Transcript What is VENA? - Texas Department of State Health Services

Bringing It All Together:
What is VENA and How does
It Affect You?
Bridget Swinney MS, RD
[email protected]
www.healthyfoodzone.com
Who am I?
High Risk RD at Project 28 in El Paso
Consultant specializing in health
communications
Author: Eating Expectantly, Healthy Food for
Healthy Kids and Baby Bites
Blogger: www.babybitesbook.blogspot.com
What Else??!! Experience as chief clinical
dietitian, diabetes educator, group weight
loss facilitator, WIC Program Manager
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Objectives:
Describe How VENA Changes the
Way WIC Works
Describe why Rapport Building is
so important
Describe how to break down and
deal with communication barriers
Tell why you are important to
VENA!
Let’s Discuss the Kentucky WIC Video
 How did the video make you feel?
What kind of feelings/emotions did the
WIC participants feel towards the WIC
staff? Why?
What kind of feeling/emotions did the
WIC staff feel towards the WIC
participants? Why?
IN YOUR OPINION…
What is VENA?
VENA Guiding Principle
“Strengthen and re-align the
primary purpose of WIC
nutrition assessment from
determining eligibility to
personalizing nutrition
services in order to maximize
WIC’s impact.”
Is Diet Assessment Still Important?
YES! But it will be done in a different way for
a different purpose
Instead of asking what and how much to
determine deficiencies…We will ask
questions about typical diet, appetite,
cultural beliefs, beliefs about feeding
children, meal times, favorite foods, activity,
environment, etc.—things that help us look
at the overall picture of health
To get more answers, we need to use more
rapport building!
HOW WILL VENA CHANGE
THE WAY WIC WORKS?
Staff will:
Talk less and listen
more
Offer advice that is
tailored to
participant’s needs
Feel greater
satisfaction with
participant
encounters
What is Your Role
in VENA?
How Does VENA affect YOU?!
You set the tone for Rapport
Building
You are the First and Last
Impression
From the first phone call to the
last goodbye, you are the voice
of WIC
Other Effects of VENA
No more diet history!
Different Risk Codes
Changes for counseling staff could
create stress for you
Over time, VENA will produce a
happier, more effective work
environment
What Will VENA do for Participants?
Participants will:
 Set their own

health goals
Receive
information and
services related
to their individual
needs &
concerns
WIC Participants will Also:
Feel less
defensive and
more positive
about their WIC
experience
Be more likely
to make diet and
health changes
What are Health Outcomes?
Health goals for all categories of
WIC participants
Health outcomes look at the “big
picture” of a participant’s health
We are concerned with more than
a participant’s diet, although it’s
still important
Example: Desired Health Outcomes
for Children 1-5 years
Achieve optimal growth &
development in a nurturing
environment
and
begin to acquire dietary & lifestyle
habits associated with a
lifetime of good health.
The Bottom Line…
VENA Empowers the WIC
participant to make
changes to improve their
health and the health of
their children
What is Rapport?
Defined as “relationship between
people--especially one of mutual
understanding or trust.”
What
comes to
mind when
you think
“Rapport
Building?”
Building Rapport is…
Making a connection
Bonding
Being in touch
Relating to
Listening
Talking
Understanding
Why is Rapport Building Important?
One of the VENA
Essential Competency
Areas
Because it works!
Let’s Do Some Rapport Building!
1. Find someone you have never
met.
2. Visit for 3-4 minutes and find 2
things you have in common.
3. The pair who has found the
most unusual thing in
common wins!
Barriers that Get in the Way of
Communication…
Ever Run into a
Wall?
What are the Biggest Communication
Barriers in your Clinic?
Language
Cultural
Environmental
Physical
Appearance/Dress
Socio-Economic Status
Generational/Situational Poverty
Can We Remove All These Barriers…or
Just Learn to Deal with Them?
Physical: Desks, windows, counters,
crowded areas, uncomfortable
temperatures
Noise distractions: kids, phones,
co-workers
Smells…
Others? Stress, number of people
waiting to see you, personal problems
Overcoming Appearances
How Different Are We, Really?
Communicating Across Cultures
How Accurate are
Your Cultural
Assumptions?
Guidelines for Effective
Communication across Cultures
 Understand your own cultural values and
biases.
 Be respectful of, interested in, and
understanding of other cultures without being
judgmental.
 Acquire basic knowledge of cultural values of
the client groups you routinely serve.
 Realize that other cultures use different
communication rules especially body
language—eye contact, touch, etc.
 Do not assume everyone is alike or that
people from “similar cultures”—who may
look the same or speak the same language
have similar communication rules
Communicating with Non-English
Speakers- Handout 2.8
When You’re the Interpreter…
See Handout 2.9:
Tips for Working as an
Interpreter
Nonverbal Communication
Techniques
Exhibited by staff and participants
What are they?
How can they help communication?
How can they hurt communication?
A Gesture Can Say ALOT—
Watch What You Do!
Handout 3.1: Nonverbal Communication/Body
Language
On Your Own: Handout 2.7: Communicating
with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
“Must Do’s” for Rapport
Building
1. Create a positive, respectful
environment that is not judgmental
2. Remove communication barriers if
possible
3. Be careful of nonverbal
communication
4. Be a good listener!
Tools for Better Communication
1. Become a good
listener
2. Validate the
participants feelings
Becoming a Better Listener
Practice “active” or “reflective”
listening
Repeat back what the participant has told you
This shows you are listening and helps
confirm what she said
Observe body language—does it match
what the person is saying?
Show appropriate body language that
shows you’re interested
Validate the Participant’s Feelings
Validate: “Telling that their feelings
are OK and have been expressed by
others”
Shows acceptance
Establishes rapport, builds trust and
will help the participant “engage” in
conversation
Builds client confidence
Avoids a defensive reaction
Sample Validations
 I hear you!
 That can feel scary…
 Many moms feel the same way…
 Some of our other clients have said the same thing.
 I can see how that would concern you
 Your feelings are completely normal (…expected,
typical, OK)
 I know how that feels…
 I know it’s hard to…
 That’s a tough situation…
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Meet Fran…
While filling out
paperwork she tells
you her power was
recently cut off.
How will you react?
Meet “I Didn’t Know!” Nelly
Mom thought she
was coming to class
and didn’t bring
child.
Says she didn’t
know.
She’s also pregnant.
What can you do to
build rapport in this
sticky situation?
Meet Molly…
Molly tells you she
miscarried.
How would you
build rapport in this
sensitive situation?
Meet Abby…
Abby confides to you that she is being
abused—what will you do?
Make a GREAT Last Impression
Confirm that the participant got the
referrals they needed
Confirm that there is nothing else you
can do to help them
Pass on useful information
If you don’t have a family doctor yet, the clinic
in our building is great!
Bus # 41 comes here directly from downtown
YOU
CAN MAKE A
HUGE
DIFFERENCE
WITH
VENA.
YOUR CLIENTS WILL
THANK YOU FOR IT!