Internship Descriptions Summer 2015

HEALTH PROMOTION PRACTICUM PROGRAM
SUMMER 2015
The Prevention Research Center at Tulane University is offering SIX competitive practicum internships that provide
students with real-life experience in the field of health promotion working with selected partners of the PRC. The
practicum program is limited to Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine students. Preference is given to
graduate-level students who have not yet completed a practicum, but practica have been awarded to exceptional
undergraduate students in the past.
The practicum hosts are The Cookbook Project, Fitness Fleet, Friends of Lafitte Corridor, National Alliance on Mental
Illness – NAMI New Orleans, The ReFresh Project - Broad Community Connections, and Second Harvest Food Bank –
Cooking Matters.
These internships are unpaid, except for the Fitness Fleet practicum which has payment available. See next pages for
brief descriptions of the internships. The application for all practica is available at the Tulane PRC website under Career
Opportunities.
The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Friday, April 3, 2015, for emailed or faxed applications, and all mailed applications must
be post-marked by Wednesday, April 1, 2015. The internship position may begin in April or May, but the bulk of work
will be performed during the summer semester. Exact start and end dates depend on student availability, program
timing, and each host organization’s specific needs.
The interns will be required to work a total of 300 hours for the designated organizations. For students in the Global
Community Health and Behavioral Sciences Department, this program will fulfill your practicum and project
requirements. The interns will also be required to fulfill all reporting requirements mandated by the school’s practicum
manual.
Questions? Contact Naomi King Englar, PRC Communications and Dissemination Coordinator, at 504.988.7410 or
[email protected]. Application materials should be submitted to Naomi either via email ([email protected]), fax
(504.988.3540), or mail (1440 Canal Street, Suite 2301, New Orleans LA 70112).
The Cookbook Project
Project Title: Monitoring and Evaluation Intern
Background on the Project: The Cookbook Project (CBP) is a small grass-roots non-profit organization that trains
Food Literacy Educators through online and onsite trainings to implement food literacy and cooking education programs
in their own communities. CBP’s mission is to empower youth to be the catalysts for healthier, more sustainable
communities.
To date, CBP has trained over 650 Food Literacy Educators working in more than 20 countries and 35 U.S. states. Many
of these educators are from organizations that include Americorps, Health Corps, Peace Corps, City Year, public and
private schools and a variety of other community-based organizations.
The Food Literacy Initiative is a program that is being launched this year and will serve as a model for scalability moving
forward. This program was based on the success of a pilot project conducted in the Boston Public Schools, in partnership
with City Year staff. Due to the success of the pilot, the program is being expanded this year from 1 to 4 Boston public
elementary schools. The model for this program is also being piloted this year in New Orleans. In November, a cohort of
Food Literacy Educators based in New Orleans trained and are implementing Food Literacy Initiative Programs in the
communities they serve. Based on program results and impact assessment, CBP will identify one central partner, similar
to City Year, with a strong and large network in New Orleans, in order to scale the program within the city.
Student’s Responsibilities and Activities: The CBP is seeking a monitoring and evaluation practicum student
to review, adapt and implement evaluation tools for the Food Literacy Initiative. Responsibilities include:
a. Reviewing current monitoring and evaluation tools previously developed by CBP.
b. Editing and adapting current monitoring and evaluation tools for implementation in conjunction with the
Food Literacy Initiative program launch in Boston and the pilot program in New Orleans.
c. Develop strategies for collecting, managing, and reporting impact data and behavior change from local,
national, and global programming.
d. Research current food literacy trends, methods of evaluation, and recent studies that demonstrate the value
of CBP programming.
e. Conduct a digital city‐wide food literacy survey to summer organizations working with youth to determine
food literacy rates and intervention strategies.
f. Manage Data Management System to store and track data from program evaluation.
g. Refine Impact ‘toolkit’ for Food Literacy Educators to use in evaluating their own projects.
h. Train as a Food Literacy Educator as part of the Spring/Summer Food Literacy Educator Training Program
i. Serve as the Summer Community Liaison for NOLA CBP programming. Visit field projects and support
programming.
j. Develop framework for a certification system for ‘Food Literacy’ Schools and enrichment organizations.
k. Optional: Lead CBP programming with community partners interested in hosting a CBP--‐trained Food Literacy
Educator.
Supervisor: The practicum student will report to Program Director Adam Aronovitz.
Transportation: A car is not required, but access to a vehicle will be very helpful for this internship. The intern will
have workspace at the CBP office space at the Propeller Incubator (a co-working office), at 4035 Washington Ave., New
Orleans.
For more information about this organization, visit The Cookbook Project.
Fitness Fleet
Project Title: ShipShape App Project Intern
Background on the Project: FitnessFleet Inc. is a medical-fitness company, which integrates healthcare services,
wellness and fitness programs to provide a form of preventative medicine for medically underserved communities in
New Orleans, La. FitnessFleet has partnered with The Juxtopia Group, LLC to develop Shipshape App™, a mobile health
software, that will operate on Juxtopia Imhotep band (JI band), a wearable technology device. The proposed ShipShape
App™ will provide a non-invasive alternative obviating the prick and an easy-to-use and culturally acceptable software
application to persons at-risk or with pre-diabetes to manage their pre-diabetes condition and decrease risk of
developing diabetes. The Shipshape App will run on a wearable technology, the Juxtopia® Imhotep (JIBand), to noninvasively identify glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) and provide notifications to the JIBand wearer, primary health provider,
and community health workers (CHW), if the glucose level is higher than normal. If higher than normal HbA1C levels are
identified within a critical duration of time, the Shipshape App™ will provide the individual an opportunity to schedule a
video-conference appointment with a CHW to create and review a personalized ShipShape lifestyle goal. The ShipShape
App™ will also connect with social media sharing the lifestyle achievement data with other ShipShape users within the
same community, city, state, and U.S. to help incentivize healthy behaviors for preventing pre-diabetes or the
progression of pre-diabetes to diabetes. People in the target population who use the ShipShape App™will have a lower
cost and easily accessible product to manage their pre-diabetes and diabetes and significantly decrease healthcare costs.
An institutional review board (IRB) from Xavier University College of Pharmacy Center for Minority Health and Health
Disparities Research has been designated to approve, monitor, and review the project and study to ensure that all of
interactions with the participants are ethical.
Student Responsibilities and Activities: The internship will need to begin in May 2015. The student will be
required to work 20 hours per week and will be paid $10 per hour.
• Interview patients who are eligible for the project’s programs, data collection and analysis.
• Facilitate and collect data from focus groups using short, quantitative surveys. These surveys will focus on
knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to diabetes.
• Will work with experts in survey research design and review survey items and responses for content validity.
• Conduct surveys regarding each participants’ perceptions about using mobile health technology to manage
chronic health conditions as well as their general health, family medical history, health behaviors, and
awareness.
• Recruit participants to serve on a community advisory board and help establish relationships with the
community and academic partners in New Orleans.
• Act as a community health worker, approaching patients who have pre-diabetes or are at-risk for pre-diabetes.
The student may accompany patients at doctor visits. Conduct patient satisfaction surveys at visits with
healthcare providers.
• Once the Shipshape App and Juxtopia Imhotep band prototypes are complete, the student intern will be
responsible for collecting data about patient satisfaction at each visit with his or her healthcare provider.
• A student who successfully completes this internship may be eligible for a position at FitnessFleet, Inc.
Supervisor: The intern will report to Kaleb J. Hill, founder and CEO of Fitness Fleet Inc.
Transportation: A car is not needed for this internship. Work will be conducted in Carrollton area neighborhoods
and at Xavier University College of Pharmacy Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research. The worksites
are accessible via public transportation.
For more information about this organization, visit Fitness Fleet .
Friends of the Lafitte Corridor
Project Title: Local Food Systems Intern
Background on the Project: Friends of Lafitte Corridor (FOLC) is the non-­‐profit steward and advocate for the
new Lafitte Greenway. Opening June, 2015, the Lafitte Greenway is a 2.6 mile linear park and multi-use path connecting
New Orleans’ historic Mid-City, Bayou St. John, Tremé, and French Quarter neighborhoods.
The $9.1 million project transforms a former industrial railway into a recreational green space, featuring a 12‐foot wide
multi-use path, trees, storm water retention features, and new recreation fields. Friends of Lafitte Corridor’s mission is
to revitalize New Orleans’ Lafitte Corridor neighborhoods by building, programming, and promoting the Lafitte
Greenway as a great public space.
The current greenway build-out is the first phase of a larger $34 million vision for the space. The development of the
Lafitte Greenway is guided by the Lafitte Greenway Master Plan, a plan created through two years of extensive
community input. The Master Plan calls for the development of community gardens and farmers’ market on the
greenway. In December 2014, FOLC was selected to participate in Local Foods, Local Places, a federal initiative
spearheaded by the White House and six federal agencies, providing technical support to 26 communities nationwide to
integrate local food systems into community economic action plans. Under this effort, a team of agricultural,
transportation, environmental, public health and regional economic experts will work directly with FOLC and a team of
community leaders in May 2015 to bring together growers, stakeholders, Lafitte Corridor neighbors and city leaders to
develop a plan for community gardens and a farmers market on the Lafitte Greenway.
Student Responsibilities and Activities: The Local Food Systems Intern will work closely with FOLC’s Executive
Director, Planning & Design Committee and Fund Development Committee to implement the plan for community
gardens and a farmers market on the greenway that comes out of the Local Foods, Local Places planning process.
Activities include:
• Community garden: Develop the community garden program, as per the future plan.
• Community outreach: Liaise with stakeholders including community members, urban farmers and partner
nonprofits through direct outreach, community events, etc.
• Meeting facilitation and coordination: Coordinate planning meetings and participate in FOLC Planning & Design
and Fund Development Committee meetings.
• Fundraising: Research and help write grants and assist in donor cultivation
Supervisor: The intern will report to Sophie Harris, Friend of Lafitte Corridor Executive Director.
Transportation: A car or bike is not required but would be helpful. The intern will have workspace at the CBP office
space at the Propeller Incubator (a co-working office), at 4035 Washington Ave., New Orleans.
For more information about this organization, visit Friends of Lafitte Corridor.
National Alliance on Mental Illness – NAMI New Orleans
Project Title: NAMI New Orleans Program Intern
Background on the Project: NAMI New Orleans offers hope, help, and healing to people with mental illness - and
to those who share their lives - through family support, education and advocacy, and quality psychosocial services. NAMI
New Orleans’ work helps individuals live with dignity and independence within the community, enriching all of our lives.
NAMI New Orleans currently provides a variety of education, support and advocacy programs for people living with
mental illness and their families, including monthly peer-run Family Support Groups and weekly Connection Recovery
Support Groups, Family-to-Family and Peer-to-Peer education courses, a Family Guide to help families navigate a crisis,
and community education presentations to raise awareness about mental illness and reduce stigma.
NAMI New Orleans is also planning to launch a Resource and Referral Line this summer that anyone can call for
assistance navigating the mental health system and identifying and accessing available resources.
Student Responsibilities and Activities:
The NAMI New Orleans Program Intern will support these existing programs (see above) as well as to help to adapt and
expand these programs for a Spanish-speaking audience, to expand and improve outreach and collaborations with
organizations that work with Latino communities in the New Orleans area, and to increase the organization’s capacity to
serve a Spanish-speaking audience. *Fluency in Spanish is strongly desired but not essential.*
The intern’s activities would include:
Community Resource Mapping: Work with NAMI New Orleans, other mental health providers and community
organizations to assess and map the availability of Spanish-language mental health resources in the Greater New
Orleans area. Use the existing NAMI New Orleans Family Guide: A Roadmap to Resources and Support to create
a Spanish-language mental health crisis guide geared toward families.
Resource and Referral Line: Support the summer launch of NAMI New Orleans’ Resource and Referral Line
including coordinating Spanish language resources.
De Familia a Familia: Help prepare for September launch of De Familia a Familia, a 12-week peer-led course for
family members of individuals living with a serious mental illness. The course is adapted from NAMI’s Family-toFamily education program, which has been recognized by SAMHSA as an evidence-based practice. Assist with
advertising, identifying a location and preparing course manuals and other materials.
Outreach: Help distribute information about NAMI New Orleans, our Spanish-language programs, and mental
illness in general widely throughout local Spanish-speaking communities. Create a comprehensive outreach plan
including designing outreach materials (posters, brochures), attending health fairs and community meetings and
events, giving community education presentations, and designing advertising for print and social media.
Supervisor: The intern will report to Renee Corrigan, NAMI New Orleans Education Coordinator
Transportation: The intern will work out of the NAMI New Orleans Uptown office at 1538 Louisiana Ave. in New
Orleans, and spend substantial time in the community. Student would her/his need own vehicle or be able to use public
transportation.
For more information about this organization, visit National Alliance on Mental Illness – NAMI
New Orleans.
The ReFresh Project
Project Title: ReFresh NOLA Coalition Intern
Background on the Project: Broad Community Connections is a non-profit, Main Street organization whose
mission is to revitalize Broad Street from Tulane Avenue to Bayou Road as a vibrant commercial corridor, bringing
together the surrounding neighborhoods and promoting their economic, residential, and cultural development. In
pursuit of this mission, BCC has undertaken the Refresh Project, which has redeveloped the former, vacant
Schwegmanns grocery building into a new fresh and affordable Whole Foods Market; Liberty’s Kitchen, a café and
commercial kitchen teaching life and employability skills to at risk youth, and providing healthy school meals to public
charter school students; and the Tulane Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine, a nutrition and culinary teaching kitchen
serving community members, medical students, and doctors. Additional tenants include FirstLine Schools, which
operates five high performing charter schools as well as the Edible School Yard program; Boys’ Town, who works with atrisk young men; and SPROUT NOLA, which will be operating the ReFresh Farm, teaching urban farming skills to the
community. BCC expects to play an active and ongoing role in developing innovative programs and tools on-site with the
goal of improving health outcomes in the surrounding communities.
The ReFresh NOLA Coalition was developed to strengthen the collaborative nature of the project, and constitutes one of
the ReFresh Project's most innovative aspects. The Coalition is a group of over 40 on- and off-site partners working to
develop collaborative programming to promote positive long-term health outcomes at the Refresh Project for the
underserved communities surrounding Broad Street and the project site. The student will work with BCC staff, Refresh
Project partners, and a variety of stakeholders to continue to develop programming involving the tenants, partners, and
other Refresh Project stakeholders in order to better provide health-related services and improve health outcomes in
the community, including the launch of a Community Health Worker program later this year.
Student Responsibilities and Activities: The ReFresh Coalition intern will work with the ReFresh NOLA
Coalition to lead the development of collaborative programming, including the Community Health Worker program, as
well as assisting in additional program development work. The programming will be designed to leverage the core
competencies and relationships of our tenants and other partners, especially in these program areas:
• Access to healthy foods
o Grocery affordability—including new incentive programs
o Reducing barriers to healthy foods beyond proximity and price
• Education
o Cooking classes
o Programming with nutritionists, dieticians, and RNs
o Meal planning and buying
o Fitness classes
• Health
o Provide programming for chronic, diet-related illnesses
o Form relationships with health providers to refer people to the project
BCC has been successful in fundraising to support some of this program, and hopes to submit this programming for
funding for implementation by the end of the summer, which—time-permitting—would be excellent additional
experience for the student.
Supervisor: The intern will report to Jeff Schwartz, Broad Community Connections Executive Director.
Transportation: A car is not required, but the intern will need to get to BCC’s office at the ReFresh Project site, 300
N. Broad Street, Suite 208.
For more information about this organization, visit The ReFresh Project - Broad Community
Connections.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans – Cooking Matters
Project Title: Cooking Matters Nutrition Educator Intern
Background on the Project: Founded in 1982, Second Harvest is leading the fight against hunger and building
food security in south Louisiana through food access, advocacy, education and disaster response. Each year, Second
Harvest feeds approximately 210,000 individuals in 23 parishes through a network of more than 474 partner agencies
and direct service programs that focus on the community’s most vulnerable citizens.
While its mission remains feeding the hungry, Second Harvest also believes in the importance of cooking and eating for
life. Cooking Matters represents a core component of Second Harvest Food Bank’s approach to solving hunger in South
Louisiana. The curriculum, which received special recognition from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for excellence in
nutrition education, is designed to appeal to a diverse range of participants: adults, parents, teens and children. The
specialized, six-session Cooking Matters curriculum is implemented by trained volunteer educators who work directly
with participants to prepare family meals, share cooking techniques, discuss food safety, learn about nutrition and
practice food budgeting, family budgeting, and financial planning. This project aims to expand the Cooking Matters
capacity with a trained nutrition educator facilitating 3 courses throughout the summer.
Student’s Responsibilities and Activities:
• Program Coordination: The intern will provide effective nutrition education programming and helping coordinate
courses
o Work with Second Harvest staff, chefs, and volunteer teams to implement 3 six-week Cooking Matters
courses acting as the lead nutrition educator.
o Complete all preparations for class including, but not limited to, assembling and transporting equipment,
materials, and grocery shopping for each course.
o Communicate with host agencies each week to maintain positive relationships with community partners.
• Volunteer Management and Training: The intern will help provide trainings and organize volunteers. The intern will
also develop an advanced training for volunteers seeking to enhance their skills as an educator, particularly as a
nutrition educator.
o Provide volunteer instructors with training and materials needed to teach courses and ensure they follow
procedures and course guidelines. Organize volunteer team meetings.
o Support and manage volunteer instructors during class, acting as class facilitator and team leader.
o Provide timely and consistent communications with volunteer teams each week.
o Create a Cooking Matters Advanced Nutrition Educator Training and organize pilot training.
• Evaluation and Reporting
o Implement pre- and post-course evaluation and complete reporting process.
o Ensure all necessary course reporting is in order in database and network resource center.
o Create impact report for each course for funders, communications, partner agencies, and internal use.
Supervisor: The intern will report to Kate McDonald, Nutrition Education Specialist, in the Programs and Services
Department led by Kimberly Krupa.
Transportation: The intern should have access to a personal vehicle. Mileage can be reimbursed at 51 cents per
mile. Office space will be provided at the Second Harvest Community Kitchen, 700 Edwards Ave., New Orleans.
For more information about this organization, visit Second Harvest Food Bank – Cooking
Matters.