All Categories - Digital Health Literacy Project

Graduate Celebration on December 15!

12/1/2016

We are planning a big event on December 15 to bring together and celebrate all of the Digital Health graduates (330 adults, and counting!) and partners that have made this program such a huge success over the past two years.
Who: ALL Richmond Digital Health Literacy graduates and their families are invited!
We also welcome all of our project partners and other organizations working in the Richmond community to improve health and access to technology and education.

What: Guest speakers, open mic, raffle, activities, photos, information booths, and more!

Where: Richmond Memorial Auditorium, Bermuda Room (403 Civic Center Plaza Richmond, CA)

When: Thursday, December 15 from 4-6pm; set-up for organizations starts at 3pm

Why: The Richmond Digital Health Litearcy Project has met or suprassed all of its goals, and it's time to celebrate!!! Plus, this is a great opportunity to connect Digital Health graduates with additional health, technology, and education services in the community.

How: If you are a Richmond Digital Health training graduate, please fill out the form below, call us at 510-620-6684, or RSVP on Facebook to let us know if you can come.

If you are a project partner or local organization, this event will be a great opportunity to connect with low-income adults and families in Richmond who have an interest in health, wellness, technology, and education opportunities. There are four main ways organizations can help make this event a success:

Host a Table: Attend and provide information materials, giveaways, games, services, or any other resources you have to share. To participate, please fill out this form so we can have enough space for everyone and include your organization in the program.
Share contacts: Let us know if you have contacts at other organizations or media outlets who you think should be invited to attend.
Share ideas: We will have some healthy snacks and beverages, printouts of photos from the graduation events, an open mic, and guest speakers. Any other ideas you have to make the event interactive and engaging for attendees would be very welcome!
Sponsorship: We have a small budget to work with, so any resources you can provide (e.g. money, staff or volunteer time, in-kind donations for a raffle, food/drink, decorations, other supplies) would provide a big boost to the impact of this event.

We hope to see you on the 15th!
To recap, Individuals: RSVP below. Organizations: RSVP here: https://goo.gl/forms/qSZOAaumxJshZPwd2

My Experience Interning at LEAP

7/28/2016

My name is Sophia Zhuang and I have been given the opportunity to intern at LEAP this summer through my Public Health Solutions class at De Anza High School. My internship experience here has exposed me to a new aspect of what public health workers strive to change specifically in the Richmond community. Programs like LEAP collaborate with various partner organizations to eliminate the digital gap that separates our community with other communities in our district. My summer project was primarily centered around updating broken links and maps on the web-based program: LearnerWeb which is used by the adults who take the Digital Health training class. In addition, I did a sufficient amount of research on useful health phone apps that could potentially be implemented into the Digital Health curriculum as part of teaching adults how to use them as daily resource tools. In the midst of completing these assignments, I was able to assist in several Digital Health classes which helped adult learners improve upon their digital literacy.
From this internship experience, I have been introduced to the digital divide in the Richmond community and the goals that LEAP aims to achieve. There is a growing preference in society of obtaining health information through the Internet; however, low-income communities like Richmond are at an disadvantage of acquiring such important information. Furthermore, with the Internet providing so many connections and health benefits, there is a need for awareness of the digital gap that still exists in not only Richmond, but in many other communities as well. Organizations like LEAP provide support for individuals who find themselves in this group.

I'm very happy to be apart of this experience working with the other intern, Praseela Rai and our preceptor, Ellen Kersten to provide support for these adults in our community.

Sophia Zhuang, LEAP Intern
Summer 2016

Internship with LEAP

7/13/2016

Literacy for Every Adult Program (LEAP) is a very impressive program. LEAP allows adults who hasn’t been fortunate with electronics, to get that experience. I interned for Ellen Kersten every wednesday. These days consists of getting to the LEAP office at 9, getting Laptops ready to go, and leaving the office by 9:40 to the reentry center. AT the re-entry center we set up laptops for our students and then help them get logged in to the Digital health site. After that we would got back to LEAP and have 30 minute lunch break and get ready to go to our next spot. Community heritage center was much harder to teach because it’s a senior home. They have many simple and repetitive questions. Explaining can get really exhausting but it pays off really well because they are so appreciative of everything. When we would get back to LEAP, I would collect new and improved sites of services around Richmond and make maps.
Digital health exposes adults to what they need for their everyday life. It allows them to feel part of a group and have the knowledge they need for their health.
Digital health is public health. LEAP is not only providing their students with information about Health services, but they are going to the root and teaching them how to get it for themselves.
Praseela Rai
LEAP intern 2016

Lunch and Literacy at the Richmond Library

6/30/2016

Summer is the season for vacations and rest, but for many families in Richmond it can be a time of increased need and stress. According to Kidsdata.org, more than 20,000 children and teens (70% of K-12 students) are eligible to receive free or reduced price school meals in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. When many schools close their doors during summer break from mid-June to mid-August, children in low-income families are left without regular access to healthy food.

