Field Placement: Kaiser Permanente -- Health Education, Health Promotion, and Prevention Department
Location: Pasadena, CA
Preceptor: Angela Cohen
Student Name: Tiffany Creighton
Year: 2002

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For my internship I worked in the Regional offices of Kaiser Permanente in the Health Education, Health Promotion, and Prevention Department. My supervisor was Angela Cohen. This internship offered an excellent insight into the field of Health Education and Health Promotion. I did not have one particular project; rather I participated and was involved in many ongoing projects. The department was very supportive of my interests and in choosing projects that would best serve as learning experiences. Additionally, Angela was an excellent preceptor. She ensured that every project was a good learning experience. She is very supportive and uses every opportunity for learning and professional development. She found opportunities for me to expand on my professional learning and always invited and encouraged my questions.

I had a unique opportunity to participate and be involved in many projects, too many to list here, so I will only list some of my favorites. One of my major projects included working with Angela on population care management for asthma. This included development of a self-management plan for asthma patients, attending the meetings, and presenting the brochure in a video for emergency department staff training. I also was a part of the planning committee for Kaiser Permanente's worksite wellness program called "Working Well Within Kaiser Permanente." I worked on the Working Well Newsletter and designed two bulletin boards that appeared in the regional offices. A website for this program is in development and I had a chance to work on content for the website. Readability and health literacy are an important part of Health Education at Kaiser Permanente; therefore I did several projects concerning health literacy. I learned how to perform readability tests and reviewed several health education materials in the Kaiser catalog. Additionally, I researched the various readability tests and prepared a summary of readability formulas and their use for our Medicare contract.

One of my favorite projects was working with some of the high school kids that work for Kaiser Permanente in the summer, the LAUNCH students. I did a presentation for the students on stress and coping and then evaluated the presentation to see what aspects were best received and could be used again with future students.

I also had the opportunity to attend a training on brief negotiation, which as an excellent training in which theory was actually applied and patient change was encouraged. I attended a talk by Dr. Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics and presented the information to the Health Education staff. I also took an online class and became IRB certified.

I had a fun opportunity to see health promotion in action, I was the team leader for the American Diabetic Association Walk. I organized a team of our department members and we raised over $2700. At the end of my internship I was one of the Kaiser Permanente walk leaders for the AIDS Walk and organized a team of close to 100 walkers.

This internship offers experience with one of the largest health education departments in Southern California. The preceptor, Angela Cohen is supportive and wonderful and the whole department encourages learning and participation.

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