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National Asian Pacific Center of Aging (NAPCA): Addressing Barriers to Reporting Anti-Asian American Hate Crimes

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National Asian Pacific Center of Aging (NAPCA): Addressing Barriers to Reporting Anti-Asian American Hate Crimes

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Location: International District, Seattle, WA

Team: Karli Moore, Madoka Kumamaru, Qianyan Zheng

What we did: We created a PSA and viral video for the NAPCA organization to address the barriers of reporting anti-Asian American hate crimes. Our group included evidence regarding underreporting hate crimes, which has become especially relevant over the past two years. We also addressed the 'next steps' to encourage and promote NAPCA as a safe place for not only reporting, but also a place to seek resources and assistance. With the increasing distrust in law enforcement and the deep rooted systemic racism in justice proceedings, finding resources and assistance becomes increasingly important. Our group’s PSA appeals to a broad age range, is easy to follow, and is concise. Our viral video is created through TikTok to reach the most widespread audience as quickly as possible, particularly targeting the younger audience and encouraging them to report anti-Asian American hate crimes and spread the word about reporting to senior Asian Americans in their community, as TikTok is an up and coming platform which only requires a brief amount of time to engage and promote NAPCA's resources and helpline.

Public health impact: In addressing barriers to reporting anti-Asian American hate crimes, we hope to improve the use of the helpline as well as the online reporting system. Spreading the awareness of NAPCA through providing solutions that address these barriers to reporting, allowing for increased usage of the helpline, safe reporting, and potentially increased funding to provide programs to the diverse communities they serve. Additionally, with increased reporting, we hope to potentially draw the attention of related legislation and research on anti-AAPI hate crimes. As the “Helpline received over 3,100 calls from 10+ states” between March to December of last year, there is evidence that it is proving to be a resource and should be further advertised.

What we learned: Through creating a PSA and viral video as well as working with NAPCA, we learned not only about the issue of reporting anti-Asian American hate crimes in the US, but also about the community we serve. In the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the spike in hate rhetoric and hate crimes against the Asian American community, and — even as movements like Stop Asian Hate have become more prominent — the issue remains. We thought learning about this issue, and the ways in which significant barriers exist to addressing these issues, has helped us to better acknowledge and address these equity and social justice issues through an intervention like a PSA or a viral video.

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District: Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District: Oral History Project

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Name: Kendal Bishop
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: For my capstone project, I had the privilege of conducting an oral history interview with Mayor Linda Redmon about her experiences on the Board of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Snohomish County. To prepare for interview, I practiced interviewing friends and family in order to calm my nerves, learn how to better ask questions, and improve my active listening skills. I made sure to contact Mayor Redmon ahead of time to introduce myself and thank her for her willingness to be a part of this project. We interviewed for an hour and a half, beginning with introductions and some background and slowly moving into questions about her personal experiences during the pandemic as well as the response of the county. Mayor Redmon graciously opened up about her initial fear as well as feelings of responsibility, commitment to the community, and hopes for the future. Following the interview, I spent many hours cleaning up transcript, identifying key quotes and lessons learned, organizing the information to present to our partners, and reflecting on all that I had learned.

Public Health Impact: I hope people will flock to the Wing Luke Museum to read through this exhibit for decades to come. It is an extremely important archive in that it allows future generations to hear first hand about one of the most major events in our lifetime, reflect on the trauma and significance of its impact, and hopefully learn how to better respond to future pandemics. Identifying just three important quotes from each of these interviews only scratches the surface of what can be captured and learned from these first responders. My interview with Linda opened my eyes even further to the importance of communication, equity, community, and kindness in the face of a disaster. I hope everybody that visits this exhibit gets to hear her story.

What I Learned: Along with learning and developing the hard and soft skills that are important in conducting an oral history, I think I learned the most from my interviewee. I want to highlight one of the last quotes I heard from Mayor Redmon before our interview ended,

"Just take care of each other. That's what we're meant to do. It's not. . .it doesn't cost you – take care of each other and try. . .just try to do your best"

This is what our interview ended on and I think it really embodies what it was like to talk to Linda. You could just hear it in her voice how much she cares. When it comes to a pandemic (or any other disaster) the most important thing we can do is help each other and care for one another. Kindness is an important part of healing. This is what I learned and I hope what others learned as well. I am so glad that myself and my peers had the opportunity to uplift the voices of each of these first responders, and I hope future generations have the honor of learning from their insights as well.

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Oral History Presentation with Scott Dorsey

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District: Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District: Oral History Project

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Name: Sarah Yamaguchi
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did:

For this capstone project, our section conducted interviews to collect the oral histories of first responders who were involved with addressing the initial response of COVID-19 in Washington State as well as the United States. The interviews addressed the initial moments of the COVID response, as well as the ongoing efforts over the past two years. I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott Dorsey, who oversaw EMS and was Chief of Planning for Snohomish Regional Fire and rescue during the pandemic. To prepare for the interview, I practiced my interview skills with roommates and friends and polished my active listening skills as well. In preparation, I also reviewed the questions many times, highlighting ones that I wanted to ask in particular. Throughout the process, I also worked to keep professional open communication between me and Scott about the interview process. I asked questions such as his experiences during the initial response, the initial feelings he had and how that changed, moments of when he was proud, areas where he felt there could have been improved, and what key lessons are to be learned from this past two years, to name a few. Following the interview, I cleaned the interview transcript, identified key quotes, organized what I learned to present to my colleagues, and reflected on what I had learned.

Public Health Impact:

Oral histories are extremely important to public health. When we look back at major life events, many focus on the statistics, whether that be the lives lost or areas affected. Preserving oral histories humanizes these events, and allows one to get an understanding of how it was experienced. Historical preservation, especially of a pandemic not only allows viewers to understand events better, but it can inform the public on what to do or what not to do. It can give a foundation and provide critical information for future generations. This will not be the last pandemic, and preserving these oral histories can not only provide a sense of hope and community, but it can also guide future public health decisions.

