In Her Own Words
Denetha Weaver, Community Health Worker
Family First Center (Lake County, Illinois)
My name is Denetha Weaver. I first heard about the Community Health Worker Program through the Family First Center of Lake County, which is a community program operating through my place of worship, Jesus Name Apostolic Church. When I first came, I was excited to see how interesting and insightful it was to be a part of a group of individuals who were sold out for Christ, coming together from different nationalities to incorporate Health and Religion. I went home the first day saying "Wow!!! You mean I can help people make healthy lifestyle changes while lifting up the name of Jesus all at the same time? . . . PRAISE GOD."
Through my participation in this program, I have learned that we as people suffer from lack of knowledge. We are afraid to seek help, to gain access to needed outside agencies, because we just don't know the facts about certain chronic diseases. Having a chronic illness is not a death sentence. You can live a long, productive life with the proper information.
To me, what really stands out in this training is that you can be firm and effective with people about being healthy, and have fun at the same time, through doing interactive visits with your clients. And if you don't know the answer to a question someone asks you, it's okay to say you just don't know . . . but you can get them more information on that particular subject if they would like it.
I have 6 children, ages 23, 21, 18, 17, 9, and 2 years. Being a CHW has challenged me as a parent to stay fit and healthy in the home as well as teaching others out in the community. I am a firm believer in practicing what you preach. Now, this doesn't change the fact that my children would like to have a McDonald's burger here and there, but I am able to make a fun family project out of them wanting the burger by hopping in the car and going to the grocery store for ground turkey instead of ground beef. And then getting them to eat more colored foods by letting them pick out other healthy things to add to the burger. Kids love to eat what they themselves create.
On the weekends, one thing I like to do is spend time with my family and cook new dishes. My family loves my cooking.
The advice I would give to someone wanting to become a CHW is that this work is not easy. The task at hand is to gather all the facts and pass the information along. You will run into resistance out there, but once people see how your work has changed you and how passionate you are about what you do, you will draw them right in and they will want to know more about the "Healthy Lifestyle" you talk about.
One thing I often say in the work place is: "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant!"
It's a great feeling inside to hear someone you have visited say, "You care about me enough to sit here with me and teach me ways to save my life? . . . Thank you, Ms." Now that one visit is a productive day for me. Each one, reach one.
[Click here for graduation photos.]
Janett Chocianowski, Community Health Worker
Family First Support Center (Lake County, Illinois)
From CHW Graduation Speech - Thursday, August 4th, 2011
The board of directors, Family First Support Center, HealthConnect One trainers Tikvah and Laura, guests, friends, and relatives: On behalf of my peers, I want to express our appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the ten week training program to become a community health worker (CHW). I believe we have joined forces with an elite organization and a dedicated, committed body of workers who demonstrate a passion to help people in their communities.
We take this responsibility seriously, and will do everything necessary within the parameters of the organization to reach out to the community and groups and provide assistance as needed to educate and create awareness in various health areas.
The training indeed was an eye opener and a valuable learning experience that we won’t soon forget. No wonder, the saying “we’re never too old to learn and we learn something new every day.” A few areas stood out to us.
First, even though there are several health departments and a plethora of doctors and health care professionals in the area, there is a great need to reach an underserved population. Sometimes people need extra help understanding information, or they may be apprehensive about getting checkups. This is where a CHW can be effective, to lend support and develop trust as well as guide and encourage. I would say, and I am confident my peers would agree, that one of the very important and probably the most important thing we learned is the three-step approach to communication:
- Ask open-ended questions - These are questions that will allow the person to open up so we can better understand the situation
- Affirm feelings - Showing empathy and giving genuine support
- Educate - Provide more information that would help clear ambiguity
Using this approach will definitely break down the walls of mistrust and people will be more open to listening and acting upon the given information.
Second, we learned appropriate language and terminology. For example, how many knew that the term “disease” is no longer used to identify STDs? The new language is STIs (sexually transmitted infections). Why, you may wonder? The word disease is like poison, a disaster. It’s a word that has the potential to grip a person with fear and intimidation which can cause them to retreat and not seek treatment because they don’t want to hear the worse kind of information. Using a softer word makes it easier to face the issue and seek medical help, which is the ultimate goal and outcome.
