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Start Here: Take this Pre-Assessment to Enter the Microlearning Opportunity

Welcome to the start of the MCFH | Appalachian Microlearning Project. I am Jennifer Schroeder Tyson, a public health faculty member at Appalachian State University. This program was developed in partnership with Abby Cope and Hailey Phillips, both are public health students, and Dr. Amber Welborn and Sarah Martin, both are nursing faculty. 

Microlearning is a creative, easily accessible, low commitment opportunity. If you register on the website, sites.google.com/appstate.edu/mcfh you will receive a weekly email starting August 23rd, 2021. You will have an opportunity to listen to the content via podcast, read from your email, and click to answer one question per week.

Purpose

With a focus on Maternal, Child, and Family Health workforce development, this microlearning project aims to utilize the MCH Navigator's MCH 20|20 resources and localize them to the rural Appalachian context and be made available to practitioners and students who are interested in exploring the content in an easy, accessible, and equitable manner. We hope to achieve this through a short weekly microlearning opportunity where one question is posed per week for a limited number of weeks for the practitioners and students to reflect on, ponder, and then answer. Each participant will register, receive an email, answer a question, and decide how much further they want to explore each question. This microlearning program is a direct result of student and practitioner requests for more local access to professional development related to Maternal, Child, and Family Health.

Format

We ask a series of 11 questions with a pre and a post check-in, to jump-start learning and sharpening of skills. Over the course of 13 weeks, professionals in the field and students share their learning goal, areas where they need to grow, and learning aspirations with us. We assemble resources around each of the questions and their responses, addressing the expressed needs for professional development in MCFH. These answers and resources will be available digitally in one place. Participants will be able to read more about each question, reply back with their own answer (optional), learn a little about how the question relates to the MCH Leadership Competencies, access some additional learning, and see what the field is saying (and what they're learning right along with the participant!).

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver  College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson. 

Week 1: Entrance ticket. Welcome to the start of the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Project. My name is Jennifer Schroeder Tyson. I am a public health faculty member at Appalachian State University, and I am so excited to present this material. This program was developed in partnership with Abby Cope and Hailey Phillips, both public health students and Dr. Amber Welborn and Sarah Martin both are nursing faculty. Microlearning is a creative, easily accessible, low commitment opportunity. If you register on the website which is sites.google.com/appstate.edu/mcfh. 

You will receive a weekly email from us. You will have an opportunity to listen to the content via podcast, like we’re doing right now, read from an email, or click to answer one question per week. There’s additional information and resources if you want to dive deeper. We’ve created this to make it easily accessible, and you can take it as deep or as shallow as you like. The purpose with the focus on maternal, child, and family health workforce development. This microlearning project aims to utilize the MCH navigators MCH 2020 resources. Thank you, MCH navigator. 

We intend to localize these resources to rural Appalachia. Context can be made available to practitioners and students who are interested in exploring the content in an easy, accessible, and equitable manner. We hope to achieve this through a short weekly microlearning opportunity where one question is posed per week for a limited number of weeks for the practitioners and students to reflect on, ponder, and then answer from their own perspective. Each participant will register, receive an email, answer a question, and decide how much further they want to explore each question as it relates to their profession and interest. This microlearning program is a direct result of student practitioner requests for more local access to professional development related to maternal child and family health. 

As mentioned before the format will be: we ask a series of 11 questions with a pre and a post check-in, to jumpstart learning and sharpening of skills. Over the course of 13 weeks professionals in the field and students share their learning goals, areas where they need to grow, and learning aspirations with us. We assemble resources around each of the questions and the responses addressing the expressed need for professional development in maternal, child, family health. These answers and resources will be available to truly in one place: the website. Participants will be able to read more about each question, reply back with their own answer, learn a little about how the question relates to maternal and child health leadership competencies, access some additional learning, and see what the field is saying. And what they’re learning right along with the participants. All of these elements are optional. You can do as little or as much as you would like. 

We are so excited you have decided to join us on this journey. Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH navigator for the resources to complete this project.

An essential component of structured learning is understanding what you need to focus on. Your needs may be dictated by new projects, job requirements, or your own interests in professional development.

Guiding Prompts

Use these guiding prompts to think about what you would like to learn during this time:

• What is important or necessary?

  • A specific problem to be solved? 

  • A challenge that must be faced?

  • Information that will construct something of value to me/others?

• Have you used a self-assessment tool to help you identify what you need to learn?

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

How does this question relate to the MCH Leadership Competencies? 

If you aren’t sure where to begin learning, or you’d like to use a structured approach that ties training to personal and organizational goals, start by assessing your knowledge of and skills in addressing the MCH Leadership Competencies using the MCH Navigator’s online self-assessment.

Accessing Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources:

• This is Maternal and Child Health. Developed: 2013. Source: CityMatCH. Type: Narrated Slide Presentation. Level: Introductory. Length: 18 minutes.

  • Key Takeaway: Leaders in the field of MCH share their definitions of MCH. MCH is a pillar of public health and is the “Promotion of the health and well-being of all women, children, adolescents, men, and families, especially in disadvantaged and vulnerable populations.” It is “A life cycle approach to theory and practice. This approach acknowledges that there are distinct periods in human development that present both risks and opportunities to intervene to make lasting improvements.” What do MCH professionals do “professionals who are looking out for the health of everyone.” Programs range from individual interventions, relationship programming, community partnerships, and societal settings. MCH is essential because it “gives us the opportunity to practice prevention, helps us improve the health of future generations, and has a really profound impact.”

• Infographic “What is Maternal and Child Health” Developed: 2016. Source: UMN Epi Department. Type: Infographic. Level: Introductory.

  • The elements of a MCH perspective include: “MCH is about populations who are, for social, physical, genetic, economic, or political reasons, vulnerable to having poor health. The heart of MCH work lies in its goals to create health equity, promote social justice, and understand the social determinants of health. MCH embraces the lifecourse theory of health, which is why so many MCH-ers adhere to a name that is apparently restrictive and incomplete. It is hard to provide a simple definition of MCH, because the sub-field reflects a complex approach to public health.” 

• Why I Chose Public Health & 25 Reasons To Choose a Career in Nursing

  • Some students and professionals shared why they chose a career in MCFH, here are some quotes and highlights: 

    • “I strive to be a voice for those who are unable to speak up.” said Elia Salazar

    • You can choose your own specialty: The medical field includes many different specialties, and nurses need to work in each area, especially in MCFH.

    • “I want to help make the world a place in which a child’s health status is not a reflection of his or her soicioeconomic status.” said Ejiro Ntekume

    • Nurses — quite literally — save lives every day. They monitor patients, making sure they receive all the care they need. But they also often go above and beyond, with a majority volunteering in their communities to promote public health.

    • “I plan to work to ensure that immigrants, including those who are undocumented, receive basic health care services.” said Claudia Vargas

    • Nurses promote a culture of health in their work and communities.

    • “Having been a terrified young adult who was pregnant in my first year as a college undergraduate, I can relate to life-changing events and empathize with people at vulnerable points in their lives.” siad Natalie Sanchez

    • “I am passionate in my belief that health is a human right” said Stephania Olamendi

Appalachian Context

MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia: The infant mortality rate is 16 percent higher in the Appalachian Region than in the nation as a whole. 

Reference: Question 1 in MCH Navigator 20|20

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver  College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson. 

Before we start week two let's hear from our other collaborators:

My name is Abby Cope and I am a junior public health major with a minor in global studies here at App State. I thoroughly enjoy learning more about the field of maternal, child, and family health through this project, and I hope you all are able to acquire valuable knowledge and resources from this microlearning opportunity. 

Hi, my name is Hailey Phillips I’m a senior at app state, majoring in public health with a minor in nutrition. I am very excited to be a part of this project, and I hope that you’ll find great information and resources on your journey during this maternal, child, and family health microleanring experience. 

Hi, my name is Sarah Martin, and I’m clinical faculty in the nursing department at Appalachian State University. I have been a nurse in maternal, child, and family health for about 20 years, and I’m excited to work with you on this journey for microlearning in maternal, child, and family health in Appalachian. 

Hi, I’m Amber Welborn, one of the nursing faculty at App State teaching pediatrics. I have a clinical background in a variety of maternal, child, and family care environments, and I'm excited to share some relevant content and context for students learning about how to improve the health and wellness of families. 