What I learned:

I learned so much talking to Scott, and from this capstone experience as a whole. I am left with deep appreciation and gratitude towards our incredible first responders, who did the absolute most for our community. There were so many different things happening behind the scenes that many people are not aware of, and I hope that these oral histories can shed light on even a fraction of what these first responders did. Through the class, I learned how to conduct an interview, transcribe oral histories, and strengthened my communication and listening skills. From my interview with Scott, my biggest takeaway was that as we face hardships, we don’t need all the answers right away. We are constantly learning, and we can get through each day by looking at the day before, and building off that. Scott called this the “iterative process”, and he emphasized the necessity for grace in this process as well, for ourselves and others. His story and insights will continue to stick with me s I reflect on the ups and downs during the pandemic and look to the future as well.

My favorite quotes:
Regarding collaborative response:

You know, where there was a lot of collaboration right from the get-go between not only us, you know, it was in our jurisdiction but we used another jurisdictions personnel to do the transport because they're the ones that had the equipment. So that's a testimony of how well our county works together. Doesn't matter where it's at, we all partner together and it doesn't–there's no borders per se. We all work collaboratively in that fashion.

Addressing mental health:
“ I think awareness. I think willingness to talk more about it. Bringing it more to the forefront and helping people recognize signs and symptoms, where they may be struggling from a mental health perspective, and then I think leadership recognizing mental health as an issue, and you know, taking that into account when it comes to you know planning.”

The iterative process for response:
“You don't have to have all the answers right out of the gate, really, no matter what you face. You know enough to get by today and then… it’s kind of that iterative process right. And to take what you know today to survive and kind of take in the information to learn more about what you need tomorrow and that's really what you have to rely on. And some of that is on you to do on your own, and some of that is you know relying on those around you like your first responders to prepare themselves also right. So we all have responsibility in it, but we're all learning together and…to show a little bit of grace along the way, I think, is an important element.”

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District: Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District: Oral History Project

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Name: Mia Serdone

What I did:
For my capstone project, I conducted an oral history project which involved interviewing the first responders to the COVID-19 pandemic in Snohomish County. I had the pleasure of interviewing Stephanie Wright, who was the Board of Health Chair for the Snohomish Health District. We talked about what was going on behind the scenes of the first cases and deaths of COVID-19 in Washington, and the work that she had done for our community to navigate the pandemic. I created a mini presentation and presented it to my peers highlighting this interview.

Public Health Impact:
This project helped capture the type of work first responders did at the beginning of the pandemic. This oral history project will be preserved at the Wing Luke Museum for many generations to look back on, something that is important for us to retain lessons learned from each pandemic we've had in the past.

What I learned:
Most importantly, this project showed me the importance of taking the time to slow down and reflect upon what we've done so far. As graduating students and professionals, I believe life may seem like it's on the fast track. I learned that it's so so important to allow ourselves to slow down and have a raw and meaningful reflection. Having this interview with Stephanie Wright was such a privilege, I hope she was also able to realize this lesson I have learned about allowing ourselves a moment of reprieve.

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District: Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District: Oral History Project

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Name: Allen Bickham

Location: Seattle, WA

Capstone Site: Section AC: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I Did: This capstone included an oral history interview with a public health official who was one of the initial responders to the COVID-19 pandemic in Snohomish County. Tyler Verda, the Program Planner for Snohomish County Human Services, graciously agreed to an interview. I made sure to contact Tyler ahead of time and have everything set and arranged before conducting the interview. The interview lasted an hour, and I asked many questions on work, self-care, family/friends, and community support. Following the interview, I ensured that the automatic transcript was edited by re-listening to the interview and making necessary corrections. After compiling all of the material from my interview, I was able to give a three-minute presentation to the class on Tyler's story and what I learned from the experience.

What I learned: Throughout the process of conducting an interview, I learned a lot, but more importantly, I acquired crucial knowledge from my interviewee Tyler. During our interview, he mentioned that he had been reading leadership books, and those books conveyed the notion of being able to analyze a scenario, take note of what one can do in a difficult circumstance, and then make the best decision depending on the situation. This, in my opinion, is a crucial skill for anyone to learn. I also learned more about the work that the SHD was able to do during an extraordinarily difficult period, and I have the utmost respect for everyone who worked tirelessly to guarantee the safety of Snohomish County residents.

Public Health Impact: I have a strong feeling that these Oral History interviews will be extremely useful in preparing for future pandemics. Not that we want another pandemic, but the significance of these interviews is that they will show the Public Health community how difficult these times have been, allowing officials to analyze the situation and develop methods to respond better to emergencies. Lastly, Tyler mentioned in our interview that the United States has to do a better job of informing the public about what we know and don't know about a disease or any other issue so that we aren't throwing around wild speculations that cause the people to panic. I wholeheartedly agree with this, and I hope that our country improves its communication with the public and I hope to be a part of that change in the near future.

Quotes that stood out to me:

“You know, I have…I've read different books on leadership and how to respond in situations like that, and one thing that always stuck with me is that you need to have the ability to like…when you're in a situation like to step back and kind of detach, take an assessment of what's going on and then prioritize what your next steps are going to be and then execute, and so it was an opportunity to kind of put all that stuff into play and that..you know, I got I played sports growing up and it's easy to say that kind of stuff but It takes like practice and reminding yourself over and over” (00:15:36.990 --> 00:15:38.040)

“Personally for me, it was a big year…couple of years, I got married and we had our first kid, me and my wife and so that was tough having a newborn and you know you want to have all your family and friends over or be there at the hospital and after you want to take the kid around and show everybody, but you can’t, so that was tough” (00:35:18.240 --> 00:35:24.360)

“...I think, and I hope that when we respond to future events like this, that we would do a better job of explaining to the public, you know what we do know and what we don't know...and I think we need to do a better job of saying, with what we know at this time, this is what we think is the best response and why, but you know, there are some unknowns, and this is like what we think is best at this time..." (00:39:45.210 -->00:40:52.260)

