Internship

Reflection

I had some difficulty selecting an internship that would be a capstone experience for my time in the program. I felt that I was in a unique position, having worked in public health already, and I wanted to do something that would be as challenging as possible....something I hadn't done before, that would test the skills I have developed in my professional career as well as those I obtained in the MPH program. Several academic experience particularly influenced my internship selection. During the summer of 2017 I took a course on Worksite Wellness (HEA 616), which quickly anchored my interest in the topic. Taking this course gave me a sense of the history of workplace wellness and taught me strategies to analyze an organization's program. I had gone into the MPH program with an interest in safety planning and environmental health (OSHA, health codes etc.), which offered some surprising overlap. Later, in Applied Program Planning (HEA 648) I completed an online course in human research from CITI, which provided me with training on ethical research that I would later use during my internship. In In addition, I had some experience with employee health and wellness as a supervisor and my staff’s emotional and physical well-being had always been a priority for me, but I had little in the way of professional training.

​

At the suggestion of one of my faculty members, who knew of my interest, I met with a UNC Greensboro researcher who was working with data from the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA). We discussed the possibility of working together on employee wellness research and initiatives. She had a connection with the administration at Well-Spring Solutions, a local provider of older adult services, and recommended that I met with a few key folks over there to discuss options. This organization lacked a comprehensive Workplace Health Promotion program and was in a state of transition. They were in need of an external assessment of their employee health history, climate, resources and structures, policies and procedures, and insight into employee wants and needs. 

​

The biggest challenge for me during this internship was the timeline. As an independent evaluator without a solid connection to an established wellness team at the site, I was heavily reliant on the goodwill of the administration. I was made to feel welcome and my contacts at the organization were eager to support this evaluation, but communication was often slow, which affected my timeline. There were also occasional conflicts with my own full-time job.

​

My stand-out learning moment during this internship was having to redesign all of my promotional materials. After my first info session, where I was promoting the survey and gathering volunteers, it became very real for me that the organization had multiple subset populations. My history of working with college students came through in how I designed the materials. It was important to me to share the background of the surveys, and some brief history on the importance of health and wellness, but the way I did this was not accessible to everyone. After the first few tabling sessions, I made immediate changes.

​

• Some employees removed the raffle and information sheet from the survey and submitted it without the survey itself. 

  • I simplified the instructions and demonstrated how to submit the packet during my table sessions.​

​

• Several older employees were confused and resistant to the idea of an online survey option.

  • My response was to separate the advertisements so that they were less overwhelming​, and to make the options clearer.

​

• The high-school dining staff ignored me completely, but I believe would be more drawn to an online option.

  • I created an additional handout for online surveys.​

​

• There were several employees experiencing a language and/or literacy barrier. They were not able to read the questions. 

  • I ​offered to do an interview with them and provided the survey packet that they could take to a friend/family member for translation.

Overall, this internship has served as a capstone experience for me. Some of the most frustrating parts were in fact the most valuable. Overcoming hurdles forced me to think on my toes and to develop strategies that would be more effective. I used more tools from the program than I thought I would (such as interviewing, data collection and analysis), and much less from my professional experience than I expected. It has been humbling and I am grateful for the experience.