Meghan Ames
I am a dietitian by training. As the Community Program Manager at the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion, I contribute to community based health promotion programming and education.
Location Baltimore, MD, USA
Activity
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Meghan Ames replied to Nicolette *
@Nicolette* yes, the different types of indicators can be confusing, and there's not always a perfect fit. Your objective is the goal you're working towards, and the outcomes are some of the steps that will get you there. If my goal is to promote healthier diets, my objective may be "increase self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption." If my program...
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Meghan Ames replied to Mohsen Mirza
Yes, @MohsenMirza, it *is* an iterative process. Starting with a general goal in mind is imperative, but you'll definitely need to revisit it throughout your planning and implementation process.
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Meghan Ames replied to Stef C
@StefC would this first goal always indicate success? I wonder if increased mental health referrals could also be a sign that there is more emphasis on mental health and youth are getting the services they need?
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Meghan Ames replied to Brenda Link
@BrendaLink this question is a great place to start! Consider hosting a focus group with some of your target audience to understand this.
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Meghan Ames replied to Jo Ann Taylor
Hi @JoAnnTaylor , thanks for bringing up the idea of "soft policy." We'll be discussing policies more later in the course, but this is a good reminder that PSE (policy, systems, and environments) changes can look many different ways.
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Meghan Ames replied to renee wright
Great points @reneewright ! We need to be taking a full environmental approach to addressing mental health, especially when it comes to our youth!
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Meghan Ames replied to Stef C
@StefC, this sounds like a fabulous program! I encourage you to check out DeStressMonday at Schools (https://www.mondaycampaigns.org/destress-monday/news/using-the-monday-cue-to-reduce-teacher-stress-in-baltimore-city-public-schools). There are a ton of great resources for bringing mental health into the classroom. Good luck!
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Meghan Ames replied to Jasmine F
Good point, @JasmineF. There is some evidence that others have this concern also, but the hope is that once individuals realize the benefits of their healthier choices (on Monday) they'll adopt them on other days of the week too!
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Meghan Ames replied to Pam Archer
Hi @PamArcher, glad to hear you find #MeatlessMonday to be a valuable tool!
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Welcome, everyone! We're excited to learn with you!
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Meghan Ames replied to Mfreke Asigbe
Glad to have you, Mfreke!
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Great ideas, everyone!
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Thanks to those of you who shared your sample partner letters! You've done a great job of stating the problem you plan to address and your proposed solution. Don't forget to connect your solution with the goals and mission of the partnering organization, so you can demonstrate the reason they should partner with you.
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Thanks for trying! We actually needed to take down that survey. If you didn't get a chance to complete the survey in step 1.2, though, please do!
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These sounds like a great project! You could begin your needs assessment by evaluating the current food offerings to determine opportunities for improvement.
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Thanks for sharing all your great ideas! It sounds like you're all off to a great start!
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Meghan Ames replied to Julia B
This sounds like a great project! You've already started to identify some of the perceived opportunities (cell phones) and barriers (cold weather) of your target population. What else would impact their motivation or lack thereof to walk?
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This is a great idea! Check out some of the tools and resources for Quit and Stay Quit Monday, presented in Week 4.
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Meghan Ames replied to Clare B
This is a great point. We spend a lot of time thinking about behavior change as it applies to consumers. In reality though, health professionals are human also, and these same principles and strategies can be applied to commissioners, elected officials, and policymakers alike. We'll discuss this more in Module 4!
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Meghan Ames replied to Paul Bryce
So glad to hear that! I hope the rest of the course is as impactful!
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Meghan Ames replied to Nicola Mainwaring
Yes, this happens a lot, both in public health and medicine. Beyond just recognizing that people aren't waiting to be told what to do, we should remember that often times we can learn a lot from our target population, since they know their opportunities and barriers best!
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Meghan Ames replied to Oluchukwu Udeh
Yes, great points! So much good (and not good!) can result from the spread of information and misinformation. We'll be getting more into communications and promotion later in the course!
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This sounds fantastic, Christine! Remember that folks can be at different stages of readiness to change for different behaviors. For example, you could be in the maintenance stage for eating fruits and vegetables, but might still be in the contemplation stage for smoking cessation.