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District Oral History Project

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Name: Hannah De Jaen
Location: Seattle, Washington
Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District

What I did: For my capstone project, my quiz section conducted oral histories with the first responders to the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington State. I conducted an oral history interview with the Chief Medical Officer of Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, Dr. Jay Cook. The first case of COVID-19 in Washington State was diagnosed under the care of Dr. Cook, and he was there during some of the most integral beginning moments of the pandemic. During the interview I practiced active listening skills and asked questions that I felt were relevant and interesting about how the United States has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Cook works mostly in hospital administration nowadays, but previously worked as a surgeon for nearly 25 years prior. During the pandemic, he worked to keep the hospital operating at an optimal level, even when they were constantly running out of hospital beds, medical equipment, and PPE. One major takeaway that I have from my interview is the importance of teamwork and a collective mindset. In order to get through this, we need to come together as a community. Dr. Cook stated that he had lots of faith in our governing/public health entities to pull our nation together during a time of such divide, however, he feels that that faith may have been displaced. During the interview, I asked a mix of background and COVID-19 related questions in order to gain a holistic understanding of how the pandemic had affected him personally, his team at the hospital, and what implications it had had on the hospital/health care system as a whole. After the interview, I spent time carefully editing and fixing the transcript, and found a plethora of pull quotes. There were so many important and interesting points from this interview, it was so hard to narrow it down to just 3 in the end. Overall, some topics we discusses were the importance of resilience, communication, teamwork, self-care, and family during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public Health Impact: I think that this project has many significant public health impacts, but I would like to highlight how it will allow future public health practitioners, such as myself, reflect upon this time and see how to handle situations similar to this one. I took a class regarding disease outbreak and detection my freshman year, and was startled to learn that we would most likely live through multiple pandemics in our lifetime. I remember thinking to myself, wow that is crazy to think about, but I am sure it won't actually happen to me. Reflecting on what I have learned from that class and in other public health related classes, being able to learn from our past actions can help us figure out what changes or improvements need to be made. During our interview, I asked Dr. Cook what he wanted people to remember about the COVID-19 pandemic in 100 years. His response was: "I hope that in 100 years, history will show that reason and truth prevailed." We talked about the ideas of misinformation, and the deliberate spread of false information. We both hope that when we remember the pandemic, through methods such as oral histories, we also remember all of the hard work that health care professionals did during this time. We want to remember the sacrifices that they made and the lives that they saved. All in all, one of the public health impacts of this project is that being able to remember how things went during this pandemic will be relevant to our future actions, and hopefully will allow us to mitigate the spread of deadly diseases like COVID-19 in the future. I think also, we tend to focus a lot on the scientific/numbers aspect of the pandemic, and conducting oral histories allows us to feel connected to humanity by seeing how the pandemic has affected other people. I think that these interviews will be able to bring people together by creating a sense of community and mutual understanding of the struggles they faced during these really difficult times.

What I learned: I have learned so much from this project. I have never conducted an oral history interview before, but it was a really enriching and exciting experience for me. I really feel like I have made a small change in the world, and am so grateful for the opportunity to be a caveat for these first responders to the COVID-19 pandemic to share their stories, perspectives, and opinions. I have learned so much about how to prepare for an interview and how to clean a transcript. I think that both of these aspects will be beneficial to me in the future when I work in the public health field. I learned a lot of the "inside scoop" from Dr. Jay Cook, and I feel so grateful to him and everyone else who participated in this project for sharing their experiences and knowledge to our class of future public health practitioners.

A funny quote: When I asked Dr. Cook "If there was something you could have told yourself at the beginning of the pandemic that you know now, what would that be?", he nearly immediately responded "Runaway!" and started laughing. We laughed together for a bit, and I think that that humanized the pandemic for me in a way. We all wish that we could runaway from the pandemic and its effects, but ultimately being reflective about our experiences along with other factors will help us continue to push through. I just wanted to say one last thank you to everyone who made this project possible, it has easily been one of the most rewarding experiences of my college career.

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District: Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District: Oral History Project

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What I did:

At my capstone site, we had the opportunity to conduct oral histories of first responders to COVID-19. These oral histories will be preserved by the Washington State Historical Society. The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States was in Snohomish County and my peers and I interviewed first responders in the Snohomish Health District. These oral histories allow us to document the challenges and experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic through the eyes of the first responders. I had the honor to interview Ragina Gray who is the Environmental Health Director at Snohomish Health District. Ragina’s situation was unique because she started her new position at the start of the pandemic on top of being a part of the COVID-19 response. She shared her experience getting comfortable in her new role while juggling her new responsibilities in the Incident Command System (ICS)—a standardized system used to manage emergencies. Ragina shared the impact COVID-19 has had on her personal life, affecting her relationship with her family and friends. She ended the interview by sharing a few lessons she learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. After I conducted the 1.5-hour interview on zoom, I cleaned up the transcript of the interview, wrote an abstract, and picked out a few of my favorite quotes to highlight.

Public Health Impact:

After completing this project, I learned how important oral histories are for public health. Documenting the experiences of first responders helps us to be better prepared for the next public health emergency and like Ragina says, “I don’t think this will be our last pandemic. I think we would be fooling ourselves if we didn't make this a regular preparatory process where we have drills when we start seeing pandemics and when we start seeing cases go out of control of something--like here's the steps we're going to take.” I believe we learn the most by reflecting on experiences and capturing the experiences of first responders to this public health emergency allows future public health professionals to learn what areas in emergency response can be improved.

What I learned:

This was my first time conducting an oral history and although I was nervous at first, I became more comfortable as the interview went on. I was able to relate to many of the experiences Ragina shared and we bonded over similar experiences. I learned to be a better listener by developing my active listening skills and communication skills. I also learned how helpful it is to jot down quick notes as someone is talking and by doing that, I learned how to better select follow-up questions to ask when I want her to dig deeper into her answer. I learned how to give space to share her story without interrupting as many thoughts pop up in my mind. Lastly, I learned how to acknowledge what she has said to show that I was listening and that I appreciate her sharing.

