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Health Policy and Management Students Deliver Strategic Plans to Address Real-World Communications Challenges
An advanced workshop in the Department of Health Policy and Management has recently received accolades from inside and outside the Mailman School community. Offered in the fall, Consultant Workshop provides second-year Master’s in Public Health candidates in the Department with the opportunity to gain experience working on real-world challenges as a team of consultants.
The accolades are a testament to the curriculum, focused on developing students’ ability to develop a formal situation analysis, strategic alternatives to solve a client’s problem, and a full implementation plan, all while working as a team – and then to present their recommendations to the client. Consultant Workshop is the second of two Health Policy and Management courses that teach students how to create successful strategies to bring about positive change. The first course, Strategic Communications in Health Policy and Management, is offered in the spring and provides a valuable foundation for the workshop.
Both courses are taught by Alan P. Levenstein, senior lecturer in the Department of Health Policy and Management. After retiring as vice chairman and chief strategy officer of Bozell Worldwide ten years ago, Mr. Levenstein dedicated his life to public service and education. Students benefit from his ability to translate his 30 years experience in the advertising industry and as an award-winning author, book critic, and playwright into engaging and practical curriculum.
In the Consultant Workshop, Mr. Levenstein provides students with the tools and knowledge to be successful consultants. From the first class onward, students divide into two groups to serve on consultant teams. Responding to formal proposals from organizations operating in the field of healthcare, teams think through a specific business problem identified by the client from its definition to its tactical solutions, before presenting a recommended strategy. This entails acquiring a deep familiarity with the organization, its operating environment, and the specific issues at hand as a prerequisite for arriving at a solution or set of solutions to its problem.
Explained Mr. Levenstein, “The problems outlined by clients are varied, ranging from organizational issues, to questions of policy and practice, to strategic and communications issues. A good deal of secondary source research is required if students are to come up first with a rigorous definition of the problem and its larger context, then an understanding of the potential opportunities, and finally a plan for a solution or solutions.”
Last semester, students worked for Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC) and the New York Business Group on Health (NYBGH). Responding to proposals sent by each organization, the PPNYC team developed a plan for outreach to and communication with inner-city teens, while the NYBGH team focused on increasing depression screening by primary care physicians as part of the annual physical.
Said Ian Lapp, PhD, associate dean for Academic Affairs and Education at the Mailman School, “This approach provides a wonderful model for a team- or client-based practicum – the enhanced learning experience is high-impact for both the students and the organization involved.”
Led by Erin Miller, MPH candidate, members of the PPNYC team developed a comprehensive analysis of the ways in which teens discuss and receive information about family planning and sexually transmitted infections. After understanding teen behavior, the team identified communications channels and media instruments for PPNYC to effectively reach urban youth.
Recommendations from the PPNYC team’s report included an integrated approach rooted in a teen-focused, New York City-oriented website.
Ms. Miller explained that the team suggested incorporating technology, ambush marketing, targeted programming, and community-based organizations because their extensive research indicated that youth, and especially New York City youth, use text and other messaging systems and new media technologies at a very high rate.
Said Ms. Miller, “Communications is involved in everything. Professor Levenstein’s course helped us develop the skills necessary to inform decision-makers about issues relating to public health. Presenting our findings was an invaluable opportunity to practice tailoring the message to fit the needs of various stakeholders. We responded to body language and questions in a fluid manner that enhanced our presentation and gave depth to our recommendations.”
Responding to the quality of the report presented by the PPNYC team, Roger Rathman, associate vice president of Communications for Planned Parenthood of New York City remarked, “On behalf of all of us here at Planned Parenthood of New York City, we send along our heartfelt thanks and congratulations to the Mailman School ‘Teen Outreach’ Project Team for a job well-done. The Team made an important and lasting contribution to the mission of Planned Parenthood of New York City.”
The NYBGH team had a similar experience. Led by Akiva Zablocki, MPH ’08, the team set out to create a new approach to encourage primary care physicians to screen for and diagnose depression. They worked closely with NYBGH’s Mental Health Care Task Force and Laurel Pickering, executive director of NYBGH, throughout the semester.
For the final presentation, the Mailman School student team recommended an integrated campaign. In a formal report, the team outlined their suggestions – comprised of direct and indirect methods – to provide incentives for and knowledge about depression screening. They stressed the need for strategically implementing all of these initiatives together and noted several useful tactics, including getting buy-in from key opinion leaders, such as employers, health plans, advocacy groups, and regulatory agencies. In addition, one direct communication tactic, which was most strongly responded to by the NYBGH audience, was a flash drive to be distributed to targeted primary care physicians. On the flash drive was a video, a link to a searchable database with information on mental health providers, information about reimbursement for providers, and much more. The final product was so well received that the Task Force invited the student team to present their findings and recommendation to their board.
“The benefits of the experience were numerous,” explained Mr. Zablocki. “I highly recommend Consultant Workshop. It was the most challenging and the most rewarding course of the semester. When interviewing for positions after graduating, I discussed the course with potential employers. Having the unique experience of working with an organization in a professional capacity on something tangible was a great asset. The experience will enable me to hit the ground running when I become a professional consultant next month.”
To view the full report presented to Planned Parenthood of New York City, visit
http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/news/e-newsletter/AtTheFrontline-vol4no1/Pdf/PPNYC_consultantworkshop.pdf.
To view the full report presented to the New York Business Group on Health, visit http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/news/e-newsletter/AtTheFrontline-vol4no1/Pdf/NYBGH_consultantworkshop.pdf.
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