ANNUAL OVERVIEW 2014 - 2015

What’s Inside...

A look back at the accomplishments of the 2014-2015 ISCOPES season, complete with Learning Community profiles.

A look forward for the 2015-2016 ISCOPES season, including our upcoming celebration of our 20th Anniversary!

April 17th, 2015

OUR COMMUNITY IS A UNIQUE BLEND OF LOCALS, TRANSIENTS, & TRANSPLANTS, BUT ALL OF US ARE LEARNERS, COLLABORATING TOGETHER FOR HEALTH.

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OUR COMMUNITY IS A UNIQUE BLEND OF LOCALS, TRANSIENTS, & TRANSPLANTS, BUT ALL OF US ARE LEARNERS, COLLABORATING TOGETHER FOR HEALTH.

ay in and day out, participants of the Interdisciplinary Student Community-Oriented

Prevention Enhancement Service (ISCOPES) program are learning and practicing what it truly means to be a person and community-centered, team-oriented, health-affecting professional. As a means of creatively and proactively addressing our country’s chronic disease epidemics, soaring healthcare costs, unjust health inequities, and growing dissatisfaction among our healthcare workforce, the ISCOPES process involves reframing how people collaborate: focus on strengths and work upstream so we get to the root of the health challenges we collectively face.

All the members of our ISCOPES family - students, staff/faculty, community practitioners, our underserved DC neighbors, and our ISCOPES Leadership Team (ILT) - are breaking down barriers to authentic and sustainable collaboration. By becoming aware of, understanding, and appreciating the nuanced but sometimes critical differences in our values and priorities; by focusing on mindful communication that requires us to see the conversation from the shoes of the other; by distributing power and accountability so that shared responsibility can be felt, not just discussed; and by putting the collective good of the team before one’s self interests, ISCOPES members are able to build the meaningful relationships necessary for individual and systems level change.

Through our three phase process, ISCOPES students are first trained how to reframe their perspective on serving and learning with others; then, they are guided by community-informed Starter Projects to implement service programs that consider best practices, readiness, and fit; finally, students apply their training and experiences with our community partners and neighbors to preparation beyond ISCOPES, so that transformative lessons here translate to their future work environments. Meanwhile, community partners and neighbors have convenient and safe outlets for exploring health-related tribulations and for honing the assets they have to improve their current health situations.

We are excited, in our 2014-2015 Annual Overview, to highlight the role interprofessional service-learning can play in developing a more effective, culturally competent health workforce; to profile some of the people at the heart of ISCOPES; and to recognize and thank the forward-thinking schools, administrators, and practitioners who enable us to do this life-changing work. Moreover, we have included a sneak peek into our 2015-2016 20th Anniversary Year, a banner year that will involve us honoring where we have been, reflecting on where we are, and pursuing where we go next. We hope you will join us during this reflective and celebratory time!

We are so grateful to everyone who makes ISCOPES a reality. Our students, coaches, team advocates, advisors, champions, and friends around DC catalyze this movement to change the face of health in our nation’s capital and beyond. We are indebted to your brilliance, resilience, and servitude.

Angie Hinzey Director

Donna Javellana Community Engagement and Communications Manager

Angie& Donna

DEAR FRIENDS,D

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CONTENTIntroduction

Mission, Goals, & Objectives

Key Outcomes

Guardian Engagement

Healthy Teen Scholars

Adult Health Literacy

Veterans History Project

Senior Wellness

Alternative Spring Break

The ISCOPES Process

Student Profile

Partners & Clients

Leadership Team Testimonials

Coaches & Alumni

Outlook for 2015-2016

Financials

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New to ISCOPES? Be sure to start with our Goals and Objectives on page 8 to give you a good foundation.

Curious about what we did in ISCOPES for the 2014-2015 year? Be sure to check out our Key Accomplishments on page 10 and check in with our Learning Communities on pages 12 - 23.

Wondering about getting involved with ISCOPES? Talk with any of the people featured in the pages 28 - 35.

1. GW students will competently engage in

intensive, health promotion experiences

2. GW faculty/staff will effectively serve as

community health promotion coaches

3. Community leaders will facilitate capacity

building through university-community health

promotion partnerships

4. High priority target populations in the DC metro

area will participate in health promotion

activities

5. University-community partnerships will be

strengthened

THE MISSION OF ISCOPES IS TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH A SERVICE-LEARNING

EXPERIENCE WHILE ADDRESSING COMMUNITY-IDENTIFIED HEALTH NEEDS IN THE

WASHINGTON, DC METROPOLITAN AREA.

OUR GOALSTO ACHIEVE OUR MISSION AND WORK TOWARD OUR VISION, WE HAVE SET THE FOLLOWING GOALS

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OUR OBJECTIVES

OUR VALUES » Universal healthcare access » Authentic collaboration between

university and community » Service-learning as a core strategy » Evidence-based, research-informed,

and/or science-based resources enhanced with culturally appropriate adaption options » Interprofessional teamwork » Culturally competent services » Sustainable, outcomes driven projects » Empathetic professionals » People from all walks of life

THE FOLLOWING LEARNING OBJECTIVES HELP US MEASURE OUR PROGRESS TOWARD GOAL 1.