Favorite Quotes:

"I would like to make sure...to continue to focus on self-care and mental health. I still want that to be a priority for myself. I want to make sure that I'm ready the next time something happens."

"The other lesson is how important that time is with your friends and family. It can be taken away very quickly through illness or simply the need to be apart. It's so easy to take that time for granted, and I think it's really important that we remember there were times when we couldn't hug those people, and that those times were very painful."

"I hope we can come out of this more compassionate, more forgiving, more kind towards one another and the struggles we might be going through individually."

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District Oral History Project

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Name: Sam Regali
Location: Seattle, Washington
Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did:
For my capstone project, our site conducted oral histories with COVID-19 pandemic first responders in SHD.  We recorded and transcribed these oral histories to be saved in the archives at the WSHS to document the experiences of first responders during the first months of the pandemic for years to come. I was lucky enough to interview Nicole Thomsen, a health policy analyst with SHD who gracefully transitioned into many different roles when the pandemic began.  She shared about how the pandemic affected her work and personal life. Nicole experienced the pandemic in a unique way not only as a first responder but as a mother of Chinese-American children.  She described how her education and experience with public health helps her be a better mother to her children and support them through the pandemic and how they make her a better equity advocate.  Finally, I created a presentation and presented it to my peers that highlighted our interview and what I took away from this project.

Public Health Impact:
This project captured what first responders went through at the beginning of the pandemic. My hope is that it can be a guideline or tool for future generations if they encounter a pandemic as well as a place to reflect back on the trauma and despair.  These oral histories could potentially be used to improve future public health responses to pandemics and other emergency preparedness measures.

What I learned:
This project showed me the importance of uplifting public health practitioners I think so much was done behind the scenes of this pandemic that should be acknowledged through more projects like this.  This experience taught me that finding your drive and motivation is an important factor in having a sustainable career in public health and avoiding burnout.  I was also able to learn skills like conducting an interview, how to clean up a transcript, and practice communicating with public health practitioners.

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WSHS_SHD Oral Histories- Capstone Project

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National Asian Pacific Center of Aging (NAPCA): Addressing Barriers to Reporting Anti-Asian American Hate Crimes

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National Asian Pacific Center of Aging (NAPCA): Addressing Barriers to Reporting Anti-Asian American Hate Crimes

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(PSA and the viral video are still in progress)

Location: International District, Seattle, WA

Team: Karli Moore, Madoka Kumamaru, Qianyan Zheng

What we did: We created a PSA and viral video for the NAPCA organization to address the barriers of reporting anti-Asian American hate crimes. Our group included evidence regarding underreporting hate crimes, which has become especially relevant over the past two years. We also addressed the 'next steps' to encourage and promote NAPCA as a safe place for not only reporting, but also a place to seek resources and assistance. With the increasing distrust in law enforcement and the deep rooted systemic racism in justice proceedings, finding resources and assistance becomes increasingly important. Our group’s PSA appeals to a broad age range, is easy to follow, and is concise. Our viral video is created through TikTok to reach the most widespread audience as quickly as possible, particularly targeting the younger audience and encouraging them to report anti-Asian American hate crimes and spread the word about reporting to senior Asian Americans in their community, as TikTok is an up and coming platform which only requires a brief amount of time to engage and promote NAPCA's resources and helpline.

Public health impact: In addressing barriers to reporting anti-Asian American hate crimes, we hope to improve the use of the helpline as well as the online reporting system. Spreading the awareness of NAPCA through providing solutions that address these barriers to reporting, allowing for increased usage of the helpline, safe reporting, and potentially increased funding to provide programs to the diverse communities they serve. Additionally, with increased reporting, we hope to potentially draw the attention of related legislation and research on anti-AAPI hate crimes. As the “Helpline received over 3,100 calls from 10+ states” between March to December of last year, there is evidence that it is proving to be a resource and should be further advertised.

What we learned: Through creating a PSA and viral video as well as working with NAPCA, we learned not only about the issue of reporting anti-Asian American hate crimes in the US, but also about the community we serve. In the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the spike in hate rhetoric and hate crimes against the Asian American community, and — even as movements like Stop Asian Hate have become more prominent — the issue remains. We thought learning about this issue, and the ways in which significant barriers exist to addressing these issues, has helped us to better acknowledge and address these equity and social justice issues through an intervention like a PSA or a viral video.

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Washington West African Center (WAWAC) Video on promoting Covid-19 Vaccine

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Washington West African Center (WAWAC) Video on promoting Covid-19 Vaccine

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Name: Dulmini Siriwardhana and Mariah Lanphar
Location: Lynwood, WA
Section: AB, Washington West African Center

What did we do?

For this capstone partnership with WAWAC, we created a 1 min ‘viral’ video aimed at increasing enthusiasm for getting vaccinated among young children and teens in the West African community. In addition to creating this video, we spent time learning about the community in class which helped us when we visited the site. We were able to attend both the vaccine clinics that happened during this quarter to familiarize ourselves with the space and community that we were working with. It was inspiring to see how WAWAC creates a space for West Africans to feel safe and comfortable enough to receive their vaccinations. At both clinics, we saw so many brave young children who were willing and excited to receive their vaccination. It was clear to us that the video we made would only help contribute to the hard and good work that WAWAC is already doing, and we feel grateful to have partnered with an organization that is doing amazing public health and justice work in the field.

What is the potential public health impact of this project?

This project allowed us to promote health and vaccinations among children by creating a video in collaboration with WAWAC. The public health impact that this project holds is beyond the message get vaccinated but extends to the experience that went into creating this project. The impact on children who were asked to participate hopefully leads them to feel empowered and become stakeholders in public health coalitions. The project was aimed at listening to why WAWAC got vaccinated and involving them in the process of making the video. Being engaged and involved in co-creating this project should give community members a sense of pride and hopefully lead to more engagement and participation in future public health goals. Although all of our footage did not make it into the short video, this project captured WAWAC’s community, young and old, in English and other languages, sharing their personal experiences with the vaccine, all of which strengthened relationships and built communities that have health impacts that we will never see but know exist.