Week 2: What do I want and need to learn?

An essential component of structured learning is understanding what you need to focus on. Your needs may be dictated by new projects, job requirements, or your own interests in professional development. This week's starting prompts are: (use these guiding prompts to think about what you would like to learn during this time) What is important or necessary, a specific problem that needs to be solved, or a challenge that must be faced? Information that will construct something of value to you and others. Have you used the self assessment tools to help you identify what you need to learn? 

Putting the questions in context. How does this question relate to the maternal and child health leadership competencies? Well, if you aren’t sure where to begin learning, or you’d like to use a structured approach that ties training to personal and organizational goals, start by assessing your knowledge of any skills and addressing MCH leadership competencies. By using the MCH navigators online self-assessment which is available on the website. 

Accessing resources to guide learning. To get your brain juices flowing and get you going on your learning journey, you may want to look at one of the following resources. The first resource is: This is Maternal and Child Health, a resource from city match. Key takeaways: leaders in the field of MCH share their definitions of MCH in this resource. MCH is a pillar of public health and is the promotion of the health and well-being of all women, children, adolescents, men, and families. Especially in disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. It is a lifecycle approach to theory and practice. This approach acknowledges that there are distinct theories in human development that present both risks and opportunities to intervene to make lasting improvement. 

What do MCH professionals do? Professionals who are looking out for the health of everyone. Programs range from individuals to then choose relationship programming, community partnership, and societal settings. MCH is essential because it gives us the opportunity to practice prevention, helps improve the health of future generations, and has a really profound impact. 

Another resource for this week is an infographic titled, “What is Maternal and Child Health?”, which was developed at the UMN Epi department. The elements of a MCH perspective include: MCH is about populations who are social, physical, genetic, economic, or political reasons vulnerable to having poor health. The heart of MCH work lies in its goals to create health equity, promote social justice, and understand the social determinants of health. MCH embraces the life course theory of health which is why so many MCHers adhere to a name that is apparently restrictive and incomplete. 

A third resource for this week's topic is titled, “Why I Chose Public Health”, and, “25 Reasons to Choose a Career in Nursing”. This resource gives lots of highlights from students about why they chose to do what they do and here are a few samples: “I strive to be a voice for those who are unable to speak up,” said Elia Salazar. You can choose your own specialty in this field. The medical field includes many different specialties and nurses need to work in each area especially in MCFH.

And to wrap up this week here is the Appalachian context from the MCH health disparities in Appalachia article. The infant mortality rate is 16% higher in the Appalachian region than in the nation as a whole. 

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH navigator for the resources to complete this project.

 Continuous learning forms a necessary part in acquiring critical thinking skills and discovering new ways of how knowledge can impact the way we carry out our work.

Guiding Prompts

Use these guiding prompts to think about why this learning is important: 

• What has motivated me to seek this knowledge?

• What circumstances have led me to want to learn this?

• Why is this meaningful to me or to others?

• What would happen if I don’t find out what I need to?

• How will this knowledge change things?

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

Continuous learning is defined as your self-motivated persistence in acquiring knowledge in order to expand your skill set in response to a changing environment. It also forms a necessary part of developing critical thinking skills.  Your motivation for acquiring this new knowledge may lead to meaningful and impactful changes in the lives of others.

Accessing Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources:

• Critical Thinking for Public Health Practice. Year Developed: 2006. Source: Upper Midwest Public Health Training Center. Presenter(s): n.a.. Type: Online Course. Level: Introductory. Length: 60 minutes.

  • This online course helps participants to strengthen their critical thinking skills, which is crucial in the field of Maternal and Child Health. After completing the course, the participant will be able to identify a problem situation, understand the issue and any constraints, develop an appropriate action plan, evaluate alternative solutions, and monitor the progress of their plan.

• How racism harms pregnant women - and what can help. Year Developed: 2016. Source: TedWOMAN Presenter(s): Miriam Zoila Pérez. Type: Presentation. Level: Intermediate, Advanced. Length: 12 minutes.

  • Miriam Zoila Perez is discussing how racism has a large impact on the health outcomes of African-American women and babies. The stress that many of these women face due to ongoing discrimination is extremely unhealthy for the health of the mother and her child. African-American women are four times more likely to die during pregnancy than white women. Perez introduces a prenatal care program, called the JJ Way,  that can help pregnant women give birth to healthy, full-term babies. Her approach to prenatal care is supportive, understanding, inclusive, and respectful. This care model provides a buffer from the racism that these pregnant women face in healthcare settings, which lowers their stress levels and in turn leads to a healthier pregnancy. Click here for more information on Perez's foundation. 

• Building Skills for a More Strategic Public Health Workforce: A Call to Action

  • This call to action from the National Consortium for Public Health Workforce Development discusses how ongoing changes in our world, such as new economic forces and technological advances, are reshaping the role of governmental public health. The field must respond by “boldly expanding the scope and reach of public health to address all factors that promote health and well-being including those related to economic development, education, transportation, food, environment, and housing.” This bold expansion will require the development and elevation of current strategic skills in order to match the needs of our country.

• North Carolina Perinatal Association: A Coalition for Promoting the Health of Mothers and Babies

  • Are you interested in getting involved in professional associations in NC around MCFH? The North Carolina Perinatal Association is A Coalition of Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies. It was formed in 1985 as a non-profit organization. The purpose of this organization is to improve perinatal health for childbearing families throughout the state. The North Carolina Perinatal Association provides leadership, education, and advocacy for healthy mothers and healthy infants. Through the use of state, regional, and local resources, and a multidisciplinary approach, the North Carolina Perinatal Association continues to promote the health and well being of families.

Appalachian Context

• MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia: With identical infant mortality rates of 7.4 per 1,000 births, the North Central, Central, and Southern Appalachian subregions have rates 21 percent higher than the national rate.

• Watauga County Data Card

  • This data card shows how Maternal, Child and Family Health issues are present in our current county. For example, 42.0% of children in Watauga County live in poor or low income homes, and 6.5% of children are without health insurance. These statistics directly impact the quality of life and health outcomes for these children and their families.

Reference: Question 2 in MCH Navigator 20 | 20

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver  College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson. 

Week 3: “Why is this learning important?”. Continuous learning forms a necessary part in acquiring critical thinking skills, and discovering new ways of how knowledge can impact the way we carry out our work. Use these guiding prompts to think about why this learning is important. What has motivated me to seek this knowledge? What circumstances have led me to know to want to learn this? Why is this meaningful to me or to others? What would happen if I don't find out what I need to? And finally, how would this knowledge change things? Be sure to answer the question using these guiding prompts. A link is found in the email and on our website. 

To put this question into context. Continuous learning is defined as your self motivated persistence in acquiring knowledge. In order to expand your skill set in response to a changing environment. It also forms the necessary part of developing critical thinking skills. Your motivation for acquiring this knowledge may lead to meaningful and impactful changes in the lives of others. In relation to this question this week, a few resources that you’ll find more information on the website include…

 The first one is, “Critical Thinking for Public Health Practice”. This online course helps participants to strengthen their critical thinking skills which is crucial in the field of maternal and child health. After completing the course the participants will be able to identify a problem, situation, understand the issue with any constraints, develop an appropriate action plan, evaluate alternative solutions, and monitor the progress of their plan. 

The second resource this week is titled, “How Racism Harms Pregnant Women and What Can Help,”. This is developed by TedWOMAN. Miriam Zoila Perez is discussing how racism has a large impact on the health outcomes of African American women and babies. The stress that many of these women face due to on-going discrimination which is extremely unhealthy for the health of the mother and her child. Women who identify as African American or black are four times more likely to die during pregnancy than white women. Perez introduces a prenatal care program called the “JJ Way”. that can help pregnant women give birth to healthy, full-term babies. Her approach to prenatal care is supportive, understanding, inclusive, and respectful. This care model provides a buffer from the racism that these pregnant women face in healthcare settings, which lowers their stress levels and in turn leads to a healthier pregnancy. 

The third resource for this week is titled, “Building Skills For a More Strategic Public Health Workforce: A Call to Action,”. This call to action from the National Consortium for Public Health Workforce Development discusses how ongoing changes in our world, such as new economic forces and technological advances, are reshaping the role of governmental public health. The field must respond by “boldly expanding the scope and reach of public health to address all factors that promote health and well-being including those related to economic development, education, transportation, food, environment, and housing.” This bold expansion will require the development of elevation of current strategic skills in order to match the needs of our country.

And the fourth resource that you can find more information on our website about is titled, “North Carolina Perinatal Association: A coalition for Promoting the Health of Mothers and Babies,”. A​​re you interested in getting involved in professional associations in North Carolina around maternal, child, and family health? The North Carolina Perinatal Association is a coalition of healthy mothers and healthy babies. It has formed in 1985 as a non-profit organization. The purpose of this organization is to improve perinatal health for childbearing families throughout the state. The North Carolina Perinatal Association provides leadership, education, and advocacy for healthy mothers and healthy infants. Through the use of state, regional, and local resources, and a multidisciplinary approach, the North Carolina Perinatal Association continues to promote the health and well being of families.

And to wrap up week three, here is our Appalachian context. With identical infant mortality rates of 7.4 per 1,000 births, the north central, central, and southern Appalachian subregions have rates 21 percent higher than the national rate. Watauga county data card says that maternal, child, and family health issues are present now in our current county. For example: 42% of children in watauga county live in poor or lower income homes and 6.5% of children are without health insurance. These statistics directly impact the quality of life and health outcomes for these children and their families. 

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH navigator for the resources to complete this project.

Guiding Prompts

Use these guiding prompts to think about how you will use this knowledge during this time: 

• What will this knowledge do to help improve my practice?

• Do I have the support in my organization to implement this new knowledge?

• How will applying this knowledge impact others?

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

One of the main trends found in the MCH Navigator's Online Self-Assessment data is that learners have consistently reported high levels of knowledge but low levels of skills across a number of competencies. This translates into MCH professionals having high levels of understanding of a competency but not as much self-efficacy in translating this knowledge into practice. In response to this need, the MCH Navigator has developed a series of implementation briefs that focus on how to implement and execute common skills necessary for MCH professionals.

Access Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources:

• The MCH Navigator's Implementation Brief Series. Year Developed: 2019. Source: MCH Navigator. Presenter(s): N/A. Type: Interactive Learning Tool. Level: Introductory/Intermediate. Length: Self-paced.

  • The trainings provided focus on implementation and health transformation, with modules on ethics, communication, family-professional partnerships, and more. This variety of tools and resources helps students and professionals understand this week’s question by demonstrating real-life application. 

• The National Implementation Research Network's Active Implementation Hub. Year Developed: n.a.. Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's FPG Child Development Institute. Presenter(s): N/A. Type: Interactive Learning Tool. Level: Introductory Intermediate. Length: Self-paced.

  • The Implementation Hub provides modules, lessons, videos, and courses on active implementation, such as the five Active Implementation Frameworks, implementation drivers, the stages and cycles and improvement, and more. Their goal is to “increase the knowledge and improve the performance of persons engaged in actively implementing any program or practice.” 

Appalachian Context

• MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia: There is an urban-rural divide in infant mortality, with the Appalachian Region’s rural counties reporting an infant mortality rate 19 percent higher than the rate found in the Region’s large metro areas.

• Funding for High Country Collaborative

  • The High Country Collaborative  is focused on “improving birth outcomes, reducing infant mortality, and improving the health of children ages 0-5 in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Watauga and Wilkes counties” This organization has received additional funding to continue their work providing access to reproductive life planning, tobacco prevention and cessation, and the Positive Parenting Program. Their newest program, called Family Connects, is a “universal family connection and referral strategie open to all families within the community.”

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson. 

Week 4: How will I use this knowledge? 

Use these guiding prompts to think about how you will use this knowledge during this time. What will this knowledge do to help improve my practice? Do I have the support of my organization to implement this new knowledge? How will applying this knowledge impact others? Answer these questions with the link in your email or find it on our website. 

Putting this question into context. One of the main trends found in the MCH navigators online self-assessment data is that learners have consistently reported high levels of knowledge but low levels of skill across a number of competencies. This translates into MCH professionals having high levels of understanding of a competency, but not as much self-efficacy in translating this knowledge into practice. Again, so that's professionals having high levels of understanding of competency, but not as much self-efficacy in translating this knowledge into practice. In response to this need, the MCH Navigator has developed a series of implementation briefs that focus on how to implement and execute common skills necessary for MCH professionals.

To get you going on your learning journey, this week's focus here are a few resources. The first one is “The MCH Navigator’s Implementation Brief Series,” which was mentioned earlier. The training provided focus on implementation and health transformation, with modules on ethics, communication, family-professional partnerships, and more. This variety of tools and resources helps students and professionals understand this week’s question by demonstrating real-life application. 

And the second resource for this week is titled, “The National Implementation Research Network’s Active Implementation Hub,”. The Implementation Hub, for short, provides modules, lessons, videos, and courses on active implementation, such as the Five Active Implementation Frameworks, implementation drivers, the stages and cycles and improvement, and much more. Their goal is to “increase the knowledge and improve the performance of persons engaged in actively implementing any program or practice.” 

And to sum us up for week 4, here's the Appalachian context: There is an urban-rural divide in infant mortality, with the Appalachian Region’s rural counties reporting an infant mortality rate 19 percent higher than the rate found in the Region’s large metro areas. The high country collaborative is focused on improving birth outcomes, reducing infant mortality, and improving the health of children ages 0-5 in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Watauga and Wilkes counties. This organization has received additional funding to continue their work providing access to reproductive life planning, tobacco prevention and cessation, and the Positive Parenting Program, in addition to health equity being built throughout the program. Their newest program, called Family Connects, is a universal family connection and referral strategy open to all families within the community. This is funding that is housed at the local health department at..

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH navigator for the resources to complete this project. 

Now that we have reflected on what we want to learn in various ways, it is time to focus on what we already know and how that supports the continuous learning process.

Guiding Prompts

You are already an expert! Can you reflect on your strengths related to:

• Personal experience?

• Professional training?

• Knowledge gained from others?

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

Whether new to the field or a seasoned professional, it is always helpful to learn or have a fresher on the basics of MCH.  The field of MCH focuses on the promotion of the health and wellbeing of all women, children, adolescents/young adults, and families, especially in geographically isolated and economically or medically vulnerable populations. The field is also structured into the following MCH population domains: maternal/ women's health, adolescent/young adult health, perinatal/infant health, children with special health care needs, child health, and crosscutting/life course.

Access Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources:

• Public Health Essentials in Action Online. Year Developed: 2014. Source: Arizona Public Health Training Center. Presenter(s): n.a.. Type: Online Course. Level: Intermediate. Length: Self-paced. 

  • The fundamental basics of public health are crucial to have mastered in order to continue to grow knowledge. This training covers the Three Core Public Health Functions and the Ten Essential Public Health Services. By the end of the module, the participant can define public health, determine the three social determinants of health, and understand how individuals and teams can create better health outcomes in their communities. 

• MCH Timeline. Year Developed: 2015. Source: U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Presenter(s): U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Type: Interactive Learning Tool. Level: Intermediate. Length: Self-paced.

  • The history of MCH dates back to the establishment of the American Medical Association in 1847. This timeline goes through important milestones in public health and policy that have shaped the field of Maternal Child and Family Health today, as well as what was going on in the world during these critical advancements. 

• MCH Navigator Core MCH Learning Bundles

• These learning bundles “focus on MCH foundational skills and public health fundamentals.” The modules include the basics of Maternal and Child Health, the MCH Planning Cycle, and Epidemiology. By exploring important MCH policies, history,  programming, and concepts, this training allows the participant to expand their knowledge about the field, while reaffirming basic knowledge.

Appalachian Context

• MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia: Economic status is also an indicator of infant mortality. The rate in the Appalachian Region’s distressed counties is 19 percent higher than the rate found in the Region’s nondistressed counties.

• Video: A Conversation on Maternal Health Care in Rural Communities

  • There are many difficulties associated with rural health care, especially with those who have high-risk pregnancies. The lack of access to proper medication and prenatal care can cause many complications and risks for mothers and their children. As Dr. McKay says in this video, “Geography doesn’t pick and choose the low risk and high risk patients.” Many patients have to make long trips for short doctors appointments, which can deter them from receiving the care that they need.

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson.

Week 5: What do I already know? Now that we have reflected on what we want to learn in various ways it is time to focus on what we already know and how that supports the continuous learning process. Here are the guiding elements for this week's question. You are already an expert. Can you reflect on your strength related to personal experience, professional training, and knowledge gain from others? Answer this question on our… the link can be found on our website or in the email. 

Putting this question into context. Whether new to the field or a seasoned professional, it is always helpful to learn or have a fresher on the basics of MCH.  The field of MCH focuses on the promotion of health and wellbeing of all women, children, adolescents, young adults, and families, especially in geographically isolated and economically or medically vulnerable populations. The field is also structured into the following MCH population domains: you got maternal women's health, adolescent/young adult health, perinatal/infant health, children with special health care needs, child health, and crosscutting life course. 

To support what we’re learning this week and thinking about, here are a few resources. You can find more information on each resource on the website. The first resource is “Public Health in Action Online”. The fundamental basics of public health are crucial to have mastered in order to continue to grow knowledge. This training covers the Three Core Public Health Functions and the Ten Essential Public Health Services. By the end of the module, the participant can define public health, determine the three social determinants of health, and understand how individuals and teams can create better health outcomes in their communities. 

The second resource is the MCH Timeline developed by the U.S. maternal and child health bureau. The history of MCH dates back to the establishment of the American Medical Association in 1847. This timeline goes through important milestones in public health and policy that have shaped the field of Maternal Child and Family Health today, as well as what was going on in the world during these critical advancements. 

And the third resource is the MCH Navigator Core MCH Learning Bundles. These learning bundles “focus on MCH foundational skills and public health fundamentals.” The modules include the basics of Maternal and Child Health, the MCH Planning Cycle, and Epidemiology. By exploring important MCH policies, history,  programming, and concepts, this training allows the participant to expand their knowledge about the field, while reaffirming basic knowledge.

And to finish up week 5 here is our Appalachian context. Economic status is also an indicator of infant mortality. The rate in the Appalachian Region’s distressed counties is 19 percent higher than the rate found in the Region’s non distressed counties. Additionally, a video on the conversation of maternal health care in rural communities. There are many difficulties associated with rural health care, especially with those who have high-risk pregnancies. The lack of access to proper medication and prenatal care can cause many complications and risks for mothers and their children. As Dr. McKay says in this video (found on our website), “Geography doesn’t pick and choose the low risk and high risk patients.” Many patients have to make long trips for short doctors appointments, which can deter them from receiving care that they need.

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH navigator for the resources to complete this project.

Sometimes we become so busy and focused on acquiring new knowledge, it is important to take a step back and take inventory on what we can currently do well and knowledge we already possess. Just as important as determining capabilities are identifying barriers or limitations to acquiring new knowledge. It is critical to be realistic about what our limitations are and how to address them in order to continue learning.

Guiding Prompts  

Use these guiding prompts to think about what capabilities and limitations you have:

• What do I know or what can I do now that will help me?

• What skills do I possess that support what I know?

• What formal or informal training have I completed that strengthens my current knowledge?

• What can’t I do? Can I learn how to do it? (considering time frame, budget, etc.)

• Do I possess a healthy learning environment?

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

One way to take inventory on current knowledge and skills comes in the form of e-learning. Microlearning is an effective and emerging learning style to address the pressures of time constraints, information overload, and busy schedules by providing highly relevant and curated materials in small bursts at regular intervals. There are a number of barriers to learning. Learners can be 'out of flow', meaning if the level of challenge is above someone’s capability, they can become overwhelmed and under-perform. Likewise, if the challenge is too low, they can lose motivation. Other limitations include not setting clear goals, procrastination, lack of prioritization and not having the proper learning environment or atmosphere for learning.

Access Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources:

• 5-Minute MCH. Year Developed: 2015. Source: MCH Navigator. Presenter(s): Varies.. Type: Training Series. Level: Introductory Intermediate. Length: Self-paced.

• The 5-minute MCH is a quick navigation tool that is tailored with important information and resources. The focus of this program is to provide short and focused learning modules, self assessments, and a paced schedule which is great for those with busy schedules. The 12 MCH Leadership Competencies are further discussed through four modules which provide a video podcast, focused learning training, implementation strategies, and a presentation by an expert in the field. 

• Public Health Pronto. Year Developed: 2017. Source: MCH Navigator. Presenter(s): n.a.. Type: Interactive Learning Tool. Level: Introductory Intermediate. Length: Self-paced. Module Menu

  • Similar to the 5-Minute MCH, Public Health Pronto is a microlearning project that provides short bursts of learning to improve Public Health Skills. With an introduction video and easily accessible materials this is a great tool to gain knowledge on your own time and pace. The 8 Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals and 3 Health Transformation cores are addressed in an easy to follow modular format.

• Labor And Delivery Nursing: How To Get Hired

• This resource is a quick 7 minute video from a previous student on how to get hired as a new graduate nurse. She gives tips and advice for those looking to land a job in a specialty nursing area. 

• Pathway In Women’s Health, Obstetric, And Neonatal Nurses

• The AWHONN’s career coach, Heretha Hankins created an infographic based on the pathway to Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nursing. The graphic consists of statistics based on job availability, salaries, and certification reports. Also presented, is the “pathway” to obtaining an RN beginning with the nursing education paths whether it be 2 years, 3 years, or 4 years of schooling followed by passing the NCLEX-RN.

• What Makes a Good Learning Environment Blog. 

Member of the board, Sergiy Movchan wrote a blog on what makes a good learning environment. He explains the style of learning that learners today enjoy which is the opposite of a traditional classroom. The following 7 factors that make a positive learning environment are discussed further with the combination of resources:

1. Establish a supportive learning culture 

2. Address learners needs 

3. Keep it positive

4. Provide feedback 

5. Celebrate success 

6. Safety 

7. Employ interactive games and activities

• CDC's Guide to Promoting Professional Development

The CDC developed a guide to promote professional development which is split into 4 steps. Each step is further explained with key ideas for professional development. The 4 steps include:

1. Identify the professional development services that will match your target audience's needs 

2. Develop a comprehensive promotional plan 

3. Implement your plan 

4. Collect evaluation data to assess your plan and guide any changes  

• Seven Ways to Make Time for Learning

A short webpage providing 7 tips and advice for ways to make time for learning. It is very common for people to not find the time or make the time to learn, these tips are listed and discussed to help others enhance their learning by creating time. The seven steps include: 

1. Find motivation 

2. Start Small 

3. Create buy-in 

4. Make Time

5. Find Space 

6. Be disciplined

7. Share the value  

Appalachian Context

• • MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia: The teen birth rate in the Appalachian Region is 10 percent higher than the national rate. 

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson.

Week 6: What are my capabilities and limitations? Sometimes we become so busy and focused on acquiring new knowledge, it is important to take a step back and take inventory on what we can currently do well and knowledge we already possess. Just as important as determining capabilities are identifying barriers or limitations to acquiring that new knowledge. It is critical to be realistic about what our limitations are and how to address them in order to continue learning. 

This week's guiding prompts to answer the question. Use these guiding prompts to think about what capabilities and limitations you have. What do I know or what can I do now that will help me? What skills do I possess that support what I know? What formal or informal training have I completed that strengthens my current knowledge? What can I do, what can’t I do, and can I learn how to do it? Do I possess a healthy learning environment?

Putting the question into context for this week. One way to take inventory on current knowledge and skills comes in the form of e-learning. Microlearning is an effective and emerging learning style to address the pressures of time constraints, information overload, and busy schedules by providing highly relevant and curated materials in small bursts at regular intervals. There are a number of barriers to learning. Learners can be 'out of flow', meaning if the level of challenge is above someone’s capability, they can become overwhelmed and under-perform. Likewise, if the challenge is too low, they can lose motivation. Other limitations include not setting clear goals, procrastination, lack of prioritization, and not having the proper learning environment or atmosphere for learning.

A few resources available this week. To get you going on your learning journey with this week’s focus you may want to look at one of the following. There’s first off the 5-Minute MCH. Introductory 5-minute MCH is a quick navigation tool that is tailored with important information and resources. The focus of this program is to provide short and focused learning modules, self assessments, and a paced schedule which is great for those with busy schedules. The 12 MCH leadership competencies are further discussed through four modules which provide a video podcast, focused learning training, implementation strategies, and a presentation by an expert in the field. 

There’s also Public Health Pronto, which is similar to the 5-minute MCH. It is also a microlearning project that provides short bursts of learning to improve public health skills. With an introduction video and easily accessible materials this is a great tool to gain knowledge on your own time and space. There are 8 core competencies for public health professionals and three health transformation cores which are addressed in this format. 

There’s also the Labor and Delivery Nursing: How to get Hired. This resource is a quick 7 minute video from a previous student on how to get hired as a new graduate nurse. She gives tips and advice for those looking to land a job in a specialty nursing area. 

Another resource this week, Pathway in Women’s health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses. This is… This is a career coach. Heretha Hankins created an infographic based on the pathway to Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nursing. The graphic consists of statistics based on job availability, salaries, and certification reports. Also represented, is the “pathway” to obtaining an RN beginning with the nursing education paths within it whether it’s 2 years, 3 years, or 4 years of schooling followed by passing the NCLEX-RN. 

Another resource, What makes a Good Learning Environment Blog. This is a member board, it’s a blog on what makes a good learning environment. Sergiy explains the style of learning that learners today enjoy which is the opposite of a traditional classroom. 

The last two resources are the CDC’s guide to Promoting Professional Development. This is an easy 4 step process where you identify the professional development services that will match your target audience's needs, you develop a comprehensive promotional plan, implement your own plan, and then collect evaluation data to assess your plan and guide any changes. And finally, Seven Ways to Make Time For Learning. This is a short webpage providing 7 tips and advice for ways to make time for learning. These include find motivation, start small, create buy-in, make time, find space, be disciplined, and share the value. 

And to sum us up for this week the Appalachian context which comes from the MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia article: “The teen birth rate in the Appalachian region is 10% higher than the national rate.”

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH Navigator for the resources to complete this project. 

Now that we have covered limitations and specific external barriers to learning let's shift our focus to seeking out and finding information. 

Guiding Prompts  

Use these guiding prompts to think about where you can find out what you need to know: 

• Think about traditional sources to find information: books, articles, collaboration, courses/workshops

• Think about online sources to find information: websites, blogs, wikis, videos, podcasts 

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

The MCH Navigator partners with The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Digital Library and is a great place to find MCH information and resources. It provides access to current evidence to support State Title V programs, community agencies, educators, students, researchers, policymakers, and families. The library also provides access to seminal and historic materials from federal, state, and local programs.

Implementation Tips

One way to find out what you need to know is knowing where to look.  The National MCH Workforce Development Center is a great place to start.  They house numerous MCH resources including a newly developed MCH Mini-Course in Resiliency and Adaptive Leadership. Check out the introduction to get started!

Access Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources:

• Where To Find MCH Resources: An Introduction. Year Developed: 2017. Source: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health. Presenter(s): Keisha Watson and John Richards. Type: Narrated Slide Presentation. Level: Introductory. Length: 18 minutes.

  •  A 17 minute overview video presenting the importance and need for public health information in the Maternal and Child Health workforce. The video shows the best ways to find great resources and the not best ways to find resources. 

• Identifying and Using Evidence-Based/Informed Resources to Address MCH Issues Training Brief. Year Developed: 2014. Source: MCH Navigator, National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health. Presenter(s): n.a.. Type: Interactive Learning Tool. Level: Advanced. Length: Self-paced.

  • The MCH Navigator’s Training Brief uses its interactive learning tool to expand knowledge on the evidence based resources available. Provided are links to a variety of trainings and tools for evidence based and informed resources addressing Maternal and Child Health issues. With the need for the MCH workforce to examine evidence and experiences, the training brief is a great location to explore and help improve in areas where there is a lack of resources. 

Appalachian Context

• • Healthy People 2030: Health careers in rural areas are projected to increase in the next decade by at least 15%. 

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson.

Week 7: Where can I find out what I need to know? Now that we have covered limitations and specific external barriers to learning, let's shift our focus to seeking out and finding information. For this week, use these guiding prompts to think about where you can find out what you need to know. Think about traditional sources to find information like books, articles, collaboration, courses, workshops. And think about online sources to find information like websites, blogs, wikis, videos, podcasts. 

Puting the question into context for this week. The MCH navigator partners with the Maternal and Child Health Digital Library and is a great place to find MCH information and resources. It provides access to current evidence to support State Title Five programs, community agencies, educators, students, researchers, policymakers, and families. The library also provides access to seminal and historic materials from federal, state, and local programs.

An implementation tip for this week: One way to find out what you need to know is knowing where to look and how to find it. The National MCH Workforce Development Center is a great place to start. They house numerous MCH resources including a newly developed MCH Mini-Course in resiliency and adaptive leadership. Check out the introduction to get started! The link is on the website. 

Some resources to guide learning for this week include to get you going on your learning journey for this weeks focus you may want to look at one of the following resources. The first one is: “Where to find MCH resources: an Introduction”. This is a 17 minute overview video presenting the importance and need for public health information in the Maternal and Child Health workforce. The video shows the best ways to find great resources and the not best ways to find resources. 

“Identifying and using Evidence Based Informed Resources to Address MCH Issues Training Brief” is our second resource for this week. The MCH Navigator’s Training Brief uses its interactive learning tool to expand knowledge on the evidence based resources available. Provided are links to a variety of trainings and tools for evidence based and informed resources addressing Maternal and Child Health issues. With the need for the MCH workforce to examine evidence and experiences, the training brief is a great location to explore and help improve in areas where there is a lack of resources. 

For this week's Appalachian context from the “Healthy People 2030”, health careers in rural areas are projected to increase in the next decade by at least 15%. 

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH Navigator for the resources to complete this project.

Let's take a deeper dive into barriers this week, focusing on external barriers and how to counter them and continue learning. We know that despite our best intentions, life is often difficult -- especially in 2021 -- and barriers external to our own drive and motivation often get in the way. So please share the barriers you experience and then take a look at the resources that the MCFH | Appalachian has pulled together for you. We also want to share a new resource from the National MCH Workforce Development Center (see Implementation Tips below) with you to help you address external barriers to learning.

Guiding Prompts 

Do you experience some of these barriers:

• Time?

• Focus?

• Competing demands?

• Not knowing what you need to know?

• Feeling like you don’t have the support to spend time learning?

• How can you work to counter these barriers?

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

External barriers are when processes, activities, resources and situations themselves create barriers to someone accessing the learning opportunity. Usually categorized as environmental or socio-cultural these barriers include interruptions, lack of privacy, multiple stimuli, language, value systems and educational backgrounds.

Access Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources:

• Using Good Communication Skills in Public Health Education and Promotion to Overcome Community Language Barriers. Year Developed: 2013. Source: n.a.. Presenter(s): Giovanna Lipow, Marie Cobalt, Yajing Zhang, and Zachary Mckellar. Type: Narrated Slide Presentation. Level: Introductory. Length: 7 minutes.

  • Communication skills are crucial to being a successful public health educator. Different levels of health literacy can create language barriers between health professionals and the community. This video helps tackle the barriers and promote ways of teaching so that a variety of people from different communities can all understand the public health professionals. 

• How To Focus On Your Work When All You Can Think About Is COVID-19: Five Simple Steps

  • With the entire world facing a new and confusing time during the COVID-19 outbreak, we are all trying to balance our normal lives while also learning how to live during a pandemic. Forbes breaks it down to five tips to manage your over-focus on COVID-19 and refocus on your work. With the five tips being set a boundary, focus on something else, focus on what you know, focus on the benefits of work, and focus on other people. 

• How to Help Families and Staff Build Resilience During the COVID-19 Outbreak

  • The unexpected COVID-19 outbreak has caused stress and adversity for a lot of people.  The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University discusses three ways for families and staff to build resilience during COVID-19. With the use of the resilience scale these three ways help find balance; unload the negative side, load up the positive side, and move the fulcrum. 

Appalachian Context

• 5 Ways to Improve Maternal Child Health by Addressing the Climate Crisis

1. Targeting resources to pregnant and postpartum people living in climate-affected areas

2. Improving the quality and resiliency of housing and local infrastructure

3. Developing a national heat vulnerability index to protect pregnant and postpartum people against extreme heat

4. Expanding access to maternal tele-health services

5. Improving access to family planning services

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson.

Week 8: What are external barriers to learning? Let’s take a deeper dive into barriers this week. Focusing on external barriers and how to counter them and continue learning. We know that despite our best intentions, life is often difficult, especially in 2021, and barriers external to our own drive and motivation often get in the way. So please share the barriers you experience and then take a look at the resources that the MCFH | Appalachian has pulled together for you. We also want to share a new resource from the National MCH Workforce Development Center with you to help you address external barriers to learning.

Some prompts to guide your answer this week. Do you experience some of these barriers: time, focus, competing demands, not knowing what you need to know, feeling like you don't have the support to spend time learning? How can you work to counter these barriers? 

Putting the question into context. External barriers are when processes, activities, resources, and situations themselves create barriers to someone accessing the learning opportunity itself. Usually categorized as environmental or socio-cultural these barriers include interruptions, lack of privacy, multiple stimuli, language, value systems, and educational background.

For this week we have a few guiding resources. To get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus, you may want to take a look at the following resources. The first one is Using Good Communication Skills in Public Health Education and Promotion to Overcome Community Language Barriers. Communication skills are crucial to being a successful public health educator. Different levels of health literacy can create language barriers between health professionals and the community. This video helps tackle the barriers and promote ways of teaching so that a variety of people from different communities can all understand the public health professional. 

The second one is How To Focus On Your Work When All You Can Think About Is COVID-19: Five Simple Steps. With the entire world facing a new and confusing time during the COVID-19 outbreak pandemic, we are all trying to balance normal life while also learning how to live during a pandemic. Forbes breaks it down to five tips to manage your own focus on COVID-19 and refocus on your work. The five steps are: set a boundary, focus on something else, focus on what you know, focus on the benefits of work, and focus on other people. 

The third resource is How to Help Families and Staff Build Resilience During the COVID-19 Outbreak. The unexpected COVID-19 outbreak has caused stress and adversity for a lot of people.  The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University discusses three ways for families and staff to build resilience during COVID-19. With the use of the resilience scale these three ways help find balance. 1. Unload the negative side. 2. Load up the positive side. 3. Move the fulcrum. 

And finally the Appalachian context for this week's lesson is 5 Ways to Improve Maternal and Child Health by Addressing the Climate Crisis. First one is targeting resources to pregnant and postpartum people living in climate affected areas. The second one is improving the quality and resiliency of housing and local infrastructure. The third way is to develop a national heat vulnerability index to protect pregnant and postpartum people against extreme heat. The fourth way is expanding access to maternal tele-health services. And the fifth way is improving access to family planning services. 

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH Navigator for the resources to complete this project.

Finding a mentor gives significant career assistance to a less-experienced professional or student in the field.  The relationship can be short-term, long-term or even task specific so it is important to have some goals in mind when identifying a mentor.

Guiding Prompts 

Use these guiding prompts to think about who you can ask for help: 

• Do you have a mentor or someone who helps guide your professional development?

• Do you have colleagues, other professionals, or people in the community who you can ask for help learning new skills?

• Are you part of a professional organization that can be used to support your learning?

• Can you learn from those who have failed to solve the problem and gained insights from that?

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

How does this question relate to the MCH Leadership Competencies? 

Mentoring is formally defined as influencing the career development and professional growth of another by acting as an advocate, teacher, guide, role model, benevolent authority, door opener, resource, cheerful critic, or career enthusiast. 

Mentoring is important, not only because of the knowledge and skills professionals can learn from mentors, but also because mentoring provides professional socialization and personal support to facilitate success. Quality mentoring greatly enhances a mentee's chances for success.

Accessing Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources:

• Mentoring in Our Lives: The Voices of Students and Maternal and Child Health Professionals. Year Developed: 2014. Source: Georgetown University, National Center for Cultural Competence. Presenter(s): Harolyn Belcher, MD, MHS; Christine Chan; Lucy Guevara; Stacy Hodgkinson, PhD; Kristin Hunt, PhD; Michael Jenkins, MPH; Sabrina Roundtree; Damian Waters. Type: Video. Level: Introductory Intermediate Advanced. Length: Fifty-three videos ranging in length from 28 seconds to 5 minutes, 29 seconds each.

  • This resource offers excerpts from interviews with students and maternal and child health professionals from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in MCH Training programs telling their own stories about the role mentoring has played in their lives. A theme throughout the literature and our previous conversations with students and junior faculty was the impact of early life circumstances on the need for mentoring. Students and faculty from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in MCH training programs often report a variety of reasons for the importance of mentoring based on their early life experiences. For many coming from communities with low socioeconomic status and families where no one had taken the career paths they have chosen mentoring has been crucial for their academic and career development. For others, specifics of their family constellation contributed to the importance of mentoring.

• MCH Academic Legacy Project

  • Through recorded oral interviews, this project documents the unique paths and trajectories of MCH leaders in public health academe and their relationship with the larger public health Maternal and Child Health enterprise including Title V. Specific topics discussed include: the challenges and concerns associated with becoming an MCH academic leader; factors associated with their success; and the wisdom that these senior leaders can provide to young academics interested in the field of Maternal and Child Health. The hope is that preserving the stories and sharing the wisdom of senior MCH academic leaders will inspire the development and success of multiple generations of faculty leaders in MCH public health academe. Click on the links to access interviews with each of these MCH academics. These interviews provide real-life examples of Competency 9: Developing Others Through Teaching, Coaching, and Mentoring.

• Implementation Brief: Developing Others through Teaching, Coaching and Mentoring

  • Self-assessment is considered to be a major component of learning. It provides an opportunity for health professionals to reflect on competency-based strengths and weaknesses in order to identify learning needs and reinforce new skills or behaviors in order to improve performance.

  • The Center for Health Leadership and Practice, a Center of the Public Health Institute developed a mentoring guide designed to help readers develop and learn how to implement the skills necessary to enhance a mentoring relationship in a professional context.  They developed a framework consisting of four developmental stages, with each stage forming an inherent part of the next: 1) Building the relationship, 2) Exchanging information and setting goals, 3) Working towards goals/deepening the engagement and 4) Ending the formal mentoring relationship and planning for the future.  This implementation brief provides specialized learning opportunities for each step in the model to help learners begin to make the transition from knowledge to practice as it relates to the mentoring process.

  • In this resource you can view each of the four stages and corresponding learning opportunities.

  • Workplace Mentoring

Appalachian Context

• MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia: There is an urban-rural divide in infant mortality, with the Appalachian Region’s rural counties reporting an infant mortality rate 19 percent higher than the rate found in the Region’s large metro areas. 

• Using Peer Mentors to Improve MCH in Rural Appalachia

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson.

Week 9: Who can I ask for help? Finding a mentor gives significant career assistance to a less experienced professional or student in the field.  The relationship can be short term, long term or even task specific so it is important to have some goals in mind when identifying a mentor. 

Use these guiding prompts to think about who you can ask for help. Do you have a mentor or someone who helps guide your professional development? Do you have colleagues or professionals other professionals or people in the community who you can ask for helping learning new skills? Are you part of a professional organization that can be used to support your learning? Can you learn from those who have failed to solve the problem and gained insights from that? 

Putting the question into context this week. How does the question relate to the maternal and child health leadership competencies? Mentoring is formally defined as influencing the career development and professional growth of another by acting as an advocate, teacher, guide, role model, benevolent authority, door opener, resource, cheerful critic, or career enthusiast. Mentoring is important, not only because of the knowledge and skills professionals can learn from mentors, but also because mentoring provides professional socialization and personal support to facilitate success. Quality mentoring greatly enhances a mentee's chances for success.

For this week a few resources to guide the learning to get you going on your learning journey, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources. The first one is Mentoring in our Lives: The Voices of Student and Maternal and Child Health Professionals. This resource offers excerpts from interviews with students and maternal and child health professionals from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in MCH Training programs. Telling their own stories about the role mentoring has played in their lives. A theme throughout the literature and our previous conversations with students and junior faculty was the impact of early life circumstances on the need for mentoring. Students and faculty from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in maternal and child health training programs often report a variety of reasons for the importance of mentoring based on their early life experiences. For many coming from communities with low socioeconomic status and families where no one had taken the career paths they have chosen mentoring has been crucial for their academic and career development. For others, specifics of their family constellation contributed to the importance of mentoring.

The second resource for this week is titled MCH Academic Legacy Project. Through recorded oral interviews, this project documents the unique paths and trajectories of MCH leaders in public health academe and their relationship with the larger public health Maternal and Child Health enterprise including Title 5. Specific topics discussed include: the challenges and concerns associated with being an MCH academic leader, factors associated with their success, and the wisdom that these senior leaders can provide to young academics interested in the field of Maternal and Child Health. The hope is that preserving the stories and sharing the wisdom of senior MCH academic leaders will inspire the development and success of multiple generations of faculty leaders in MCH public academe. 

The third resource is Implementation Brief: Developing Others Through Teaching, Coaching, and Mentoring. Self-assessment is considered to be a major component of learning. It provides an opportunity for health professionals to reflect on competency based strengths and weaknesses in order to identify learning needs and reinforce new skills or behaviors in order to improve performance. The Center for Health Leadership and Practice, a Center of the Public Health Institute developed a mentoring guide designed to help readers develop and learn how to implement the skills necessary to enhance a mentoring relationship in a professional context.  They developed a framework consisting of four developmental stages, with each stage forming an inherent part of the next. The first stage is building the relationship. The second stage is exchanging information and setting goals. The third is working towards goals and deepening the engagement. And the fourth is ending the formal mentoring relationship and planning for the future.  This implementation brief provides specialized learning opportunities for each step in the model to help learners begin to make the transition from knowledge to practice as it relates to the mentoring process.

And the final resource is Workplace Mentoring. This resource is a great place for you to figure out how to tackle with your colleagues and to development meaningful mentoring relationships. 

The Appalachian context for this week is brought to you by MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia report. There is an urban-rural divide in infant mortality, with the Appalachian Region’s rural counties reporting on infant mortality rate 19 percent higher than the rate found in the Region’s large metro areas. On our website there’s also a using peer mentors to improve MCH in rural Appalachia resource. Dive into it.

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH Navigator for the resource to complete this project. 

There are many ways to apply new knowledge such as telling someone else what you've learned, incorporating new knowledge into your daily work, and reviewing goals and standards that you set at the beginning of the learning process.

Guiding Prompts  

Use these guiding prompts to think about how you can apply your knowledge: 

• Are there instinctive ways where what you’ve learned will naturally strengthen how you work?

• Can you think of some specific tasks that would push you to apply your new knowledge?

• Are there opportunities to share what you’ve learned with peers or those you collaborate with or care for in practice?

• Are there community or University groups that are also interested in your topic of interest, either specifically or broadly?

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

How does this question relate to the MCH Leadership Competencies? 

When you spread the word about what you’ve learned, you’re not only introducing others to a new topic, but you’re also reminding yourself of what you’ve learned. Every time you repeat it, you’re ingraining the idea more and more into your mind. The more you tell others, the more likely you’ll be to remember it. The more you remember it, the greater the chance that you’ll put the ideas into action.

Accessing Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources that focus on applying knowledge across various topics:

• PHF Core Competencies

  • This video focuses on the Core Competencies and how they are important within the field of public health. They are used by various institutions, organizations, educational programs, and other fields in the public health workforce to develop training, evaluate performance, and assess skills. These competencies are one of the most valuable tools that public health professionals and organizations can use to improve the health of their communities. 

• Core Competencies Tools

  • This website has a variety of tools and resources on how to apply the core competencies to performance evaluations, training, and workforce development planning. When these competencies are integrated into the workplace, it can enhance the performance of public health professionals, institutions, and organizations. 

Appalachian Context

• NCCARE360: Check out local Appalachian resources. Navigating services like health, housing, employment, and transportation can be incredibly difficult, but these factors all contribute to our overall health.

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson.

Week 10: How will I apply my knowledge? There are many ways to apply new knowledge such as telling someone else what you've learned, incorporating new knowledge into your daily work, and reviewing goals and standards that you set at the beginning of the learning process. 

Use these guiding prompts to think about how you can apply your knowledge. Are there instinctive ways where what you’ve learned will naturally strengthen how you work? Can you think of some specific tasks that would push you to apply your new knowledge? Are there opportunities to share what you’ve learned with peers or those you collaborate with or care for in practice? Are there community or university groups that also are interested in your topic of interest especially the specificity or broadly approaching it? 

How does this question relate to the maternal and child health leadership competencies? When you spread the word about what you’ve learned, you're not only introducing others to a new topic but you're also reminding yourself of what you've learned. Every time you repeat it you're ingraining the idea more and more in your mind. The more you tell others the more likely you'll be to remember it. The more you remember it, the greater the chance that you’ll put the ideas into action. 

Some resources are this topic for this week to get you going on your learning journey with this focus you may want to look at a few of the following resources that focus on applying knowledge across various topics. The first one is the Public Health Foundation Core Competencies. This video focuses on the Core Competencies of how they are important within the field of public health. They are used by various institutions, organizations, educational programs, and other fields in the public health workforce to develop training, evaluate performance, and assess skills. These competencies are one of the most valuable tools that public health professionals and organizations can use to improve the health of their communities. 

The next one is the Core Competencies Tool. This website has a variety of tools and resources on how to apply the core competencies to performance evaluations, training, and workforce development planning. When these competencies are integrated into the workplace, it can enhance the performance of public health professionals, institutions, and organizations. 

And for this week's Appalachian context. NC Cares 360 Check out local Appalachian resources. Navigating services like health, housing, employment, and transportation can be incredibly difficult, but these factors all contribute to our health overall. And nc cares 360 works to connect all these resources to people. 

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH navigators for the resources to complete this project.

Understanding how knowledge gained could be beneficial to you is definitely a motivating factor for learning.  Learning may allow you to excel at work, positively impact others, or result in the acquisition of additional degrees or accreditations. This question presents a much more impactful lens to look at learning and certainly the main root of why we work in the field of MCH, to improve the lives of women, children and families.  

Guiding Prompts 

Use these guiding prompts to think about how this will benefit you and the field: 

• Do you feel strengthened by what you’ve learned?

• Do you find that the more you learn, the more you need to learn?

• Do you feel that your time learning has made you a more effective public health professional?

• Do you feel like learning helps you keep balance in your work?

• Do you feel like you spend a little time each week growing in knowledge and skills?

• How have you incorporated what you’ve learned into projects that you are working on?

• Will your learning relate to reports, publications, or project deadlines?

• Can you incorporate your learning into your professional development plan or some other structured learning required by your job?

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

There are endless benefits to learning:

• Learning a new skill helps you learn things faster over time.

• Learning creates a sense of accomplishment and pride.

• Learning can help us build confidence and a sense of self-efficacy.

• Learning something new in one area or field, can trigger ideas in another. So curiosity and creative thinking go hand-in-hand.

• Learning/developing a new skill will influence the way you do things day to day and they will make doing things quicker and easier, saving time, energy and stress.

Accessing Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources from the MCH Navigator's core learning bundles and other ways to learn:

• Core Learning Bundles

  • This website provides a variety of “bundles” that focus on MCH foundational skills and public health fundamentals. Each bundle further discusses each skill, why they are important, and how they can be applied in the field.  

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Health Equity Resources

  • This website explains the importance of health equity and the interplay between culture and health. COVID-19’s effect on health equity is discussed with a variety of resources to better understand how health equity can be a focus during this pandemic. With a wide range of evidence based resources this is a great website for getting a better understanding of why health equity matters and specific areas involved. 

• Health Equity Resources: American Public Health Association

  • This resource provides fact sheets, briefs, reports, and infographics focusing on different areas of health equity. Also included are links and additional resources to be explored.

Appalachian Context

• MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia: The incidence of low birth weight in Appalachia is 8.7 percent of all newborns, a percentage higher than the national average of 8.1 percent. 

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson.

Week 11: How will what I’ve learned benefit me and the field? Understanding how knowledge gained could be beneficial to you is definitely a motivating factor for learning.  Learning may allow you to excel at work, positively impact others, or result in the acquisition of additional degrees and accreditations. This question presents a much more impactful lens to look at learning and certainly the main root of why we work in the field of MCH, which is to improve the lives of women, children, and families. 

Use these guiding prompts to think about how this will benefit you in the field. Do you feel strengthened by what you’ve learned? Do you feel that the more you learn, the more you need to learn? Do you feel that your time learning has made you a more effective public health professional? Do you feel like learning helps you keep balance in your work? Do you feel like you spend a little time each week growing in knowledge and skills? How have you incorporated what you’ve learned into projects that you are working on? Will your learning relate to reports, publications, or project deadlines? Can you incorporate your learning into your professional development plan or some other structured learning required by your job? 

Putting the question into context. There are endless benefits to learning. Learning a new skill helps you learn things faster over time. Learning creates a sense of accomplishment and pride. Learning can help us build confidence and a sense of self-efficacy. Learning something new in one area or field, can trigger ideas in another. So curiosity and creative thinking go hand-in-hand. Learning developing a new skill will influence the way you do things day to day and they will make you do things quicker and easier, saving time, energy, and stress. 

Resources this week to get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus. You may want to look at one of the following resources from the MCH navigators core learning bundles and other ways to learn. The first one is the Core Learning Bundles. This website provides a variety of bundles that focus on MCH foundational skills and public health fundamentals. Each bundle further discusses each skill, why they are important, and how they can be applied in the field.  

The next resource is Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Health Equity Resources. This website explains the importance of health equity and the interplay between culture and health. COVID-19’s effect on health equity is discussed with a variety of resources to better understand how health equity can be a focus during this pandemic. With a wide range of evidence based resources this is a great website for getting a better understanding of why health equity matters and specific areas involved. 

And finally this resource: Health Equity Resources from the American Public Health Association. This provides fact sheets, briefs, reports, and infographics focusing on different areas of health equity. Also included are links and additional resources to explore.

And to wrap up this week the Appalachian context that comes to us from the MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia: The incidence of low birth weight in Appalachia is 8.7% of all newborns, a percentage higher than the national average of 8.1%. 

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH navigator for the resources to complete this project. 

Advancing our critical thinking skills is one method of increasing the likelihood of retaining new knowledge.  Part of critical thinking also involves implementation and evaluation which helps learners to go beyond understanding a topic, but also how to incorporate it into their daily work and understand current and best evidence to guide practice.

Guiding Prompts 

Use these guiding prompts to think about how you will retain what you have learned: 

• Do you instinctively remember what you’ve learned or is it more difficult to retain details?

• Do you learn better by reading or by listening? Are there ways that you could reinforce learning by taking notes or by sharing what you’ve learned with colleagues?

• Can you think of ways to naturally incorporate what you’ve learned into your daily work so that your learning becomes routine?

• What educational social media groups, literature disbursements, blogs, etc could you subscribe to keep you naturally connected to others working in this area?

Answer Here: Click here to submit your answer in a new window.

Putting the Question in Context

The MCH Leadership Competency 4: Critical Thinking serves as the context to this week's question.  Knowledge is more likely to be retained if one's experience with a topic goes beyond learning, and further into understanding its implementation and evaluation in MCH systems. 

• Critical thinking is the ability to identify an issue or problem, frame it as a specific question, consider it from multiple perspectives, evaluate relevant information, and develop a reasoned resolution.

• Evidence-based decision-making is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence to guide practice, policy, and research. It is an advanced manifestation of critical thinking skills.

• Implementation science is also a vital component of critical thinking in order to promote the adoption and integration of evidence-based practices, interventions, and policies.

Accessing Resources to Guide Learning

To get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus, you may want to take a look at one of the following resources that focus on applying knowledge across various topics:

• MCH Navigator Implementation Briefs on MCH Leadership Competencies

  • It is crucial to be able to implement knowledge learned in the field of public health to practice. This website has an abundance of resources on how to implement ethics, communication, cultural competency, team building and more. There are a variety of videos to watch and modules to take that describe the process of implementation. 

• Knowledge Management for Public Health Toolkit

  • Knowledge management (KM) is one way in which public health professionals and students can ensure they have the most up to date information in the field in order to apply that knowledge to all levels of the health system. KM programs are supported by three main components: people, processes and technology. When these factors work together, it can ensure that proper information and relevant knowledge can be shared within the healthcare system.

Appalachian Context: 

• MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia: Distressed Appalachian counties report a low birth weight incidence of 10.2 percent, compared to the 8.6 percent in the Region’s non-distressed counties.

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson.

Week 12: How will I retain what I learned? Advancing our critical thinking skills is one method of increasing the likelihood of retaining new knowledge.  Part of critical thinking also involves implementation and evaluation which helps learners to go beyond understanding a topic, but also how to incorporate it into their daily work and understand current and best evidence to guide practice. 

Use these guiding prompts to think about how you will retain what you have learned. Do you instinctively remember what you’ve learned or is it more difficult to retain details? Do you learn better by reading or by listening? Are there ways that you could reinforce learning by taking notes or by sharing what you’ve learned with colleagues? Can you think of ways to naturally incorporate what you’ve learned into your daily work so that your learning becomes a routine? What educational social media groups, literature disbursements, blogs, etc could you subscribe to, to keep you naturally connected to others working in this area? 

Putting the question into context. The MCH Leadership Competency number 4, which is critical thinking, serves as the context to this week's question.  Knowledge is more likely to be retained if one's experience with a topic goes beyond learning, and further into understanding its implementation and evaluation in MCH systems. Critical thinking is the ability to identify an issue or problem, frame it as a specific question, consider it from multiple perspectives, evaluate relevant information, and develop a reasoned resolution. Evidence-based decision-making is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence to guide practice, policy, and research. It is an advanced manifestation of critical thinking skills. Implementation science is also a vital component of critical thinking in order to promote the adoption and integration of evidence-based practices, interventions, and policies. 

To get you going on your learning journey with this week's focus you may want to take a look at one of the following resources that focus on applying knowledge across various topics. MCH Navigator Implementation Briefs on MCH Leadership Competencies. It’s critical to be able to implement knowledge learned in the field of public health to practice. This website has an abundance of resources on how to implement ethics, communication, cultural competency, team building, and more. There are a variety of videos to watch and modules to take that describe the process of implementation. 

Knowledge Management for Public Health Toolkit is another great resource. Knowledge management is one way in which public health professionals and students can ensure they have the most up to date information in the field in order to apply that knowledge to all levels of the health system. Knowledge management programs are supported by three main components: people, processes, and technology. When these factors work together, it can ensure that proper information and relevant knowledge can be shared within the healthcare system.

And finally, the Appalachian context this week brought to us by MCH Health Disparities in Appalachia, Distressed Appalachian counties report a low birth weight incidence of 10.2%, compared to the 8.6% in the Region’s non-distressed counties.

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH navigator for the resources to complete this project.

Final Step: Take this Exit Ticket Post-Assessment

Thank you for taking this journey with us. We plan to analyze results and develop more MCFH opportunities.

You are listening to the Maternal, Child, and Family Health Appalachian Microlearning Podcast series. Brought to you by a collaborative partnership between faculty and students at the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Content editors include Abby Cope, Hailey Phillips, Amber Welborn, Sarah Martin, and Jennifer Schroeder Tyson.

Week 13: Exit ticket. Thank you so much for joining us on this pilot project with a focus on maternal child and family health workforce development. This microlearning project aimed to utilize the MCH Navigators, MCH 2020 resources, and localize them to the rural Appalachian context. We went through 11 weeks of questions about your professional development. We talked about What do I want/need to know? How is this learning important? How will I use this knowledge? What do I already know? What are my capabilities and limitations? Where can I find out what I need to know? What are external barriers to learning? Who can ask for help? Who can I ask for help? How will I apply my knowledge? How will what I learned benefit me in the field? How will I retain what I learned? 

Please fill out the final exit ticket once you have completed all 12 of the other survey’s questions. We have every intention of continuing this project. Thank you for taking this journey with us. We plan to analyze results and develop more MCH opportunities in the future. Please reach out if you have any ideas, comments, questions, anything that can improve the project.

Tune in next time. Special thanks to the MCH Navigator for the resources to complete this project.