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Introductions

My name is Mary Wolf, and I am a senior in the Public Health Program here at UMD. I am currently involved in an Arts in Health Program, and am extremely excited to make a difference here in the Midwest. My biggest goal this semester is becoming more educated in developing health campaigns, becoming more involved in the health programs on campus, and educating myself on what health organizations I will work for after graduation. Cheers to new experiences this year!

Hello, my name is Ani Mehnert and I am a senior studying public health here at UMD. This semester I have worked alongside Mary on Dr. Tornabene's arts in health project. I have gained great experience in research, working with a team, and overall gained insight on the types of work I can do after graduating. I am excited to see where the next few years take me and how I can apply the skills I have learned throughout this internship.

Abstract

The purpose of our research is to identify the arts in health agencies throughout the Midwest. This research will hopefully help assist those arts in health agencies to receive more funding where there are gaps in programming. It will also help to benchmark their achievements on a systematic platform and create more visibility for the growing field. Our research is based off of a study conducted by the Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida, which entails conducting a systematic search to identify, verify, survey, and map organizations, components therein (e.g., departments, units, programs), or partnerships that use the arts to promote health in community or healthcare settings. By replicating and modifying the UF's research study to best fit the arts in health programs found within the Midwest, the hope is to create the groundwork for eventually mapping all 50 states. The final step of this research is to map the collected data. This will be done using the ArcGIS StoryMaps platform accessible through the University of Minnesota. This is the final step in research and has not been started yet.

TOP 5 GOALS WITH THIS RESEARCH INTERNSHIP

1. Identify arts in health agencies within the Midwest.

2. Develop templates, protocol, and training instructions in order to systematically map arts in health agencies in all 50 states.

3. Network within the fields of public health and arts in health.

4. Effectively use Qualtrics for survey design, data and analysis.

5. Develop teamwork and group-building skills among the research team.

TEMPLATES, EMAILS, AND KEYWORD SEARCH

TEMPLATES

During the research process, a folder with all used document templates was created by the UMD research team to help assist the next arts in health research project. These templates serve as a guideline for how to organize and process information. These are meant to be treated as working documents, meaning modifications and edits to the templates during the research process are allowed and encouraged if the edits are helpful.

EMAILS

The process of emailing agencies takes place in part one of the research; a systematic search of arts in health programs. This method of systematic search was the idea of Dr. Tornabene, the head of the UMD’s arts in health in Minnesota research team. The purpose of contacting agencies directly during the systematic search is to help identify more arts in health agencies through word of mouth. Another benefit of this method is to give the researchers a rough idea of when most of the agencies from a state have been documented. Once most if not all of the new recommendations have already been recommended previously, it’s likely that most arts in health agencies have been recorded.

KEYWORD SEARCH

The purpose of the keyword web search is to aid in generating a database of arts in health programs. The keyword web search combines various arts terms with health terms. This search is further refined by the location in which the arts in health mapping research is taking place (e.g. arts in health in Minnesota). A google sheets formula is utilized to generate all possible combinations of the “arts” and “health” terms. The arts terms used in the search (arts, creative arts, music, theatre, dance, writing, visual art, creativity, exhibits, gallery, artist, artists in residence, art program, performance, performing arts and community arts) came from Sonke, Helgemo, and Pesetas’ (2019) arts in health mapping project they conducted in Florida.

The health terms used in the keyword search included two from the Florida mapping project (wellness, and community health) as well as thirteen terms (health promotion, health education, public health, wellbeing, health educators, public health educators, certified health education specialist, health coaches, advocacy, communication, interventions, health programs, and chronic diseases) generated by the University of Minnesota Duluth arts in health mapping research team.

QUALTRICS

What is it and what did we learn?

Qualtrics is an online website that allows users to create surveys to analyze their data and easily share their findings through the web or to their contacts if needed. Some key features while using this survey system include enhancing the look and feel of the survey, anonymous linking and contact list distribution, evaluation tools regarding survey elements to manage responses, and basic reporting to analyze data. To get familiar with Qualtrics website, click here. Using Qualtrics has helped us distribute, analyze, and organize survey data that we sent out to arts in health organizations.

CEHSP Research and Scholarship Showcase Presentation

On April 20th, we will be presenting on our Midwest Mapping Project expressing what the goal, methodology, and overall importance is of what we are researching in regards to the arts in health industry.

Our Poster

Meet the Presenters

Mary Wolf '21

Hello! I'm Mary Wolf, a senior here at UMD studying public health and promotion. I am passionate about public health because I've always wanted to help people in my community, but I never knew how. Now that I am studying to be a public health educator, I learned that there are several health topics to educate to provide my community with useful information to improve their wellbeing. In my free time, I enjoy hanging with friends along with exploring city parks in the Twin Cities or in Duluth.

Reflection

Over the course of the semester during my internship with Dr. Tornabene alongside with Ani, I have learned many things that will prove helpful in my future healthcare career. I have learned how to effectively use Qualtrics regarding analyzing survey data, collaborate in group settings, and most importantly be a team player throughout this project. This was my first experience being involved in a research project, and I hope to continue to be involved after graduation.

Ani Mehnert '22

Hi! My name is Ani Mehnert and I am a senior here at UMD. I have always been passionate about helping others, but never knew how I could do so as a career. Finding the public health program after spending time in other majors felt like a match made in heaven. I am excited to graduate next year with a degree that will allow me to pursue improving the wellbeing of others. I also enjoy spending my free time exploring the outdoors and laughing with my friends and family.

Reflection

This internship with Dr. Tornabene has taught me many things that will be beneficial to me in my future career. I have gained skills in conducting research, collecting and analyzing data using Qualtrics, and writing professional documents. Most importantly, I gained experience working with a team and learned how to be an effective team player. This was my first time working on a project like this and I am proud to have been a part of it. I am grateful for the experience I have gained and the impact we are making.