What did you learn about public health practice from your final capstone project?

Through our final capstone project, we were able to improve our communication skills, learned to adapt our ideas, and work closely with families and children who participated in our video. We also learned how to work together with the organization and support their needs and goals. By interviewing WAWAC community members we aimed to be patient when they had trouble speaking English and quickly supported them with a smile and laugh. We learned how this organization provides an environment that is very family-centered where everyone works together and spreads resources and kindness to each other. Additionally, we learned that it’s important to create a comfortable environment for the community and be flexible in adjusting our video/project to meet the needs of the community. We were humbled to be welcomed into such a kind group of people who taught us more than we even know yet.

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WAWAC COVID-19 Vaccination promotion by Dulmini and Mariah

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Names: Sumayo Mohamed and Christopher Ponce

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Washington West African Center (WAWAC)T-Shirt Design

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Washington West African Center (WAWAC)T-Shirt Design

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Location: Lynwood, WA
Partner- WAWAC
Who was on your team and what did you do ?

On my team was Chris, and what we did was we designed a T-Shirt for WAWAC as a way to educate people about the services WAWAC provides. In order to create this T-shirt it required us to first make design outlines & revisions. Once we completed that we went to WAWAC where printed our design and ironed it. After this we sewed patterned fabric that has  culture significance to the West African community.

What is the potential public health impact of this project?

The potential public health impact of this project is that can bring awareness about WAWAC and the services they provide for their community. As the slogan of Inform, Educate, and Inspire that are written on the shirt is from the mission statement of WAWAC. The impact of messaging can connect the community, and potentially attract more people to WAWAC that assist them with their services, and allow them to expand. While also representing as well appreciating the culture of the West African community through sewing patterned fabric to the shirt.

What did you learn about public health practice from your final capstone project?

What we learned from the final capstone project is through learning about the community and working with the organization we were able to create a project that displays the culture of a marginalized community. Which allows us to use the equity lens of Culture Wealth Framework that we learned in class into the real world. While also educating the public inorder, to bring awareness about the services an  organization can provide.

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National Asian Pacific Center on Aging Informational Videos/Social Services

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National Asian Pacific Center on Aging Informational Videos/Social Services

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Names: Moss Reckling, Cailyn Cunningham, Mollie Sampson
Partner: NAPCA
Location: Seattle, WA

What We Did: For our capstone project, we created two videos—one longer PSA and one short “viral video” in the form of a Tiktok (attached). The goal of both videos is to increase awareness the social services support that NAPCA offers to its client population, with a focus on NAPCA’s call center, which is a helpline available in eight languages offering several services including reliable COVID information and vaccine locations, guided meditations, short story programs, and assistance accessing and navigating governmental support services. We wanted both videos to be approachable and appealing to NAPCA’s primary client group, which is aging and elderly Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander adults. We also wanted other people engaging with the content too, though, especially people who have frequent contact with elders (such as children, grandchildren, caretakers, or neighbors) and may have higher technology or social media fluency; the hope is that these other individuals can talk about the NAPCA call center with the elders they know and even assist with calls as needed.

Potential Public Health Impact: We are two full years into a pandemic that disproportionally affects seniors, and among increasing rates of hate crimes against AANHPI populations. It is tantamount to public health to ensure that all populations have access to the resources and spaces they need in order to live healthy lives. Currently, in the public health systems in the U.S., there is a lack of resources and informational support available in Asian languages, creating unnecessary barriers for those whose primary languages are not English or Spanish. NAPCA’s call center aims to reduce the negative effect of these barriers on aging AANHPI populations by increasing the availability of in-language information. We’ve created our videos in the hope that they are easily translatable into a variety of language to ease this process, as well. Additionally, the call center provides mental health assistance such as guided meditation and a program that allows callers to tell their stories. Our video aims to reduce stigma and taboos around mental health by encouraging people to make use of the call center and providing information about how many others have also called to use the services. Overall, we hope that the target audience of these videos is encouraged to call and receive resources that are helpful for them to increase feelings of empowerment and decrease feelings of loneliness, fear, and stress.

What We Learned: It was interesting for all of us to learn to communicate with a population that we are unfamiliar with and of which we aren’t members. We learned how to meet the needs of an organization and use the voices of the community to shape our project. We learned to collaborate and receive feedback in order to build a better project.

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Oral History Interviews with Washington State Historical Society & Snohomish Health District

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Oral History Interviews with Washington State Historical Society & Snohomish Health District

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Name: Sihaam Abdi

Location: Seattle, WA

Capstone Site: Snohomish Health District (SHD) and the Washington State Historical Society (WSHS)

What I did:
For my capstone project, I conducted an oral history interview with Kelly Grimsley, who is a Project Specialist for the Snohomish Health District. The purpose of this interview, along with the other oral history interviews conducted by my peers at this capstone site, was to capture the events and experiences surrounding the very first confirmed COVID-19 case in the United States, which was in Snohomish County. The individuals being interviewed from the SHD were the first to respond to the COVID-19 case, and we had the opportunity to have a conversation with them to gain insight into what these historic moments were like through their eyes. My interview with Kelly informed me about her critical role in the pandemic response, as she has been involved in COVID-19 response-related work since the very beginning of the pandemic. We discussed a wide range of topics including her shifting administrative support roles at the health district, her experiences in the first moments and over the course of the pandemic, mental health and coping with difficulties, to family dynamics and work-life balance during the midst of it all. This pandemic had many moments of trials and tribulations, but there was also successes and hopes. It was amazing to see how resilient Kelly remained through it all, despite being in the midst of the chaos since the very beginning. I am so grateful to have been apart of such a meaningful project and have had this opportunity to document one part of this historic moment in our lives.

