed to the Executive Board of the New Jersey State School Nurses Association (NJSSNA) as Education Co-chairperson. Robin is very proud to be a 2015 Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Fellow and a Program Liaison for their mentoring initiative. The Community Cafe Initiative shared at the Lown Institute Conference was an outcome of the Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Program.

Candida Rodriguez

Mi Casita Day Care Center Inc., East

As a Family Development Worker at Mi Casita Daycare Center in Camden, New Jersey, Candida Rodriguez’s greatest goal is to help the families she serves to realize their own ability to advocate for themselves and their children. By utilizing the strengthening families model, she and her team help support the early learning community through shared power and education. In do so, they promote the concept that the first 2,000 days of a child’s life are the most important.Candida is a graduate of Kingsborough Community College, CUNY, with an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts. In addition, she holds a Family Development Credential from Rutgers University. Candida holds membership in the Parent Advisory Council of the Camden City School District and is a founding member of the Pediatric Provider/School Nurse/Community Roundtable through the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers. Candida, along with her team develop and deliver trainings and workshops to parents, peers and the community at large throughout Camden City and Camden County.

Laura Jimenez

Mi Casita Day Care Center Inc., East

Laura Jimenez is a Family Development Worker at Mi Casita Daycare Center in Camden, NJ. She has served as a liaison between the families and the classroom teacher to enhance educational success in the early childhood experience. Laura is especially effective because she is bilingual in English and Spanish is often called upon to provide translation and care coordination services for her parents. One of her many roles is connecting her parents to community resources. Laura is especially knowledgeable and effective with families who are new immigrants.One of Laura’s many strengths include parent education and facilitating family workshops. She has instituted a Parent Leadership Group at Mi Casita II along with her colleague to recognize the strength of her parents and encourage community engagement. Laura is currently pursuing a life-long dream of completing her Social Work degree and hopes to attain a BSW in the near future.

Abstract

Harness the Power of Community Engagement by Hosting a Community CafeThe Community Cafe Initiative is a collaborative effort to improve Pediatric Provider and family relationships in Camden, NJ. Mi Casita Child Care Center... [ view full abstract ]

Harness the Power of Community Engagement by Hosting a Community Cafe

The Community Cafe Initiative is a collaborative effort to improve Pediatric Provider and family relationships in Camden, NJ. Mi Casita Child Care Center hosted two of the four Community Cafes, with the most recent one coinciding with Right Care Action Week. A Community Cafe is a structured conversation around a specific topic. The aim is to encourage parent engagement through participation and having their voices heard. The topic of our Community Cafes was a simple premise: What is working and what is not working in your healthcare experience?

The Community Café Model was used to create a safe space for parents to engage in discussions around their healthcare experiences. The conversations were translated in English and Spanish so that all participants understood the information being shared. Parents were invited to voluntarily attend and share what was working and not working in their healthcare experience. Information discussed during the Cafes were collected and themes were identified that captured the essence of the discussions.

A follow up session was conducted in the Fall of 2016 during RightCare Week which opened the Community Café session to newly enrolled parents as well as those who attended in the Spring of 2016.

Parents identified specific barriers to quality healthcare which included; (1) Lack of availability of appointments by pediatric providers, (2) Lack of communication with School Nurses regarding necessary school forms which creates unnecessary absences (3) Language and Cultural biases, (4) Lack of adequate transportation, among many other themes.

Hosting Community Cafes to understand the family perspective in their healthcare experience can create a synergy that leads to sustainable change. Our aim is to share the tools needed to host Community Cafes in other communities. Listening to the concerns that families share is humbling.

Authors

Robin Cogan (Camden City District)
Candida Rodriguez (Mi Casita Day Care Center Inc., East)
Laura Jimenez (Mi Casita Day Care Center Inc., East)

Topic Areas

Prevalence and drivers of overuse , Harms of overuse (physical, psychological or system-related) , Shared decision making and patient-reported outcomes , Identifying overuse in low resource settings , Organizational factors (such as structure and culture) that drive overuse

Session

PS-1 » Posters (concurrent w/ Lunch) (12:30 - Friday, 5th May, Rear of Salons 4 & 5)

Presentation Files

The presenter has not uploaded any presentation files.

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