In response, the Richmond Library has partnered with the West Contra Costa Unified School District, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, California Summer Meal Coalition, and the California Library Association to provide summer meals to children and fresh produce to adults.

The Richmond Library joins a network of more than 100 other public libraries in California that have implemented Lunch at the Library programs. Learning from other library’s success, the Richmond Library is coupling meal distribution with health-promoting educational opportunities. Many children stay after lunchtime for the Library’s Summer Reading Heroes program, where volunteers, interns, and staff read with kids to prevent summer learning loss. In July, we will be starting a Digital Health Literacy class for parents with grant support from the California Library Association.

The Richmond Library’s main branch (325 Civic Center Plaza) provides lunch for children 0 to 18 years-old on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-1pm. A complete list of the other summer meal sites in the West Contra Costa Unified School District is here, and a map of all sites in Contra Costa and Solano counties is here.

A May of Many Accomplishments

5/31/2016

The Richmond Digital Health Literacy Project accomplished a lot this month! Here are a few highlights of what we have been up to:

Prepared and presented a poster at the Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA) Annual Health Literacy Conference in Anaheim, CA.
Received an award for Best Published Material at the IHA Awards Luncheon, including a plaque, $500 check, free conference registration, and hotel and airfare.
Finalized a Formative Evaluation Report by our external evaluators, Communities in Collaboration | Comunidades en Colaboración
Started Digital Health Literacy classes at three new partner sites: Barrett Terrace Apartments, Community Heritage Senior Apartments, and the Reentry Success Center.
Celebrated with 25 Digital Health graduates across three sites: LEAP, Crescent Park Apartments, and Richmond High parents group

See our Photos Page for pictures of all of these exciting events. Thank you to our many partners and supporters for making all of this possible. Extra special thank yous go out to:

Richmond Digital Health Literacy Project Coordinator, Ellen Kersten, presents a poster at the Institute for Healthcare Advancement Conference. May 5, 2016

Plaque and check received in commemoration of winning the 2016 Health Literacy Award

Sherry Drobner for her outstanding leadership on this project; Patricia Ruis for being the backbone of organization for the many, many moving parts that keep this project going; Celina Hall, Joan Murica, Lucero Ramirez, and Anne Ronquillo for leading Digital Health classes; Willie Locket at ReliaTech for facilitating the delivery of all of the refurbished laptops; and Roi Evron at the City of Richmond IT Department for printing our IHA poster (see image below; to view the large printout, stop by the LEAP computer lab).

We will be convening a partner meeting in June to share more information about these accomplishments and get input on future directions for Digital Health Literacy work in Richmond ad beyond. Feel free to comment below or contact us with any questions, suggestions, or to learn how to get involved.

Richmond Digital Health Literacy Project Wins Award from Institute for Healthcare Advancement

4/13/2016

The Richmond Digital Health Literacy Project (DHLP) has been selected as the winner in the Published Materials Category for the Fifteenth Annual Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA) Health Literacy Awards. The Published Materials Category refers to “written materials that contribute to effective communication with those with limited health literacy” and includes websites.

The Richmond DHLP has created two innovative web-based resources to improve health literacy for low-income adults in Richmond and beyond. In addition to this project website, which compiles digital and health literacy resources for community partners, we created a free, publicly-accessible, and bi-lingual (English and Spanish) Digital Health Literacy Training program (www.richmondhealth.learnerweb.org) that reached more than 200 residents in just the first six months of piloting and implementation.

The award includes registration and paid expenses for travel to Anaheim, CA for the IHA conference and Awards Luncheon on May 5, 2016 as well as a plaque and $500 check. The DHLP Project Coordinator, Ellen Kersten, will receive the award on behalf of Richmond Public Library’s Literacy for Every Adult Program (LEAP). We plan to use the $500 to have a celebration event in Richmond with DHLP graduates, families, and community partners later this summer. Please let us know if you have any suggestions or want to help out!

The IHA is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) public charity with a mission of empowering people to better health. A panel of IHA judges awarded the DHLP this award based on five criteria: 1) Addresses an aspect of health literacy; 2) Aimed at solving an identified healthcare problem; 3) Significant completion in the past two years; 4) Empowers people to better health; 5) Specific recognized impact or the potential to affect the greater healthcare community. For more details, please see the nomination material links and select images below.

We extend our deepest gratitude to our external evaluators, Communities in Collaboration | Comunidades en Colaboración, for nominating the DHLP for this award. They prepared responses to nomination questions and submitted supplementary materials including a DHLP Formative Assessment Overview that they prepared and shortened versions of DHLP Program Overview and Step by Step Tutorial slides that Ellen prepared for meetings with community partners.