Public health impact:
The COVID-19 pandemic is such a monumental moment in our lives right now, and it will become a monumental historical moment as we move into the future. Capturing the perspectives of these individuals who witnessed first-hand the unfolding of the pandemic through their work will be an important resource future generations can look back on when learning about what took place during these moments and brainstorming how pandemics can be better addressed in the future. The inclusion of these diverse experiences allows multiple voices to be highlighted in this narrative and be documented in this history of what took place. Recognizing the importance of these histories allows us to center diverse experiences so that we may learn from each other if anything like this were to occur once again and utilize this information to work towards a healthier future

What I learned:

Through this capstone project, I was able to take the information we have learned over the course of our public health program, and make connections to the work we were doing with these capstone sites as we worked on these projects. I learned that applying public health approaches to the work done at these sites can take many different forms and efforts do not always have to have a direct impact on the health of individuals that we can see. We witnessed this through our efforts to gather a diverse collection of oral histories so that the story of COVID-19 response from the location with the first confirmed COVID-19 case is told through the unique perspectives of multiple individuals, and not only those with the power and resources to tell their story. Public health work takes on so many different forms and no level of this work is unimportant. We saw this reflected in the roles of the SHD team members and how everyone contributed to the COVID-19 response to some degree, positively affecting the lives of community members. In my interview, I heard from the experiences of Kelly at the SHD, and how she continuously prioritized the wellbeing of others to help her community in a time of need. I think that as long as we have the right intentions and are ensuring that we are centering equity in our approaches, we will all be doing meaningful work to address the health issues in our society.

Quotes from Kelly Grimsley that I want to highlight:

“It was just so tiring having people arguing and fighting with you all the time and you know, acting like we're the bad people.” (00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:09.060)

“And then I realized later no, this is an emergency. It's not personal. Don't sweat the small stuff and don't take anything personally. You see people at their best and their worst when all this is going on” (00:52:17.820 --> 00:52:36.720)

[Her boss]: “’I think you should be pulled out. You've been in there longer than everybody. This should not be like a never-ending war. You're supposed to get in and do the work and then get out, and you know, we're not [out]. It takes its toll"
[Her response]: "Yeah, it’s taking its toll, but I still like doing it."
(00:47:59.040 --> 00:48:38.310)

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Virtual Gallery - Check out the Instagram page: wawacgallery

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Names: Belqeis Abatiyow, Dajonaea May, Lila Neal

Location: Lynnwood, WA

Capstone site: Washington West Africa Center (WAWAC)

What we did:

For our capstone, our section was responsible for putting together a gallery collection of traditional West African fabrics. Our group, the project managers, took on the responsibility of creating a virtual gallery of the fabrics to accompany the in-person exhibit at WAWAC’s Lynnwood location. Our hope in creating the virtual gallery is that the cultural wealth displayed in this exhibit can reach a larger audience, both culturally and geographically. We chose to host the virtual gallery on Instagram, due to both the large number of people already using the platform, and the way that Instagram makes discovering new content so seamless. Additionally, we anticipate that it will be easy for WAWAC to take over managing the virtual gallery because of the platform’s ease of use, and the fact that WAWAC already runs their own Instagram account. We look forward to seeing the virtual gallery grow, from wherever we are in the world, as WAWAC inherits more traditional West African fabrics.

Public Health impact:

The public health impact of the work we did with the gallery at WAWAC is centered around cultural connectedness and emphasizing the need for representation of different cultures. It is important for us to help promote diverse communities and help bring awareness to the work being done to help bridge the gap between the wider community and the West African community. The work we did with WAWAC highlights the importance of educating others about the culture and the people within the community, to better understand where they come from and their values. Through creating the gallery of fabrics, we hope to create a space where the West African community’s history and culture can be learned and appreciated. We also hope to give WAWAC’s community a sense of belonging and promote a sense of cultural pride with displaying the gallery of fabrics.

What we learned:

During the course of this project we have learned a significant amount about how to find the sources of different fabrics and materials. More broadly, we learned about West African culture. For example, we learned about traditional garments, food, and gatherings within Gambian culture. Additionally, we were able to gain a better understanding of the ways in which WAWAC serves the Gambian community in the Seattle area. The center provides various resources such as technology, vaccine clinics, and food drives to help support the population.

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District Oral History Capstone Project

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District Oral History Capstone Project

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Name: Jaemie Lam
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District

What I did:
I had the opportunity to conduct oral histories of the first responders to COVID through the partnership of Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District. I had the privilege to interview Carrie Parker, the Prevention Services Assistant Director for Snohomish Health District. Parker went through many roles in the pandemics, from being the incident commander, coordinating school responses, supervisor and being the co-manager of emergency responses. I had the honor of hearing Parker’s stories about the initial shock of it all, but still having a prepared response to the first case to having low resources and employees, to attention that has been brought to public health, and the misinformation that they had to deal with. Parker was always thankful and proud of her team, especially mentioning how the help of the Medical Reserve Corps has been invaluable. Attached below, I have a picture of the Medical Reserve Corps volunteers in helping with the response. Throughout the quarter, we practiced interviews, active listening, frameworks, and many different methods to prepare and practice for our interviews. After the interview, we learned how to clean up the transcript and how to effectively portray these oral histories. I found Carrie’s story inspiring and insightful in what it’s like to be a public health practitioner in the midst of the pandemic.

Public Health Impact:

I think with these oral histories, it will raise awareness on what public health is and can be fully acknowledged by the public. It will show the general public what it is like to be a public health practitioner, what public health means, and the importance of public health work that goes unnoticed. It may be able to give people another perspective of how serious this pandemic is as well.

What I learned:

From this final capstone project, I learned that the importance of public health practice is teamwork, preparation, prioritizing, balance, uncertainty, and many more that is invaluable to the work of public health. I learned that you have to be on your feet in public health work, you may fill in different positions,  you have to ensure to take care of yourself, and that public health is always changing.