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Thanks, everyone, for introducing yourselves! We have quite the mix of experience, which should make for vibrant discussion moving forward. We're excited to have you here!
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Meghan Ames replied to Pratiksha Paudel
Yes, that's a great point! The "Monday Concept" is really more of a "weekly concept" that can be applied at any point during the week, or another periodic time interval, as appropriate for your population.
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Meghan Ames replied to Pearl Oliveth S. Intia
@PearlOlivethS.Intia Check out Quit and Stay Quit Monday!
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Meghan Ames replied to Gian Erik Adao
Great to hear, Gian! We've tried to cover a great breadth of topics, and hope you will refer back to these materials as needed moving forward.
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Thank you everyone for your feedback!
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You're right - a person's motivation and ability to eat meatless meals depends on what types of food are available to them financially and environmentally. Religious and cultural expectations are also at play with many potential program participants. It's important to keep in mind what barriers our target audience may face in getting access to healthy foods...
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Good question! Although the Monday Campaigns may not be able to ensure that all students who participate in Meatless Monday at school continue with a meatless diet once they arrive home, they do strive to have buy-in from students and they equip students with knowledge about Meatless Monday (for example, using the TVs at Commack High School) that they can...
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It is a great idea to set up a booth at a location where dentists from many locations are already together for a common purpose!
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Yes, it is very important to consider who may be eligible for your program but cannot access it due to language barriers, cultural differences, and social inequalities. Try to think about how you could measure which members of your target audience are missing out on your program, and how you could adjust your promotional strategies to increase their access.
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This looks like a great plan! We're glad you're finding the Monday Mile resources useful!
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Meghan Ames replied to Dr.Will Sawyer
Good question. You're right - this is a complicated public health problem that requires the support of many stakeholders. Take some time to think about who these important stakeholders may be: Parents? Employers? Teachers? Pediatricians? Primary care providers? After you have identified these stakeholders, consider the roles that they may play in ameliorating...
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Thank you for your comments! We will be using the feedback from this course to improve our content for future courses, and we will keep this in mind for next time!
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Either social marketing model is acceptable. You can feel free to choose the strategy that you think best applies to the nature of your program.
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Yes! This would be interesting to know!
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@IanAnderson thanks for your question! The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future has done some research on this exact topic, which can be found here: https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-a-livable-future/_pdf/projects/HM/meat_menus_and_meatless_monday.pdf
They cite a study that found over half of that of those...
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It is wise to consider not only who is joining the program and who isn't, but also why eligible individuals may not be joining. Try to think about how to measure this!
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Great work so far, everyone!
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Great ideas! These would all be important to keep in mind when deciding what indicators to use, and when interpreting the results of your evaluation.
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Thanks for bringing this up, Alona. The Monday Campaigns has made quite a bit of progress in getting Meatless Monday translated and implemented globally. Visit https://www.meatlessmonday.com/the-global-movement/ for details about this global movement.
Unfortunately, DeStress Monday has not yet been translated into other languages. There is definitely a need...
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Thanks, Kyleigh. You bring up a good point about public pushback. It is possible that when trying to develop a health campaign with positive intentions, the public's response to this campaign may not be what you expect. When thinking about interventions and partnerships, it is important to keep these potential criticisms and unintended consequences in mind....
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It's a good idea to consider how these theories can be applied in different contexts and among different populations. Children and adults do tend to be motivated by different messages, and it looks like you've thought this through. Nice work!
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We're glad you found this resources valuable. It is very important to consider accessibility when trying to create effective public health programs, and the Inclusive Recreation Resource Center (the organization who provides the Inclusion U training) has many resources available on their website for assessing and prioritizing accessibility.
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Meghan Ames replied to Kyleigh Becker
I love your creative thinking!
Netflix is in the position to reach a wide audience, and their resources could certainly be used for an entertainment-education campaign if done properly. I would encourage you to expand this idea further, and to consider a few more things when developing your "ask":
1. What experience and credibility do you have in the...
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Great work so far! How can you help policymakers see the health (or financial) benefits of supporting a program like this?
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Thanks for sharing, Kathleen! This is a great example of integrating cultural values into a public health intervention for a specific community.