1. Describe personal and professional values and ethics2. Compare and contrast one’s own key values and ethics with those of others3. Articulate the necessity of integrating self and others’ key comparable and contrasting values and ethics4. Express confidence in one’s ability to integrate own and others’ values and ethics5. Promote and integrate own and others’ values and ethics into team interaction6. Share up to date discipline-specific knowledge with others7. Express confidence in one’s ability to share accountability with teammates8. Integrate own and others’ assets to optimize team functioning9. Advocate for shared accountability for team performance10. Describe to others one’s own responsibilities and limitations11. Compare and contrast mindful and responsive communication practices to ineffective practices12. Express the importance of using mindful and responsive communication practices13. Express confidence in one’s ability to use mindful and responsive communication practices14. Choose effective communications practices to facilitate interactions that enhance team functioning15. Organize and share information with others in a manner that reflects their communication needs16. Demonstrate active listening when communicating with others17. Encourage others to share ideas, opinions, and feelings18. Give and receive timely, sensitive, and constructive feedback to and from others about team interactions19. Use respectful language reflective of the situation 20. Reflect on team development in practice21. Reflect on effective team responsibilities and operations in practice22. Identify one’s self as part of a team23. Recognize the relationship between team functioning and outcomes24. Express confidence in one’s ability to perform within a team25. Apply and adapt cumulative knowledge and experiences to teamwork best practices26. Apply leadership practices that support collaboration and team effectiveness27. Adapt team practices within various environmental conditions28. Engage self and others to constructively manage differences in order to support team purpose29. Share accountability for team outcomes30. Evaluate own and others’ performance for team performance improvement31. Facilitate a collaborative climate grounded in personal and professional values and ethics as they relate to health and healthcare32. Develop an understanding of one’s own responsibility and those of others toward achieving personal and communal healthy living33. Communicate with others in a mindful and responsive manner that reflects a team approach to personal and communal healthy living34. Contribute as an equal member of an effective team operating within various environmental conditions

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KEY OUTCOMEServing and Learning Together = Authentic Relationship Building: “My teammates and I learned about, with, and

from each other during the times spent together. Whether volunteering at the CLC or simply having lunch as a group, we often talked, shared our opinions, asked questions, gave each other advice, and underwent extraordinary experiences together that ultimately made us depend on one another. We identified the strengths of each individual in our group and heavily relied on each other to be the leader at various times. Because our conversations ranged from planning VHP events to discussing television shows, and we genuinely enjoyed the company of our teammates, learning about, with, and from became natural.” - MPH Student, Veterans History Project Learning Community

Checking Professional Assumptions: “A crucial aspect that we all learned throughout the year was to keep an open mind as to what the [families] know…we made a lot of assumptions early on about what we as public health folks, future doctors, and future PAs would be bringing to the community in this sort of “we are GW…we are going to come to the community” way. I think we were continuously surprised with how much information was very well known within our population and by what we were constantly learning from the parents/guardians. So, it is really important to stay humble about that stuff and focus on listening…focus on the gaps to fill…be cognizant of the fact that these are families that really are in tune with their children’s health to begin with.” – Sandy, PA/MPH Student, Guardian Engagement Learning Community

Seeing Health Challenges from Multiple Levels: “ISCOPES opened my eyes to the system level barriers and challenges that exist in communities. I found myself observing situations from a different perspective than I had before...[a perspective] that involves investigating different levels of the socio-ecological model [and] looking at multiple sectors’ involvement in the root causes of an issue. “ - Semira, MPH Student, ISCOPES Team Advocate, Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community

Haneen Abudayyeh, 1st year Epidemiology Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community

Spring 2015 Blood Drive in partnership with Dunbar High School and the Red Cross

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GUARDIAN ENGAGEMENThy Early Childhood Interventions? Early childhood development is

considered to be the most important phase in life which determines quality of health, well-being, learning, and behavior across the lifespan (WHO). The course that development takes in each person depends critically on the quality of stimulation, support and nurturance that a child experiences in their family, neighborhood, & care environments.

This Learning Community’s Goal - Engage and empower parents and guardians for the sake of child development.

Key Activities -

Hosted a Parent Meeting to begin relationship building and to gauge topic interest. Nutrition and healthcare arose as topics of interest.

Used “Grab n’ Go” activities to engage busy families picking up their little ones, including:

1. A handwashing station used to teach proper washing technique

2. A burpee demonstration, complete with a 14 day workout plan

3. Taste-testing of kid-friendly smoothies: Pumpkin Pie; Kale, Apple, and Banana; Spinach, Strawberry, and Banana

4. Information on flu shots and how to prevent the flu

5. Maps of local healthcare providers

6. Guided resources for effective healthcare visits, including 10 questions to ask providers, immunization schedules, and information breaking down the pieces of the DC Universal Health Certificate.