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Name: Callista Ordonez

Location: Seattle, WA

Capstone Site: Section AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: My AC quiz section’s capstone project centered around collecting oral histories of public health first responders at the Snohomish Health District (SHD) who worked on the first COVID-19 cases in America. This capstone project is also part of an ongoing collection at the Washington State Historical Society (WSHS), as three previous public health cohorts from UW have also gotten the opportunity to interview different types of community members who were either involved in or affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to conducting my interview, my classmates and I were taught the importance and value of oral histories, specifically in how it can capture a snapshot of history, memories, and emotion in a more personalized way compared to other forms of historical recordkeeping. I had the honor of interviewing Samara Heydon, who works as an Emergency Management Specialist at SHD but also shifted in many different roles during the pandemic as the situation intensified. I learned that Mrs. Heydon was one of about seven to eight people who found out about the first COVID-19 case identified in Snohomish County before the rest of the world knew. Due to her specialization in emergency management and skilled expertise, I learned that Mrs. Heydon was extremely flexible when shifting into other job roles as her main motivation was to ensure community safety, especially for vulnerable community members. Mrs. Heydon reflected on how the long hours, burnout after the one-year mark, political divide over pandemic protocols, and constant work affected herself and her family. Despite facing new challenges in her role every day, she continued to find motivation from her community and enjoyed witnessing the moments of joy that arose from vaccinations becoming available. Today, she has discovered a routine that grants herself and her family more balance and she is encouraged to build on the positive energy and newfound appreciation many people now hold towards emergency management planning because it means that she can continue her passion for public health with new on her team in the coming years!

Public Health Impact: One of the main public health impacts that I hope my interview with Mrs. Heydon captured is her advice to future generations that may experience a public health emergency that is like the COVID-19 pandemic my generation faced. I included the full words of advice Mrs. Heydon shared under the “favorite quotes” section; something that really stuck with me personally is the need to not only take care of your community, but also yourself during difficult times. Mrs. Heydon also shed light on the challenges that came with political divide around COVID-19 protocols, so hopefully if folks from the future listening to my recording they will be able to learn from the challenges we faced. Sometimes the largest struggles when it comes to pandemics is not the virus itself, but the lack of unity, trust, cooperation, and understanding from humanity. Therefore, I hope this this interview will help people learn how to discover balance, compassion, and understanding when it comes to public health responses, along with inspiring people to get involved in community work!

What I learned: Through the process of completing this capstone project, I learned the importance of being an active listener, of being open to diverting “off-script”, and how to offer positive words of affirmation. Prior to conducting my interview, I had compiled a list of questions I wanted to ask. However, once the interview began, I quickly learned that it was okay to go “off script” from the pre-planned questions I had written down to fully embrace the skill of active listening. I was able to have a meaningful conversation with Mrs. Heydon because adopting an active listening lens allowed for the conversation to flow organically. Mrs. Heydon shared stories I might not have thought to ask had I not allowed myself to actively listen to everything she had to share and then base my questions off her responses. I also learned that professionally and personally, one of the most important things to maintain during a time of crisis is empathy because that is when it is the most important to offer support and grace for people around us.

My favorite quotes:

“My family brings me the most hope”

“Some people were crying because they were so happy that they were able to get something that was going to help minimize the spread of it. You had some [people] coming through as groups and they were cheering and had confetti and were celebrating because they got the vaccine”

“I would say a big piece of advice is to maintain your compassion for people. Understand that when emergencies come around people are scared and will say or do things out of fear. Do not take the things they say or do personally, try and keep an open mind. Understand that science is real, and part of science is also changing so just because it starts off as one thing, as we start to learn more of the science, things can change. So be open-minded about–and we saw that with the face covers at the very beginning. Take care of yourself both mentally and physically. If you’re involved in this type of pandemic, it’s going to have a huge impact. Advocating for yourself and the health of yourself is going to be very important because at the end of the day, the work will continue, it’ll be up there. Same with your family. Prioritize your family because at the end of the day, the work will still be there, but your family may not so make sure that you’re continuing to keep them informed, but spend time with them, be with them. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I know some people–even myself–have those days that are very challenging, and most people are their own worst critic so be kind to yourself. Understand that you’ll make mistakes. Know that things will change, that you can always fix them, you can always push through them. You’re stronger than you look, you’re stronger than you think”

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National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA): Environmental and Economic Prosperity 

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National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA): Environmental and Economic Prosperity 

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Names: Claire Billman, Jonah Leavitt, Erin Recasner
Location: Seattle, Washington

Capstone: National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA)

What We Did

For our capstone site we worked with the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA). NAPCA has a variety of programs that are offered as services to those who the program serves, and we decided to make and PSA and viral video about their program SEE (Senior Environment Employment) which is a program that brings the seniors of NAPCA into jobs that help support not only the environment but their personal economic growth and stability. Our PSA video is a short video about the SEE program and its potential benefits that seniors can partake in when participating and personal testimonies from those who have seen benefits from the program. The intended audience of our PSA was seniors themselves who may take an interest in the program, while for our viral video we made a Tik Tok to target the audience of the children/grandchildren of these seniors to pass on the info to.

Potential Health Impact

The SEE program aims to bring awareness to the current state of environmental health in the world and our communities. The SEE program partners with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide jobs to the seniors a part of the program and give assistance to the EPA that helps states to meet their environmental mandates and take a step in the right direction towards a better environmental future. This is helping make a contribution to the betterment of our contribution to the environment. The SEE program also ensures economic security for those who participate in the program by offering both part time and full-time work. This gives seniors a chance to display their skills in a work environment. The program offers its enrollees the chance to sign up for health and dental insurance which seniors may not have access to The program also is improving the lives of these seniors by giving financial freedom and purpose in their community.

What Did We Learn

Through capstone and working with our site and on our project, we learned about the Asian American community and how we can make sure to make people in this community feel welcome. By making things available in multiple languages and being more inclusive when marketing we can make a change towards better inclusion. We now know that when we are displaying or marketing media or information it is important to optimize the way that we address our audiences like we have done in our project. Making sure that we are using simple language and translating on screen text are simple ways to make our message both more inclusive and heard by more people. Overall we learned about how to be better at making sure information we present is accessible and inclusive.