Third, we also learned that we cannot be biased and/or judgmental. We have to approach each situation with a clear neutral mentality and embrace and accept people for who they are and what they are about. Demonstrating a caring, genuine concern for people will help them move in the right direction.
Fourth, all of us represented a variety of backgrounds and cultures. We embraced each other, broke down the language barrier and learned and grew together. Each of us brought unique styles and strengths to the group which allowed us to experience great success and heart-warming enjoyment.
Tikvah and Laura, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking time to drive through heavy traffic to share and impart your knowledge, wisdom and expertise with us without reservations. You are indeed both genuine examples of true leadership and true passion for helping people gain knowledge to improve their lives.
We are grateful your organization saw the need to expand services to Lake County. We are very proud, honored and excited to be the first CHWs in Lake County. We are creating history and looking forward to better days ahead. We also thank Family First Support Center staff for choosing us to be the first participants.
To our family and friends: Thank you for choosing to celebrate this milestone with us. It may not seem like much, but try to take a ten week class and not miss more than two days or you’re out, and you will quickly learn it takes commitment and determination to cross the finish line with so many areas vying for your attention.
Finally, I leave these thoughts with you: Phil. 4:8; “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just; whatsoever things are pure; whatsoever things are lovely; whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things. Phil 1:5.Being confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. I truly believe this is our destiny and God will continue to use each of us to bring about healthy changes to peoples’ lives.”
[Click here for graduation photos.]
Jeanette Tsosie, Community Based Doula
Tewa Women United (Santa Cruz, New Mexico)
It was a wild and crazy ride! At the same time, it was a beautiful, moving experience. I feel so thankful to Taneshia for letting me be part of this special moment.
During this journey, I felt so many different emotions: happiness, sadness, frustration. You name it, I felt it. I did not expect these waves of emotion. I was thinking, "Well, you know, we'll go into the hospital, do some breathing, encouraging, pushing, and......viola! A baby is born." Boy, was I wrong!
It started off easy. She had to be induced, being that she was eight days overdue and her blood pressure was a little high. That process took longer than expected. She didn't start contracting enough to get things going. Finally, she was given Pitocin (Oxytocin) and that sped things up. Taneshia was in labor for a good while and even though she wanted to try a natural birth and was doing really well, she couldn't handle the pain and opted for an epidural which was very patchy - sometimes working, sometimes not.
My role as a doula during her labor was to offer comfort and encouragement as much as I could. She was calm most of the time. She tried to be strong when her family was around, but once we were alone, I think she felt she could show her emotions more by crying - and at that point, she just wanted the baby out. She was finally fully dilated, but was told the baby could not make it through the birth canal because of his position. The poor little guy was "stuck" in the birth canal for a long time.
The midwife finally decided Taneshia needed a cesarean section. She seemed relieved to hear that news. She was very tired and just wanted to meet her baby. Taneshia asked me to go into the operating room with her. When the baby was born, it was amazing! I tried to take a picture of him so I could show Taneshia what her son looked like - but before I knew it, she was out, so she wasn't able to see or hear her son for two hours after birth. I stayed with the baby until she was able to see him.
She was really looking forward to nursing, so I wanted to make sure the nurses didn't give him a bottle. It was amazing when mom and baby were reunited. She was so happy and proud. Although she was still very groggy from the meds, she put him to the breast and I could see the bonding take place immediately.
I learned a lot from this birth. I learned how important a doula's role can be to a mother. I learned that birth is a very unpredictable, yet a very beautiful natural process. I had no idea about the emotions that the mother as well as the doula experience, both together and individually. All in all, I love being a doula. Next to my own births, it has to be the most rewarding thing I have ever experienced.
Karen Danley, Breastfeeding Peer Counselor
Stroger County Hospital (Chicago, Illinois)
When the two lines appeared on the test, we knew our lives were going to change forever. We were unsure of where we would live and what we were going to do but there were a couple things we were positive about. If it were a boy, his name would be Caius, we were not going to spank our child no matter what, and we were definitely going to breastfeed and not buy any formula. We spent the next 8 months reading books, attending classes, and getting lots and lots of advice. In spite of the fact we had only met a few women who actually successfully breastfed their children, we were still sure that we wanted to succeed at breastfeeding. So sure in fact, that we didn't have any formula or even a bottle in the house when our son, Caius, was born.
I told the nurses in the hospital that it hurt when he latched and their reply was simply "that's normal." By the third day, I was in so much pain that I cried when it came time to feed him and I had so much milk I was hand-pumping bottles full of milk. For the next 5 months, I worked with a team of lactation consultants and we managed sore nipples, oversupply, forceful let-down, thrush (3 times), and mastitis (5 times).
My mom remembered not feeling supported in her own breastfeeding experience and would always offer words of encouragement to me, although she couldn't offer specific advice because her breastfeeding experience was so different than mine. Jeremy, my husband, knew how much it meant to me to breastfeed but also couldn't help me with the challenges that I faced. The Doctors all encouraged me to quit and use formula because our son had gotten breastmilk for the first 3 months and that was the most important time anyway. The few breastfeeding moms that I encountered all shared their stories about how hard breastfeeding was but nobody had specific advice on how to handle anything because most had quit and used formula instead.
I had no idea that something that is supposed to be so natural would be the most challenging thing I had ever done. I successfully breastfed my son for 16 months but when I look back, I wish I had been able to connect with other moms that faced even one of the challenges I had faced.
I decided to reach out to other new moms and help with their transition into motherhood. I wanted to find a way to learn more about breastfeeding but still have our son as my priority. With a little online research, I found out about breastfeeding peer counselors and knew this was how I wanted to help. HealthConnect One offered a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor training class every fall and I quickly emailed to get the information and was put on the list. In August when Helen called, I shared my story and was so excited to start the training. Over the 10 weeks that I attended the classes, I grew close to my classmates and realized that helping women to feel empowered and to succeed at breastfeeding was the perfect thing for me to be doing. I love approaching women and educating them about feeding their baby, I love meeting other women who are as passionate about breastfeeding as I am, and I love the energy that flows from HealthConnect One as they continue to train other women. Thank you so much for my wonderful experience that has given me direction and opened up much more to me than I could have ever imagined.
Rieko Kishi, Nurse Midwife
Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital (Tokyo, Japan)
It was my third time and I really enjoyed the conference. I learned a lot and met wonderful people there. I was amazed that the conference is progressive and participatory: very sensitive and responsive to the participants' needs. I also admire that, in spite of the current diffcult economic situations in the world, the quality of food and handouts remained very good.
I also would like to thank people attending the conference for giving me the opportunity to grow up as a researcher. I completed a doctoral program this summer and am now a baby researcher. I would like to learn more about doula support, especially from the community-based doulas, to introduce the concept to Japan. My biggest concern has been that by becoming a researcher I may lose close relationships with doulas that I have been finally developing. If I were a doula, I may not want to be treated as a subject. I would like to know the most appropriate way to learn from doulas as well as people in Japan, most respectfully as well as effectively. During the BBB conference, I appreciated the responses to my questionnaire. I feel thankful that people in the conference are training and nurturing me to become a good reseacher. Thank you very much for the feedback.
While learning the concept of doula support and listening to childbearing women's voices, I started to work as a staff nurse-midwife in a university hospital in Japan two weeks ago.
Childbirth is quite medicalized here, too. I look forward to keeping exchanging information and wisdoms between the U.S. and Japan.
Sincerely,
Rieko Kishi
The results of this research were published on March 19, 2010 by Child Research Net:
10 Questions for U.S. Doulas. Congratulations!
George’ann Cattelona, Community-Based Doula
Bloomington Area Birth Services (Bloomington, Indiana)
A doula’s self-care is vital to longevity in this work. Some ideas shared by the women in our Comfort Measures workshop were:
- Talk with sister-doulas, to share your own experience of birth, separate from the mom’s experience.
- Plan an activity to re-enter your life – sleep at a friend’s house before going home, or make everything at home wait 15 minutes, or take a shower or bath … either take time to let go of the experience, or set it aside and “unpack it” later.
- Self-knowledge helps, too. For example, I know that births can leave me depleted, and feeling depleted makes me grumpy.
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