Keep an open mind! Don’t jump to conclusions and [make] assumptions about what the guardians at Southeast Children’s Fund know, where there may be knowledge gaps, and what topics are on their minds.

Be aware of your own biases, and how your upbringing and education have shaped you.

Be willing to learn and grow. Be willing to adapt and change.

Understand other’s intrinsic motivations, skills, interests, & expertise.

The number of students enrolled in the DC Public

Schools and Charter Schools in FY14, all of whom have to get a

Universal Health Certificate filled out every year by their guard-ian and healthcare provider.

-osse.dc.gov

ADVICE FROM THE STUDENTS OF GUARDIAN ENGAGEMENT:

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SPREAD FUN, NOT THE FLU!

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HEALTHY TEEN SCHOLARShy combine scholarship and health? The health workforce development pipeline begins long before a young person enrolls in college during a time

in life when people are most susceptible to forming lifelong health habits: adolescence. Moreover, “older children who consistently participate in after-school activities are more likely to attend college, vote, and volunteer later in life” according to ChildTrends.org.

This Learning Community’s Goal - maintain and further develop a Red Cross Club at Dunbar High School, a historically significant high school in the DCPS Public Schools System. Through such a club, GW students worked with Dunbar students interested in health careers to discuss health issues couched within the context of being a future healthcare professional. The intention is to ensure teens feel safe talking about the health issues that affect them while nurturing their interests in becoming future leaders in health-related fields.

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GW students and coaches worked with Dunbar students and coaches to hold weekly after school Red Cross Club (RCC) meetings. Health topics during these sessions ranged from healthy relationships to proper nutrition to investigating chronic diseases like diabetes and HIV.

An Executive Board of predominantly sophomore and junior students was elected and mentored for the purposes of ensuring the Dunbar students could practice the art of teamwork modeled by their ISCOPES team. Moreover, the age of the elected students will help continue the institutionalization process of the club in the coming years.

In order to teach and practice servant leadership, community service was also at the core of the Red Cross Club activities. From participating in the Walk to End HIV in partnership with Whitman Walker Health to Eating with the Unhoused at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church to hosting a blood drive in partnership with the American Red Cross, the GW and Dunbar students amassed several hours of service.

This year’s activities concluded with a Health Careers Fair which garnered the participation of 20+ health professionals and hundreds of Dunbar students.

ADVICE FROM THE GW STUDENTS OF THE HEALTHY TEEN SCHOLARS (HTS) LEARNING COMMUNITY:

1. Be flexible, because no matter how many great plans you have, they will change. Have a solid Plan B, and maybe even a Plan C sometimes.

2. Maintain open and appropriate communication. Establish what is preferred with your teammates, coaches, leadership team, students, peers, and [community partners] as soon as possible.

3. Build relationships with your coaches, teammates, and students. It’s a lot more fun as friends!

4. Be open and honest with your teammates about what you can and cannot do. Give it 100%!

KEY ACTIVITIES OF THE RCCBUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE IS TOUGH, BUT THIS TEAM MADE IT HAPPEN.

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ADULT HEALTH LITERACYhy is Adult Health Literacy important? Health literacy is de-fined as the ability to obtain, process, and understand health

information to make informed decisions about health care.

The cost of low health literacy is $237 billion to the U.S. economy = up to 17% of related healthcare expenditures could be saved.

Low health literacy is perpetuated by:

• A health care system that is difficult to navigate

• A health system that is designed to generate profits through insurance instead of being incentivized to produce better patient outcomes

• The advertising & marketing communities who present misleading & sometimes misinformed information that clouds people’s ability to identify trustworthy health information

• Cuts to public health programs that would otherwise increase access to quality care and resources

• The ACA, which has provided millions with health insurance, but not the tools and resources necessary for learning how to navigate the healthcare system for the first time

This Learning Community’s Goal - build adult health literacy related to over-the-counter v. prescription medications; knowing when to use your medical home v. the ER; and find-ing/using accurate, unbiased, updated health information on the Internet.

Key Workshop Topics:

1. Health information: where and how to locate valid medical information

2. Computer literacy: utilizing the Internet to find information on health, jobs, and professional development

3. Medication literacy: how to recognize and comply with the information presented on a prescription label

4. Healthy relationships: information and discussion about HIV/AIDS, prostate cancer, and practicing open communication

5. Dental care: oral health education in partnership with Smile Services

6. Summer safety: staying active, safe, and hydrated during the hottest months of the year

7. Stress relief: remaining calm and finding positive affirmations in times of stress

Our community members want to take an active role in improving their health and wellbeing. Keep them at the forefront of everything.

It is of utmost importance to earn and maintain the trust and respect of your community members.

With the broad range of [work to be done], use interdisciplinary teams to your benefit! Delegate and spread out the work. Allow people to use their expertise as well as to practice new skills.