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National Asian Pacific Center on Aging: Reporting Anti-Asian Hate Crimes

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National Asian Pacific Center on Aging: Reporting Anti-Asian Hate Crimes

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Team: Amy Lee, Agnes Li

Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: National Asian Pacific Center on Aging

What We Did

For this capstone project, we created a viral video and PSA video about reporting anti-Asian hate crimes. In the viral video, we showed a step-by-step guide on how to report anti-Asian hate crimes using the form provided by National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA). The video is intended to show that reporting hate crimes against Asians can be done easily. The PSA discusses the issue of underreporting anti-Asian hate crimes and why it matters. We emphasized that each individual member’s story matters, therefore, they deserved to be heard especially regarding experiencing hate crimes.

Potential Public Health Impact

Both videos are made to encourage the audience to report hate crimes if they experience or witness them. It could have a potential impact on public health because an increase in reports of hate crimes against Asians will cause the number of recorded cases to increase, which will bring attention to the legislators and encourage legal action to be taken to protect the Asian community. Additionally, by reporting anti-Asian hate crimes, the Asian communities are able to support and protect each other in the community. Such strong relationship building can create resilience to the hardships of experiencing racism, which can have a positive influence on mental health.

What We Learned

Through this project, we learned about NAPCA as an organization, their mission, and the challenges that older AAPI face. We discovered ways to communicate information that is culturally appropriate for this population while having the freedom to be creative. We learned how creating engaging and relevant information can be a tool to address health inequity. Putting together our videos required us to do a lot of research and be considerate of how our intended audience would perceive what we created.

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Capstone Project

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Capstone Project

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Name: Javier Silva

Location: Seattle, WA.

Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: I was fortunate to conduct an oral history in partnership with the first responders of the first COVID-19 case detected in United States territory during the COVID-19 global pandemic. These histories were collected from first responders within the Snohomish Health District (SHD), as the initial COVID-19 case within the U.S occurred in Snohomish County. This project will be delivered to the Washington State Historical Society (WSHS), the second partner within our capstone project. At the WSHS, the oral histories will be preserved in a COVID-19 exhibit.

Through this project, I was partnered with Miyuki Blatt, an Epidemiologist within the SHD. During the interview, I noticed the richness of the experiences our first responders endured during the pandemic. One thing that stood out from my conversation with Miyuki is how adaptability often times is simply not a choice, you must grow into it. My interviewee had recently arrived to the SHD in late Summer and had just completed her 6-month probational period with the SHD prior to being fully hired as an Epidemiologist in early January. Miyuki had barely any time as an “official” Epidemiologist with the SHD when, in a few weeks, she would undertake the role as a member of the first responders to the first U.S COVID-19 case in our country.

From Miyuki, I learned concepts from adaptability and resilience to the importance of taking care of yourself, especially during challenging circumstances. Miyuki shifted from being part of a team concerned with child lead poisoning, to being full-on in the response to COVID-19. I completely resonated wit Miyuki on the importance of being adaptable and resilient, while also ensuring your own wellbeing, as I firmly believe that we work more effectively and efficiently when we are also addressing our own physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

Public Health Impact: Oral histories provide a unique method to capturing key events within public health. Having a record on the experiences, the response, and lessons learned from this global pandemic will foster wisdom to combat other potential public health emergencies that arrive. Having the experiences of our first responders at our reach will be a unique tool to prepare for not only pandemics, but also for other public health-related responses.

What I learned: From this experience I witnessed and embraced a perspective from my interviewee which was inspirational. Though the first responders we are interviewing were put through long daily work hours, having no days off whatsoever during the response, yet they continue to address the pandemic without a loss of hope is something I cherished from this experience. Further, we should not abandon our commitment to reaching optimal health of our communities simply because people refuse to hear us. We need to innovate in delivering public health messages to recapture the trust from all of the communities that we serve, and beyond.

Favorite Quotes:

“If there's any silver lining in COVID for me it’s in that I’m starting to learn and I’m learning I’m not totally there yet, but I’m learning what is important to prioritize and so you know, boundaries extend past personal life and relationships, but also with your relationship with yourself and work and what you allow into your life and when.” (00:24:38.190 --> 00:25:03.510)

“I learned how to teach myself how to play mandolin, played the recorder, a little bit so just little ways to escape.” (00:27:47.190 --> 00:28:01.980)

“Risk communication is so important. Risk communication, like if you can get a degree on risk communication man...” (01:06:50.670 --> 01:07:00.810)

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Tiktok video for NAPCA (finalizing in progress)

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National Asian Pacific Center of Aging (NAPCA): Promotion of receiving COVID-19 booster with the population. 

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National Asian Pacific Center of Aging (NAPCA): Promotion of receiving COVID-19 booster with the population. 

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Name: Angela Gomez, Miranda O'Keefe, Shelly Cheng
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone site: Section AA - National Asian Pacific Center of Aging (NAPCA)

What did we do?
For this capstone project, our group created two sets of deliverables that aim to raise awareness among the elder Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) population about the importance of receiving the Covid-19 booster. For the first deliverable, we created a TikTok (viral video) that uses current trends to quickly capture the attention of the audience and persuade them to receive the booster. Meanwhile, for the second deliverable, my group created a public service announcement (PSA) that went into more detail about our capstone site, NAPCA, and our passion for achieving health equity for underserved populations, specifically aging Asian Americans. Similarly to the viral video, we concluded the PSA with information about where to receive the booster.
Potential public health impact of this project:
Given that we are reinforcing the importance and necessity of getting COVID-19 booster, we expect that our viral video and PSA would educate and encourage more older people and other eligible adults to take action. If our videos are effective in conveying our stance and more people are willing to receive COVID-19 vaccine and booster, we would be reaching our collective goal of herd immunity. This move would not only protect our vulnerable populations such as the elder population, immunocompromised populations, and younger populations and essentially deter further spread of pandemic. