Women Supporting Women Support Group Administration

DESCRIPTION: Nurses in the Kent County Health Department’s (KCHD) Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP) are working in conjunction with the Calvin University (CU) Nursing Department to lead Women Supporting Women (WSW) support groups. This internship will focus on the support/administrative tasks involved with holding these groups including: registering clients, arranging transportation, reminder, texts, and obtaining snacks for sessions. The student in this internship role will work with the KCHD MIHP Supervisor to create standard operating procedures for these tasks. Additional work would involve data projects and reports in Excel and some assisting home visitors with care coordination for MIHP clients. 

This internship will require 10 hours per week for 15 weeks. 

IMPORTANCE TO PUBLIC HEALTH: Women Supporting Women is a supportive/educational mental health group that was developed through a health equity lens in partnership with community women who identified mental health as a health challenge. The goal of the collaboration between CU and KCHD is to obtain Medicaid funding for the WSW in order to improve access to mental health for the women we serve and improve maternal and infant health outcomes for participating African American and Hispanic women. KCHD is exploring the sustainability of WSW within the MIHP program. We will gain vital information about the scope of work and time commitment required to complete the administrative functions for this program by working with the student in this internship. 

- Detailed reference material and standard operating procedures for a future Community Health Worker 

- Presentation at Student Research Day