The percentage of adults in the District of Columbia who read at or below a 6TH GRADE READING LEVEL. Only 40% of District residents have completed grades 9-12 (or their GED) as their highest level of education.

ADVICE FROM THE STUDENTS OF THE ADULT HEALTH LITERACY (AHL) LEARNING COMMUNITY

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As a culminating event, the intention of this event was to connect the men of Emery House to health organizations around DC so that they would have continued access to health resources in between ISCOPES years. Participating organizations included Back on My Feet, CVS, DC Health Link, Smile Services, Unity Health Clinic, and Whitman Walker Health. Resources about financial health, nutrition, and prostate health were also provided.

COMMUNITY COACH, HERB BAYLOR, AND THE AHL STUDENTS AT THEIR HEALTH FAIR.

MARY’S CENTER WOMEN’S GROUP

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VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT

HY ENGAGE IN STORY-TELLING WITH VETERANS?

31,839 veterans live in DC. 31% of these veterans are estimated to experience Post Traumatic Stress. Telling one’s story is a tool for coping with this stress and for building mental wellness.

THIS LEARNING COMMUNITY’S GOAL -

Using the Veterans History Project Fieldkit developed and provided by our partners at the Library of Congress, the intention of this team is to engage with veterans at the Community Living Center of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and on GW’s campus to first build relationships and then recruit veterans to share their stories about their time in the armed services.

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Hosted the monthly birthday celebrations at the CLC, which included serving food, providing crafts, and spending time with the veterans. Over time, visited CLC outside of birthday celebrations.

Hosted a screening of Honor Flight.

Collaborated with the Library of Congress and the Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community to get more students, including student veterans, involved.

Built relationship with The DC Center, GW Student Veterans Association, and several interviewees.

ADVICE FROM THE STUDENTS OF THE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT (VHP) LEARNING COMMUNITY

Talk to [experts] to best learn how to talk to [community members] and more importantly, how to listen.

Reach out to [other organizations]; the more connections you have, the better you can reach the community and the [people] you are trying to serve.

Go as often as you can to [site]; the [people] there may just want someone to spend time with them.

KEY ACTIVITIES FOR VHPTO BUILD MENTAL WELLNESS AND INCREASE PARTICIPATION IN THE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT:

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SENIOR WELLNESShy focus on senior engagement? Seniors make up an increasingly large

percentage of our population and represent the portion of our population with the most life experience. However, healthcare tends to focus only on the disease burden of this population rather than on the health potential.

This Learning Community’s Goal - Foster health and community-oriented lifestyles at underserved senior living centers via food, exercise, and arts-related activities.

Key Activities -

1. Gardening sessions

2. Zumba and chair aerobics workshops

3. Heart healthy bingo

4. Card making

5. Meditation and stress-reduction workshops

6. Cooking demonstrations and healthy snack

options

“No need to reinvent the wheel, just pimp the ride” – Christina

Promoting “Health” may not always be visibly apparent...but if [you] can lift a per-son’s mood, promote social interaction, or bring them out of their apartment when they would have otherwise stayed inside alone, [you] have bettered their health if even in a small way.

Despite the similar site populations, the desires and needs of the residents differed greatly. [You have to] adapt projects and implementation processes to accommodate these differences.

Of the population of seniors ages 65+ living within the District, 58% are either overweight or obese and 21% are living with diabetes. -CDC.gov

ADVICE FROM THE STUDENTS OF THE SENIOR WELLNESS (SW) LEARNING COMMUNITY

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“No need to reinvent the wheel, just pimp the ride” – Christina

Promoting “Health” may not always be visibly apparent...but if [you] can lift a per-son’s mood, promote social interaction, or bring them out of their apartment when they would have otherwise stayed inside alone, [you] have bettered their health if even in a small way.

Despite the similar site populations, the desires and needs of the residents differed greatly. [You have to] adapt projects and implementation processes to accommodate these differences.

EVERYBODY LOVES BINGO

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ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAKommunity-building tends to work best when there is food involved. We took this mantra

seriously for this year’s Alternative Spring Break wherein GW students and the ISCOPES Leadership Team partnered with the staff and clients of Bread for the City (BFC) to create the 2nd Annual Healthy Community Cookbook...from scratch, of course!

The process involved clients and staff first sharing their stories about their favorite family recipes with the GW team. Then, healthy options were researched and added to the mix to ensure folks with all sorts of diets could enjoy the recipes. Lastly, information about BFC’s food-related resources - like their food pantry, rooftop gardens, and orchard - were added as the final ingredients. The end result is a beautiful compilation of photos, healthy tips, mouth-watering ideas, and personal anecdotes.

The culminating event of the Alternative Spring Break was the Cookbook Launch Party. BFC clients and staff were invited to taste test some of the recipes from the new Cookbook. Authors were able to add their signature to their recipe page(s) and prizes intended on making healthy cooking easier were distributed via trivia games and raffles. One of the highlights of the event was when a client at BFC’s SE location - who won the grand prize of a crock pot - said, “I was praying I’d win this crock pot...I was just able to move into my own home off the streets, and this will be the first thing I have there.”

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Plan Subsequent Team Starter

Projects Current

Learning Communities determine next steps for

Future Learning Communities

Contextualize Within Various Environmental Conditions

Skill-based, health-focused team projects – starter project to be implemented, and then analyzed and adapted for each partner site within each

Learning Community

Focus on a Specific Health Domain Learning Communities will grow around Guardian

Engagement, Healthy Teen Scholars, Adult Health Literacy, People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities,

Transitioning Veterans, Senior Wellness

Build Awareness, Understanding, and Value of Health and the Healthcare System

Who gets resources for living healthy, when/where/how do they get these resources, and what responsibilities do practitioners have for enhancing and distributing these

resources

Build Awareness, Understanding, and Value of Others Each person has own filter and unique knowledge due to differences in access to information:

experiences outcomes causation; and sources books, people, media

Build Awareness, Understanding, and Value of Self Information and skills learned elsewhere, filtered through own brain = one’s own knowledge;

Gaps in information and skills = room for growth

The Evolved ISCOPES Model for Transcendence and Contextualization 9/2012 – 4/2013

Abst

ract

Con

cret

e

Knowledge & Comprehension

Application & Analysis

Synthesis & Evaluation

Tell Me About The Big Picture!!

HOW DO WE DO WHAT WE DO? THE ISCOPES PROCESS IS NOTHING SHORT OF AWESOME.

THE ISCOPES PROCESS - HOW WE DO24

Plan Subsequent Team Starter

Projects Current

Learning Communities determine next steps for

Future Learning Communities

Contextualize Within Various Environmental Conditions

Skill-based, health-focused team projects – starter project to be implemented, and then analyzed and adapted for each partner site within each

Learning Community

Focus on a Specific Health Domain Learning Communities will grow around Guardian

Engagement, Healthy Teen Scholars, Adult Health Literacy, People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities,

Transitioning Veterans, Senior Wellness

Build Awareness, Understanding, and Value of Health and the Healthcare System

Who gets resources for living healthy, when/where/how do they get these resources, and what responsibilities do practitioners have for enhancing and distributing these

resources

Build Awareness, Understanding, and Value of Others Each person has own filter and unique knowledge due to differences in access to information:

experiences outcomes causation; and sources books, people, media

Build Awareness, Understanding, and Value of Self Information and skills learned elsewhere, filtered through own brain = one’s own knowledge;

Gaps in information and skills = room for growth

The Evolved ISCOPES Model for Transcendence and Contextualization 9/2012 – 4/2013

Abst

ract

Con

cret

e Knowledge &

Comprehension

Application & Analysis

Synthesis & Evaluation

Tell Me About The Big Picture!!

THE ISCOPES PROCESS - HOW WE DO25

3%PA/MPH, MA, PhD STUDENTS

OUR STUDENTStudents are the lifeblood of ISCOPES. Hailing from GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, School of

Medicine and Health Sciences, Elliott School of International Affairs, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, and Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, students dedicate themselves to becoming effective members of interprofessional teams as well as mindful, skilled health professionals.

Molly Crenshaw, 1st Year MPH Student Senior Wellness Learning Community

Card-making with the residents of St. Mary’s Court Holidays, 2014

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8%MD STUDENTS

62%

12%

10%

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

MPH STUDENTS - ALL TRACKS

MS STUDENTS

7%MHSA STUDENTS

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ttempting to describe the bond you develop with folks when you experience joy, frustration, excitement, grief, and hope together is

almost a fruitless exercise. However, we would be remiss not to try.

Our partners and clients are our teachers, our guides, our cultural experts. They show us the ropes of the intersections between health, housing, education, transportation, and employment. They help us think though what individual and systems level change looks like in real time under the strain of real conditions. They cultivate our understanding of the plethora of assets every member of our community brings to the table and they remind us that we all have weaknesses. They model for us how to make impossible, possible; how to turn despair into resilience; how to find light even in the darkest moments.

The volume of people - clients, consumers, patients, neighbors, or whatever you might label them - who have shaped our learning and service this year numbers in the hundreds. We honor them and the 2014-2015 community partner sites that brought us together. Those sites are as follows:

A Wider Circle Bread for the City DCPS Head Start

DC VA Medical Center Dunbar High School Emery House

GW Student Vets Library of Congress Mary’s Center

Sibley Plaza Southeast Children’s Fund St. Mary’s Court

PARTNERS & CLIENTSSERVING AND LEARNING WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS & THEIR CLIENTS IS OUR PASSION

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• Dr. Robert Gundling of

Southeast Children’s Fund

• Ms. Megan Patterson of

Dunbar High School

• Ms. Maria Andreina of

Mary’s Center

• Mr. Herb Baylor of Emery

Work Bed Program

• Ms. Liz Anne Ganiban of

A Wider Circle

KEY PEOPLEOUR COMMUNITY COACHES MAKE ROOM IN THEIR HECTIC SCHEDULES TO MENTOR OUR STUDENTS. THEIR DEDICATION TO THEIR WORK AND THEIR CLIENTS IS ALWAYS INSPIRATIONAL AND MOTIVATES ALL OF US TO GET INCREASINGLY BETTER EVERYDAY. THESE ARE SOME OF THE UNSUNG HEROES OF OUR COMMUNITY:

In addition to these community coaches, ISCOPES is fortunate to have the support of countless staff and personnel at all of our different community partner sites. From ensuring our teams can access the right locations, to helping us brainstorm about everything from electricity to bathroom access, to encouraging participation of clients/residents/consumers, to assisting with our marketing/outreach efforts, to relaying safety policies and practices, to advising us on neighborhood resources, the ways in which dozens of folks throughout DC selflessly pitch in is astounding. We couldn’t be more grateful for how welcomed we feel into your homes, organizations, and lives.

THE MOST PROFOUND STRENGTH OF ISCOPES IS ITS PEOPLE.

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his has been my third year working with ISCOPES. A lot of who I am today is because of my work with the ISCOPES program. When I first joined ISCOPES, I assumed the healthcare system could simply be fixed with good intentions. I was a naïve

undergraduate student. I quickly learned that many have good intentions, but systemic issues prevent progressive ideas. Members of the ISCOPES Learning Communities face the same issues professionals in the healthcare field face: lack of funding, poor communication, rigid silos, competing interests, and time conflicts. I experienced first hand these issues and learned that collaborative thinking and big picture approaches to problems is the only way to solve such issues. I also learned of my personal and professional strengths and weaknesses and grew as an individual. I am very thankful for ISCOPES for being a catalyst in the health care field and in my life.

When things get too serious, Adnan lightens it up

Countless times in large group trainings, during team meetings, at site, and/or in virtual planning spaces, things get tense because people want to do the best job possible. Adnan loves to sing, knows how to poke fun without offending, and has a great laugh, so he does a great job of keeping us grounded.

He is always ready to have a good philosophical conversa-tion

Whether we are discussing systems level changes or the possibility of original thought, Adnan always brings an important perspective to the forefront. He is also a good listener and is skilled at respectfully disagreeing. You can always count on him to keep things lively!

ADNAN AHMEDUDDINADNAN SERVED AS A GENERAL TEAM ADVOCATE THIS YEAR WHICH ALLOWED HIM TO ASSIST WITH ALL 5 LEARNING COMMUNITIES!

TESTIMONIALS FROM THE ISCOPES LEADERSHIP TEAM

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Lauren is always ready to pitch in, practice fearlessness, charm the hardest curmudgeon, and secretly melt over the sweetest things

Teammates who never let you down are priceless. Lauren is one of those teammates. Whether it is showing up early to make sure the last details are addressed or trucking to CVS for a forgotten supply or brainstorming a solution to the challenge of the day, she always comes through. Lauren also takes creative risks that keep us improving. Lastly, while she boasts a tough exterior, she never hesitates to engage with friends and strangers (and puppies) with a huge smile on her face, a quick quip, and a palpable consideration of that person’s circumstances.

joined ISCOPES in September of 2013 as an enthusiastic and arguably naïve graduate student. Fresh out of college, I believed I had already experienced the real world and was ready to change the lives of hundreds of underserved individuals living in

the DC area. My perspective was immediately challenged and I quickly learned that health is not merely about the presence or absence of disease. Health is about community engagement and opportunity. It is about understanding that the status quo does not need to be permanent. Health is about creativity and optimism. It is about empowerment. ISCOPES taught me that in order to change lives, you must first understand the lives that you work with. You must understand that behind every health statistic is a name, a face, and a story. By cultivating relationships, we have the capacity to create a culture that encourages collaboration and change, and mitigates circumstance and struggle. Today, almost two years later, I can proudly say that ISCOPES taught me the true secret behind health: the ability to build relationships and understand people.

LAUREN VIOLETTELAUREN (MIDDLE ABOVE) SERVED AS BOTH A FULL-TIME (ADULT HEALTH LITERACY) AND PART-TIME (SENIOR WELLNESS) TEAM ADVOCATE THIS YEAR!

SKILL AND CONFIDENCE ARE AN UNCONQUERED ARMY.

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joined ISCOPES excited to be able to work with and for young people in DC. I was sure this journey would suffice my passions and desires to empower and engage young people in underserved communities. Starting in 2013, as a member of the Healthy Teen Scholars Learning

Community, I worked with my team to provide students with opportunities to explore health topics and careers, build authentic relationships, and feel connected. The more I went to site week after week, the more passionate, motivated and dedicated I became to make an impact in individuals’ lives and leave imprints. The twist is that even though we planned and communicated consistently, sometimes we arrived at the high school and found an empty classroom. Hmmm…What did we do wrong?

I will never forget the time I went to site and there was a lock down. A student shouted “Why you got to lock us in, this is SE, there are shootings every day!” I was appalled. I was so hurt inside. I couldn’t believe this was the life young people in this area had. This incident didn’t scare me but motivated me to fight harder for opportunities to connect with the students and bring a different perspective into their lives.

As I continued my ISCOPES journey in 2014 as a Team Advocate, ISCOPES opened my eyes to the systems level barriers and challenges that exist in communities. I found myself observing situations from a different perspective than I had before. One that involves investigating different levels of the socio-ecological model, looking at multiple sectors’ involvement in the root causes of an issue. Oh! So that’s why the real world needs to have interdisciplinary teams addressing challenges. Obvious.

As I finish up my Master in Public Health degree, I have found systems level work is a level I want to work and support change on. Thank you ISCOPES for a wonderful self-fulfilling journey. Not only did I widen my horizon as a professional, but I grew personally as an individual.

Semira has found a quiet, but powerful voice.

When Semira talks, people listen. Her combination of thoughtfulness and brilliance gently commands attention and respect.

Semira is great at maintaining perspective.

When the details threaten to drown us, Semira always reminds us to take a step back and focus on what truly matters in life.

SEMIRA ABDULMALIK KASSAHUNSEMIRA (ABOVE RIGHT) SERVED AS THE FULL-TIME TEAM ADVOCATE FOR THE HEALTHY TEEN SCHOLARS LEARNING COMMUNITY THIS YEAR!

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Donna is the fire at the heart of ISCOPES.

Never will you meet somebody with more patience, more endurance, or more empathic capacity. Donna embodies the values of ISCOPES. She is a role model in everything from planning, to relationship-building, to finding solutions in impossible situations. She makes ISCOPES come alive!

n grad school, a wise man once said, “We’re not here to help you get the right answers. We’re here to help you ask the right questions.”

I believe ISCOPES embodies this quote to a certain extent. As a member of the ISCOPES Leadership Team, I’ve learned that at times there are no “correct” answers. Often times you have to think on your feet, trust your teammates, trust yourself, utilize the resources around you and the lessons learned from previous experiences. It also requires acceptance that you might “fail.” But how do you reframe “failure” so that it is an opportunity for continuous improvement and learning?

With our teams, we purposefully allow a healthy level of ambiguity to occur. We try our best to provide guidance without hand-holding. We encourage creativity and support the out-of-the-box thinkers, solutions-oriented problem solvers, and brave risk-takers. While it would be easier to provide the “answers,” we don’t. We understand that at times this could be met with anxiety, discomfort, and frustration. But it is in these “messy” moments when individuals are forced to figure out what they and their teams are made of - “What kind of team member am I? How do I enable leadership to occur? Will we succumb to self-interests? Will we rally together for a common purpose?”

I am grateful that ISCOPES challenges me to ask these questions of myself with every interaction with the Leadership Team, Learning Communities, community partners, coaches, and clients we serve alongside each day. It is this exercise in mindfulness that pushes me to grow, develop, and continue on this journey of life-long learning.

To our newly minted ISCOPES alumni, it is my hope that ISCOPES has helped you ask the right questions of yourself. Carry these questions with you as you enter a new semester, internship, or workplace, and assist your future teammates in thinking through them as well.

DONNA JAVELLANADONNA IS THE “MOM” OF ISCOPES. SHE ALSO SERVES AS OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, AND THE VETERAN’S HISTORY PROJECT TEAM ADVOCATE/COACH!

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hen I come to work with the ISCOPES Leadership Team, our ISCOPES Coaches, and our ISCOPES Champions at GW, I am among some of the most passionate, determined people I know. When I am at our community partner sites, I am among

people from every walk of life who make me feel like the work we do matters. When I am with our student teams, I am among the people who I know will someday change our world by giving people a fighting chance at being truly healthy.

I love my job, even the late-night text messages about last minute preparations for a team’s next morning service event. I love watching people learn from one another. I love experiencing the growth in connectivity between those who would otherwise be strangers. I love dissolving the gap between research and practice. I cannot imagine having spent the last 5 years of my life any other way.

ANGIE HINZEYANGIE (ABOVE LEFT) SERVES AS THE DIRECTOR OF ISCOPES. SHE ALSO SERVED AS THE TEAM ADVOCATE/COACH FOR THE GUARDIAN ENGAGEMENT LEARNING COMMUNITY THIS YEAR!

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Two other notable accomplishments:

4 ISCOPES students (current/alum) participated and won the DC Regional Case Competition in October 2014. Angie got to serve as one of their faculty coaches in partnership with Beth Tuckwiller of GW GSEHD.

Additionally, ISCOPES hosted its first annual Winter Survival Movement, an ISCOPES-wide effort that gener-ated hundreds of donations for those forced to live outside this winter season.

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FACULTY COACHES & ISCOPES ALUMNI

ISCOPES Alumni also play a part!

From serving as volunteers, guest speakers, and judges during some of our large group training events to serving as content experts at various sites, our alumni are simply awesome. Each year, they also aid in the knowledge transfer process between teams by participating in the recruitment process and by giving advice early on in the ISCOPES year. Moreover, they are an active network of practitioners that are constantly trying to link our students to resources and opportunities. We are so excited for our newest ISCOPES graduates to join this prestigious group of phenomenal people!

The faculty coaches that serve in ISCOPES truly embody what it means to go above and beyond. Without recompense, they faithfully show up at large group training events, team meetings, site implementations, and special coaches’ events. They share their academic expertise and their practical experiences while giving our students room to grow in their own expertise and experiences. They help the ISCOPES Leadership Team sustain relationships with our community partners and they model what it means to be scholar-practitioners. Lastly, their dedication to service and social mission is profound, a rare characteristic which only makes them more special to the entire ISCOPES family.

This year, Shawneequa Callier, MA, JD, and Joelle Simpson, MD, MPH served as faculty coaches for our Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community. Toni Thibeaux, MPH, served as a faculty coach-in-training for the same Learning Community.

Karyn Pomerantz, MLS, MPH, and Sandy Hoar, PA-C, MPAS, served as faculty coaches for our Adult Health Literacy Learning Community.

Sarah Meadows, MEd, served as a faculty coach-in-training for our Senior Wellness Learning Community.

Paul Tschudi, EdS, MA, LPC, serves as a part-time advisor for our Veterans History Project Learning Community.

A BIG THANK-YOU TO ALL OF THESE COACHES!

“I LOVE MY COACH...I’VE LEARNED MORE FROM HER THAN ANYONE ELSE”

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LISTEN UP. NO NEED TO BE SCARED OF THE FUTURE. 2015-2016 IS GOING TO ROCK!

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OUTLOOK FOR 2015-2016Just around the corner is the 20th Anniversary of ISCOPES. We intend to celebrate and we want you to join us!

In honoring where we have been, reflecting on where we are, and pursuing the next phase of ISCOPES, we are going to need all hands on deck. From your memories to your commitment to making ISCOPES increasingly effective - both for our students and the folks we serve - there will be numerous ways for you to give back and help us make this the best year yet of ISCOPES.

A few steps you can take today:

1. Update your contact info with our office via iscopes@gwu.edu

2. Submit a favorite ISCOPES story or photo of yours to iscopes@gwu.edu

3. Set up a time to chat with us about the next steps of ISCOPES and ways you can help shape our future!

4. Get your ISCOPES friends to join in, much like Kristely Bastien (2 year participant of the Healthy Teen Scholars Learning Community) is doing so well in the photo below!

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5%from the School of Nursing

5%in-kind from the SMHS website crew

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

ISCOPES is also excited about a new adventure with the GW School of Nursing (SON). This year, with the financial support of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the SON and ISCOPES partnered up to design online training modules for interprofessional teamwork and chronic disease self-management. The modules will be used with nursing students in the coming year and once again, nursing students will be welcomed back into the fold of ISCOPES Learning Communities. As a result, a new Learning Community will also

be formed that focuses on chronic disease self-management. Old and new community partner sites will make up this sixth Learning Community and the focus of its Starter Project will be person-centered medicine, peer-to-peer development, story-telling, and empowerment. We appreciate the opportunity to work with the SON on this project!

Lastly, we appreciate the in-kind support of the web design team within the School of Medicine and Health Sciences!

ISCOPES would not be possible without the financial support of the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. Dean Lynn Goldman, Associate Dean Vigilance, and the entire dean’s suite have truly gone to bat for ISCOPES by providing us with space in the new Milken Institute School of Public Health building and with the funding to make interprofessional workforce development and service-learning with our DC neighbors a reality. We are humbly grateful for the opportunity to do this meaningful work.

90%of financial support for ISCOPES comes from the Milken Institute School of Public Health

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ISCOPES: LIFE BEGINS AT THE END OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE.

nother year has gone by...a year full of transformative learning, mindful service, constructive failures,

affirming successes, painful shortcomings, and lovely surprises.

We started out the year with the intention of changing the way people see themselves, each other, and healthcare. We finish the year confident that those seeds have been planted. We hope that you can bear witness to that fact in the pages of this Annual Overview which has been collaboratively created by many members of the ISCOPES family.

Now, as this cohort graduates from ISCOPES and considers how to apply the lessons they learned from each other, from their community partners, from their coaches, and from our DC neighbors, we begin to prepare for our next cohort...our next group of servant leaders and change makers. They will have big shoes to fill.

The future is bright for ISCOPES. We hope you walk with us as we continue to push boundaries, reframe old paradigms, and make a difference in the lives of so many.

CONCLUSION

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Check out our blog at https://iscopes.wordpress.com/ Our 20th Anniversary Celebration is underway. Join us on our epic

journey of reflection and preparation for the next 20 years!

STAY IN TOUCH950 New Hampshire Ave NW #230Washington, DC, 20037

GET READY.

Ph. 202.994.3274 iscopes@gwu.edu http://iscopes.gwu.edu