We are honored to receive this award and look forward to continuing and expanding the DHLP to promote health equity in Richmond and beyond. As the award nomination states, “By providing training in both accessing online health information and evaluating its quality, the DHLP is empowering community members to better manage their health and their use of community health resources.”

From Pilot to Implementation

3/29/2016

March has been a month of transition and expansion for the Richmond Digital Health Literacy Project. We have officially moved out of our pilot phase and launched our implementation plan, which includes new class sites, new community partners, and new Spanish language content. Our external evaluators, Communities in Collaboration | Comunidades en Colaboración, continue to share valuable formative assessment results with us that will help us continue to improve the program.

As of March 17, 2016, we have reached 106 Digital Health graduates and are well on our way to exceeding our original goal of 180 by the end of the year. Ninety-four percent of graduates would recommend the training to a friend, and 74% learned about additional community resources in Richmond.

For a complete project update, including key findings from focus groups with graduates, please review the slides and meeting notes from our March 24 Partner Meeting.

To support the expansion of the Digital Health training to additional sites, we have created a new webpage with information and resources for community partners who would like to lead a Digital Health class. Please take a look and let us know if you think anything is missing or unclear.

After completing the Digital Health training, Randy volunteered to help new Digital Health learners at the LEAP computer lab.

Susana Morales-Konishi, of Communities in Collaboration | Comunidades en Colaboración, presents formative evaluation results at the March 24 Partner Meeting.

Richmond Public Library’s Adult Literacy Program: A National Model for Volunteers and Digital Literacy Acquisition

2/29/2016

From 2010-2013, the Richmond Public Library joined as a lead partner in the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) to study tutor facilitated digital literacy. During the 3-year period, Richmond library’s program LEAP, served 1,933 learners.

Findings from this three year effort speak to the value of our local library and its programs. According to the research, “The program designed and implemented by LEAP was first and foremost a people-centered process. As a result, learning interactions gave rise to mutual respect.”

The findings concluded that “libraries are especially able to connect with a diverse array of individuals who might not otherwise have opportunities to learn digital literacy or to volunteer…the impact of such programs goes far beyond the development of individual’s digital literacy skills and both expand and improve the overall health and well-being of the community.” All of the research briefs and data are available from Portland State University's Literacy, Language, and Technology Research Group.

The authors wrote a great summary of their work, "How do Marginalized Adults Acquire Digital Literacy? Findings from a 3-year Study." The Tech Tips for Teachers blog and website is a great resource for digital literacy instruction.

The (preliminary) results are in....

1/27/2016

The Digital Health Literacy Project's external evaluators, Communities in Collaboration (CIC), have been hard at work organizing and analyzing the oodles of data that we have compiled over the past few months during the pilot stage of this new program. CIC compiled some preliminary results in a lovely overview presentation that they shared at our third partner meeting earlier this week. For the full meeting agenda, handouts, and notes please see our meetings resource page.

The big picture message from the preliminary formative assessment results is overall very positive: participants are more likely to use the internet to find health and wellness information online (especially health insurance) after completing the program, they are more confident in their ability to use the internet to find health information (see image below), and 93% of participants enjoyed the program so much that they would recommend it to a friend.

The results also show some ways we can improve the program. For instance, 80% of the learners we have worked with so far are female, demonstrating that we need to improve our outreach to males in Richmond. Half of the participants do not have internet at home, and we are working on connecting those households to free or low-cost internet service.

We will continue to use feedback from program participants to make improvements. The Digital Health curriculum is publicly available at www.richmondhealth.learnerweb.org , just click create an account to get started. Let us know what you think!

Image: Percent of Digital Health Participants who responded "yes" to statements about digital health preceptions and skills before and after completing the training program

Congratulations Digital Health Graduates!

12/21/2015

Over the past two weeks, it has been a joy to celebrate the accomplishments of so many Digital Health graduates. To date, 47 learners have completed the Richmond Library's new online Digital Health Literacy training program! All graduates received a refurbished laptop, laptop bag, and certificate in recognition of their efforts to improve their digital skills and knowledge about how to use the internet to find reliable information about health conditions, health insurance, health services, and healthy living.

See below for pictures from our three graduation ceremonies, including:

Richmond Council Member Jovanka Beckles speaking to Digital Health graduates and families at the Nevin Community Center
LEAP English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors Hilaria Wright and Bruna Allen with their students at Catholic Charities
LEAP ESL students and Patricia Ruis, Digital Health Literacy Project Intern, at LEAP

Additional photos of the graduation ceremony at the Nevin Community Center are available on the facebook pages for Richmond Environmental and Health Initiatives (posts here and here) and Richmond City Council Member Jovanka Beckles facebook page (post here).

Congratulations to all of our 2015 graduates, and we look forward to working with many more Digital Health learners in 2016!