designing education for better prisoner and community health...designing education for better...

Designing Education for Better

Prisoner and Community Health:A Case Study in Engaged Scholarship

Bradley Brockmann, JD, MDiv1,2

Alexandria Macmadu, MSc1,2

1The Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights,

The Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI2Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI

Developing the Course

Purpose

The purpose of this course is to provide

students with the background and skills

needed to design and implement real world

health communication projects that address

health needs encountered by justice-involved

populations.

Structure

TRI-Lab: Teaching, Research, and Impact

Three semesters:

Spring – Teaching

Summer – Research/Prototype Development

Fall – Impact/Implementation

Spring 2016 (Teaching)

● In-class component divided into two sections:

○ 8 sessions on prisoner health context

○ 6 sessions on health communication and

CBPR

○ 3 sessions on skill-building (e.g., focus

group training)

○ 7 sessions on designing interventions

○ 2 sessions for students’ final presentations

Spring 2016 (Teaching)

Summer 2016 (Research)

● 3 weeks of graphic design instruction

● 12 weeks of intensive research, development of

program prototypes working with consultants

including formerly incarcerated individuals

● Students conducted focus groups and one-on-

one interviews with medical experts,

community partners, RIDOC staff, and people

who are justice-involved

● Regular meetings and critiques

Summer 2016 (Research)

Fall 2016 (Impact)

Students continued to refine, finalize, and

implement their educational videos, curricula,

posters, pamphlets, and booklets across six

health topics…

Six Student-Led Projects

●Hepatitis C

●Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)

●Navigating the Healthcare System

●Weight Management

●HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)

●Difficult Emotions and Critical Reflection

Hepatitis C

Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)

Navigating the Health Care System

Navigating the Health Care System

Weight Management

Weight Management

HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)

Difficult Emotions and Critical Reflection

●Trauma-informed framework to provide men

who are incarcerated with practical skills for

dealing with difficult emotions

(depression, stress, anxiety), and to deepen

their critical reflection skills and enhance

their capacity for healthy decision making

●Nine session group curriculum

●Individual counseling after each session

●Pilot beginning now in max security

Student Feedback: Community

“It was an amazing opportunity to get out of my head and in to

talking to people, listening to people, and designing around needs

and experiences.”

“My experiences in this summer’s TRI-Lab have taught me the

importance of gaining the trust of the people that you serve. More

importantly, I learned that building trust takes a lot of time and

patience, but it is absolutely necessary if you want to make an

impact.”

“The biggest takeaway I definitely received from this class is

ultimately teamwork. Community... No one is an island. And

throughout this course I found this aspect both inspiring but also

beautiful to watch and be a part of.”

Student Feedback: Passion

“In no other health-focused class at Brown have I felt as

personally interested in and connected to a course.”

“This class has refueled a desire to work with this population

in some way shape or form in whatever I do in my future.”

“Overall, I think this course has been incredibly influential in

what I want to do with my life after college.”

“I am so grateful to have been a part of this project because it

really has informed the way I interact with every person I

meet.”

Student Feedback: Influential

“Many of [our] interviews were extremely humbling and made me

reflect on my privilege and place within the Providence community.

I was extremely glad I had the opportunity to enter a very personal

space and hear such personal stories.

“Learning about the incarcerated population in the U.S. has also

influenced the way I look at many different aspects of my life… It

has become an issue that I care about deeply, and ask any of my

friends or family members: it’s a topic I don’t often stop thinking

about.”

“This experience during the school year and over the summer has

… really helped me hone in on a community with whom I would

absolutely like to work moving forward..”

Thank you!Questions?

bbrockmann@lifespan.orgalexandria.macmadu@lifespan.org