Annual Report 2002-2003
Health Education
Coming together to benefit our community
Becky Beacom, manager of health education at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), and Christine Shambora, PTA council president, first met in 1996. Christine approached PAMF about underwriting a lecture by Mary Pipher, Ph.D., author of Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. PAMF not only co-sponsored the event, but also conducted focus groups and sponsored a series of workshops.
Since that first collaboration, PAMF has continued to work closely with Palo Alto schools, parents and community organizations on special events and long-term projects that benefit youth. "Rather than work with individuals, we felt we could be most effective by supporting the three environments that have the greatest influence on the well-being of young people: their families, their schools and their community," said Becky.
Several times each year, PAMF co-sponsors Parent Education Lectures accompanied by morning workshops that bring health professionals, parents, educators and researchers together. In April 2003, Rosalind Wiseman, best-selling author of Queen Bees and Wannabes, spoke about the "secret world" of girls' friendships. The morning of the event, more than 100 professionals attended a workshop to talk about issues such as peer pressure, cliques and bullying.
"It's easy to think of Palo Alto as a community that is not 'needy' because everything looks so good on the surface," said Becky. "But there is growing evidence of anxiety and depression in many young people. As a major health care provider in this area, PAMF has a responsibility to ensure the health of all members of the community – school children included." In summer 2002, PAMF joined a collaboration to reduce drug and alcohol use by teenagers in Palo Alto schools.
Among its numerous community partnerships, PAMF has served with other agencies on the steering committee for the Youth Master Plan (YMP), a process to improve delivery of programs and services to Palo Alto youth and their families. After three years of study, the YMP was published in March 2003 and implementation is underway. "Instead of having overlapping programs with redundant goals, we want to build community and reach our health-related goals by working together," said Becky.
"What I love about this collaboration with the medical foundation is that we're really seeing ourselves as a whole community," said Christine. "We all care, and we can all make a contribution."
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"When you work with young people, you realize how incredibly beautiful they are. We are mirrors for our children, and we need to reflect back to them how healthy and vibrant they are. Teenagers need to hear how well they're doing, not how many problems they have. They need to believe in themselves. I want our community to celebrate young people."