BizEd

NovDec2009

Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56523

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 26 of 67

to bring the program to its Head Start families. In addi- tion, Anderson faculty and MBA students are traveling to Mexico, Brazil, China, and Eastern and Western Europe to conduct field stud- ies on childhood diseases to learn whether HCI's training program can be translated to other regions of the world. Anderson's training pro- Head Start administrators attend a course at UCLA during the 2009 Fellows Program. to do more to reach out to disadvantaged families, so they worked with the Fellows to conduct a survey of Head Start parents about the biggest barriers they faced when it came to obtaining healthcare. Many parents noted a similar problem, explains Ariella Herman, senior lecturer at the Anderson School. They said that they lacked information and felt unprepared to deal with chil- dren's illnesses on their own. For instance, when asked what they would do if their child had a mild tempera- ture of 99.5 degrees, 70 percent answered that they would take their child to the emergency room. That survey led to the cre- ation of the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute (HCI) in 2001. HCI, which Herman directs, continues to conduct research, develop educational materials, and create training programs for Head Start agencies to deliver to parents across the country. The programs cover topics such as oral hygiene, childhood illnesses, and dia- betes and obesity to empower parents to care for their fami- lies. "We gave Head Start agencies a methodology to train families on any health- care topic," says Herman. To date, the program has trained 40,000 families in 35 states. The program includes the book, What to Do When Your Child Gets Sick, written by Gloria Mayer and Ann Kuklierus, both registered nurses. The book is written at a third- grade level, so that its information is accessible to everyone, Herman explains. The training materials are trans lated into seven languages and target ten ethnicities. The result of this pro- gram isn't just healthier families; it's a more efficient healthcare system, says Herman. In post- training surveys, only 10 percent of parents indi- cated they would take their children to the ER for a slight fever. That translates to millions of dollars saved in terms of fewer visits to ERs and clinics, fewer days lost from work, and fewer Med- icaid claims, says Herman. Johnson & Johnson con- tinues to lend its expertise to the Anderson School, as well as fund the devel- opment of new research, training, and materials. At the same time, the program is expanding with the help of outside support. Phar- maceutical company Pfizer is funding the program's rollout in New Mexico, and the state of Washington has made room in its budget grams also have expanded to other areas. In 2002, Anderson and company executives launched the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Executive Program, which trains lead- ers from community-based healthcare organizations to provide the best possible services to underserved communities. And in 2006, they created the Johnson & Johnson/UCLA Management Development Institute for HIV/AIDS, which provides in-country management train- ing to individuals running HIV/AIDS clinics in Africa. So far, this program has graduated 350 participants from 22 African nations. Achieving Tangible Results With a stronger grasp of stra- tegic planning, King has been able to adopt more vibrant, interactive, and entertaining methods to interact with par- ents through her Head Start agency in Columbia, Mis- souri. Before her training, few parents attended her agency's educational sessions, she BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 25

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of BizEd - NovDec2009