Day 47 - Another week down

Things are still going very well 7 weeks into my summer project. I just wrapped up my surveying and interviewing yesterday. The month of June was very exciting as I got to travel all throughout Southeast Alaska. I got interesting perspective from tiny villages such as Hoonah and from large, regional hospitals like in Sitka. In between, I managed to visit SEARHC's only clinic that serves non natives (Haines), and took a day trip to Skagway right on the U.S./Canada border. It's been a whirlwind month, but it's been a month that has shown me lots of different perspectives, mindsets, and beliefs. My project would not have had the same meaning had I not been able to travel (by land, boat, and air!), so I am thankful to SEARHC for giving me that opportunity and an unbelievable amount of freedom. Just last night I compiled all of the data and met with Dr. Hort to discuss where to go from here. We have come up with a pretty unique plan - one that should ensure that the work I have done here will carry on long after I am gone.

Since we decided to focus on the OB subgroup, our education material will focus on oral health related to the pregnancy cycle. One of the main things that we found out in our interviewing was that patients really only are interested in receiving education material at appointments, basically they only want to learn if they are not being inconvenienced. This is perfect when dealing with OB patients because they are frequently visiting the OBGYN and coming in and out of the medical comlpex on SEARHC's campus. The dental clinic has a presence in the medical complex so there is an easy connection between two. We will now work to design a monthly program that will give these pregnant women access to prenatal oral health information in a variety of ways. The program will be structured so that women are receiving something monthly, culminating in a dental gift basket following the birth of their child. The education material will be part of a six month cycle, starting in the third month of pregnancy. Women will receive something new from the dental clinic each month in a different manner.

We think this will be an effective way of distributing patient education material for multiple reasons. First, surveying allowed us to conclude that there is not one clear cut method in which people prefer to receive educational materials. Some love the concept of utilizing technologies such as email and text message, whereas other are completely satisfied receiving brochures or pamphlets. By setting up a monthly program that can correlate to a woman's pregnancy schedule, we can utilize many different methods of distribution. Possibly a brochure at month three, a conversation with a dental team member at month five, an informational video at month seven, and a gift at month nine. This is just an example, but the concept of diversifying the way in which we are reaching out to patients should ensure that people will find at least one effective piece of information as they go through the process.

Also, we found that there are three or four main pieces of information that these women are interested in learning about. So by creating a system in which they are receiving something new each month we are ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to learn many different things. This goes hand-in-hand with the concept of offering a variety of ways to distribute the education materials. Again, we think this will prove to be effective because it will ensure that people won't be bored by information fed to them over and over, time and time again. The patients will have access to lots of different information so they can always be on the lookout for something new.

I am really looking forward to working hard over the next two weeks to make this goal a reality. In addition to the patient education material, I will be submitting a report to Dr. Bornstein and Dr. Sohonage (the two directors of the dental clinic) detailing the results of my telephone survey on why people are continually missing their appointments. This data should prove useful in creating a more peaceful union between the dental staff and the administrative staff in the clinics. By interviwing so many patients in so many diverse locations I have really had an opportunity to gain a perspective that most in the SEARHC organization have not. I have, in a sense, started to think like a SEARHC patient and will give them a voice in my report and education materials that they wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity to express or receive.

Besides the excitement of finally compiling data and finishing up a few telephone surveys, I had an opportunity to go hiking with Dr. Bornstein and Sam after work today. Among the cooler things about living in Alaska is that there is an endless amount of time to each day. Even if you work until 5 or 6 you still have a good 5 hours of daylight to go out hiking or exploring. This can also turn into a bit of curse because sometimes you are laying in bed at 10 PM and see it's still bright outside and kick yourself for not taking advantage of the extra hours of light. Today, Dr. Bornstein, Sam, and I went off to the East Glacier Trail. I have hiked this trail before, but not like I hiked it today. We veered off of the main path onto a small auxiliary path towards some old mining camps. Juneau has a storied history of mining, and many of the trails still have remains of old mining equipment. We hiked on old pipelines and sat and rested in camps filled with rusted stoves, pots, and pans. We even got to hike in a small cave that lead to the generator that powered a lot of the mining equipment. And, to top it off, it did not rain today!

After the hike, I went over to the Bornstein residence for dinner. We had fresh halibut caught from Fred Meyer Superstore. We concluded the night with an intense game of Bananagrams before I came back to the dorm. Today was an exciting day and a great kickoff to the final two week push of my project. Looking forward to an exciting 4th of July weekend...