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Meghan Ames replied to Janet Ayebare
This is a great start, Ayebare! I would encourage you to be a bit more specific in your ask. You mention expertise and advocacy resources. What type of expertise do you need and what are you hoping to accomplish? What are your advocacy goals (we'll talk more about this in week 4)? Do you want this partner to help you strategize about advocacy goals, or connect...
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Meghan Ames replied to Nafisa Mhna Kmbo Elehamer
We're glad you find this applicable! Monday certainly holds different levels of significance for people from different jobs, lifestyles, countries, and communities. The concept of periodicity and reinforcing behavior change weekly can be used for a program that takes place whichever day of the week that works best for a target population.
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Thank you for your feedback. Some DeStress Monday resources provide information about the benefits of exercise, such as yoga, for stress reduction (and some Move It Monday resources do, too!). As of right now, the Monday Campaigns does not have a campaign specifically addressing alcohol, but the Monday concept could certainly be applied to a campaign about...
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You bring up a good point - the types of reminders and check-ins that work well for some people may actually be stressful or overwhelming to others. Depending on the results of your needs assessment, you may find that the best way to modify one of the Monday campaigns for your target population is to use fewer media reminders, or to utilize the concept of...
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Meghan Ames replied to Nicola James
Thanks for sharing, Nicola!
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Thanks for bringing this up, Jillian! Inclusivity and adaptability are both very important to consider as you develop your campaign.
DeStress Monday does have some tools and activities that can be modified depending on varying abilities of your target population, and those implementing programs can select tools that best fit their needs. For example,...
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Good managers play to your strengths and motivations.
I want to be a nurturing manager and help people grow
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Meghan Ames replied to Mark Morley
And others:
Brown FA & Chow CS. 1973. Lunar-correlated variations in water uptake by bean seeds. Bio Bull. 145:265-78.
Debry G, Bleyer R, Reinberg A. 1975. Circadian, circannual and other rhythms in spontaneous nutrient and caloric intake of healthy four-year olds. Diabete & Metabolisme. 2:91-99.
Hecht K et. al. 2002. Circaseptan aspects of self-assessed... -
Meghan Ames replied to Mark Morley
Thank you for your interest in these academic papers. Below are the full references for the studies cited on the slide - we apologize if some are not publicly available. For some resources that are publicly available, we suggest you visit the Monday Campaigns research webpage.
An R. 2016. Weekend-weekday differences in diet among U.S. adults, 2003–2012. Ann...
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Meghan Ames made a comment
We love these ideas! It's great to see that some of your workplaces already have similar campaigns.
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Meghan Ames replied to K V
Yes, you are wise to recognize that resources and cultural practices and capabilities vary greatly across the globe. A health behavior goal for some (e.g., eating a plant-based diet one day per week) may not be appropriate for others. For this reason, it is crucial that we understand the needs and challenges of our populations so we can tailor these messages...
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Meghan Ames replied to Heather F
Thank you for letting us know. The link should be working properly now.
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Meghan Ames replied to Hui Yen Lim
We agree! It's so important for community stakeholders to stay informed and involved. Thanks for your support!
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Meghan Ames replied to Supriyati Supriyati
It's true that health promotion is contextual, and it is wise to consider how to tailor the ideas behind the Monday campaigns to the needs of your target audience. If your needs assessment shows that a Friday campaign would work better for your faculty and staff than a campaign on Monday, it is certainly possible to create a program to promote physical...
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Meghan Ames replied to Jillian Duquaine-Watson
You raise some great points, Jillian. The social ecological model is certainly not perfect, but does provide one helpful perspective. The "bottom-up" or "downstream" approach you're describing certainly has crucial applications. Formative work to better understand the needs at the local level is a key component of this. The DeStress Monday team describes some...
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Meghan Ames replied to Tim Doyle
Great points, Grace! Accountability is an important component that is really facilitated by community support and buy-in. The Monday Campaign alone cannot create accountability, but if the community is actively participating, this will evolve naturally.
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Large open house to show case our new office space.
Success was met because people came, enjoyed themselves, and learned about our work. We had a few follow-up meetings and collaborations that came from the event.
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Meghan Ames made a comment
Hello! I am from Baltimore, Maryland, and work at the Johns Hopkins University.
