Internship Narrative - Final

Internship Narrative

By: Melissa Miranda

 

Descriptive analysis of the agency

 

Healthcentric Advisors develops and provides innovative and evidence-based consultation, education, tools and resources that measure and improve the quality, safety and value of person-centered health care in communities we serve.  We don’t provide direct health care — we work with those who do (locally and nationally) to achieve their goals.

 

My role at Healthcentric Advisors is Senior Program Administrator.  That means I am a project (or program) manager.  Together, with a team of clinicians and administrative specialists, we provide quality improvement services in hospitals, nursing homes, home-health agencies, and physicians’ offices throughout Rhode Island.  I have focused, primarily, for over twelve years, in nursing home quality improvement with just over four years of hospital-focused quality improvement. 

 

For the second year in a row, Healthcentric Advisors was named as one of the 2012 Best Places to Work in Rhode Island, ranking number 5 out of 12 in the small business category.  This recognition sums up exactly how I feel about being part of the organization.  My supervisor, Gail Patry, has been supportive since the first day we worked together, which was just about thirteen years ago.  She has always taken the time to teach as we work.  I’ve asked hundreds of questions over the years; and, Gail took the time to respond to each one.  Gail is far from a micromanager.  She and I developed a trust almost immediately.  I know that I’d follow Gail wholeheartedly; because, I trust that she always has the best intentions for the project and the people involved.  I am fortunate to feel supported and empowered at work from our entire leadership team. 

 

Statement of learning

 

As I sat with my professional mentor to discuss the internship, we talked a lot about continuing a focus on elders in long-term care.  We knew that the internship was an opportunity to explore the topic in a way that we had never done before.  In previous years, our scope of work included the opportunity to focus on disparities.  Although the current scope of work did not have a large disparate component, it seemed appropriate to include one as a focus in this internship. 

 

Earlier this year, Healthcentric Advisors donated space for a local community group, Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders (SAGE RI) to hold their member meetings.  SAGE RI is RI’s first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) elder advocacy group.  They officially received their RI Chapter designation in October 2012.  My professional mentor and I began talking about the LGBT-elder community, which is nationally recognized as a vulnerable group of elders.  Working on a project, which is focused on LGBT elders is related to what I currently do at work because it is elder focused; yet, it’s very specific focus makes it different.  Next, we talked about the needs of this elder community.  Research reveals that this population of elders has specific health needs and is at risk for specific health conditions.  A combination of LGBT-elder community (and their healthcare needs) and an “aging in place” concept supported through the Accountability of Care Act seemed to be a good fit.  In summary, my internship would be focused on housing options or alternatives for the LGBT-elder community.  Both the target audience (LGBT elders) and the component on housing (alternative to nursing homes) were not included in any of the work that I perform for Healthcentric Advisors.

 

Once the internship topic was identified and my Personal Learning Plan was finalized, it was shared with my professional mentor, the Chief Executive Officer, a colleague, and our Human Resources representative.  The support from my employer has been overwhelming.  First, they demonstrated their support through my formal educational benefit.  Second, they recognize my internship as if it was an element in our scope of work; although it is clearly outside of the scope.  Although, the internship doesn’t impact my employer through monetary gains, they recognize my personal growth and knowledge in the subject as an opportunity for future endeavors.

 

My academic liaison helped me to identify which courses would be most supportive of my internship and in alignment with my prospective degree in Housing and Community Development.  The first was Social Gerontology.  Social Gerontology has been a focus in my work for over twelve years and is highlighted in the internship through the focus of the LGBT-elder community.  Learning outcomes from this course included the understanding of social needs and health risks associated with LGBT elders.  The Housing and Community Development course allowed me to gain knowledge about housing and community development, in general, including a focus on elder housing, as well as the relationship between health and housing.  The Writing and Public Speaking course was incorporated to support the report writing, PowerPoint presentation development and delivery, and the weekly homework assignments.  The homework assignments were related to the internship, the housing and community course, and the Big 10 learning goal lessons. 

 

Evaluation Statement

 

As a participant in College Unbound and a student of Roger Williams University this semester, I have begun to make a distinct connection between my passions and my career.  Specifically, the Big 10 Learning Goals have forced me to evaluate myself, personally and professionally, and to identify improvement opportunities.  Even with the years of experience I have in my field and with my current employer, I realized there is always an opportunity to better myself.  I focused on networking this semester, which is not an area that I am comfortable in doing.  The readings were impactful by offering specific tips on how to network and the importance of it.  Most importantly, I learned to have belief in what I “bring to the table” so to speak.  I networked with a RI Senator (Sen. Whitehouse), a professional at the Central Falls Housing Authority, and a professional at NeighborWorks RI.  Not only did I gain something from each experience, they resulted in next steps.  As a result, I am expected to have follow-up communication with each going forward.

 

My semester was divided into two phases, which included specific tasks for each.  Task 1 focused on the Healthcare for Lesbian Elders Final Report (September 17 – October 15, 2012).  Task 1 involved a general literature search on the topics of LGBT elders, LGBT elders and healthcare, and LGBT elder housing.  It also involved SAGE-RI’s draft, Final Report (71 pages), for which I provided support by: checking grammar, formatting, and re-organizing information into a readable and compelling Final Report (66 pages). Once the “final version” of the report was completed, I created an Executive Summary and a PowerPoint presentation of the findings, which was shared with SAGE-RI; and, I presented at a SAGE-RI event (Visible Lives: Caring for LGBT Elders – October 24, 2012).

 

The second phase of the semester focused on elder housing research (October 15 – December 31, 2012.)  This tasked involved attending in-person lectures and included a lot of reading.  The learning can be categorized into a few topic areas: Housing and Community Development – General, Elder Housing, LGBT Housing/Community Development, Elder Health and Housing, LGBT Health, and Key Concepts.  Information that fell into the Key Concepts category included concepts that I’d like to refer to in Task 3 next semester as I begin to identify and describe concepts for an alternative housing plan to support LGBT.  As a result of the second phase of this semester, I developed an annotated bibliography and Final Exhibition presentation.  Through my internship, I’ve met specific course outcomes including the following:

 

Course	Outcomes
Housing and Community Development	·         Completed reading assignments, participation in lecture discussions ·         Bibliography of researched information including literature, articles, websites, and videos.
Writing and Public Speaking	·         SAGE-RI: Lesbian Elder and Healthcare Professional Assessments - Final Report.  The draft was in a “rough draft” state.  I rewrote many of the sections and reformatted the entire 66-page report. ·         A PowerPoint was developed to deliver the key findings from the report, which was presented on October 24, 2012 during the Visible Lives event. ·         Mid-Term and Final Exhibition presentations ·         Blogging my progress and completed assignments.
Social Gerontology	·         SAGE-RI: Lesbian Elder and Healthcare Professional Assessments - Final Report ·         In-person presentation of the Final Report results at the Visible Lives event on October 24, 2012. ·         Bibliography of researched information including literature, articles, websites, and videos.

 

Additionally, in studying the LGBT- elder community, I’ve learned how to be a “Straight Ally” for this disparate group of elders.  I will continue to work with SAGE-RI well beyond this internship and hope to assist them as they develop learning materials and educate care providers in all healthcare settings.

 

Most important to me (and most unexpectedly), I have awakened my interests in and passion for community development.  I would like to continue to pursue this topic in my education and professional projects.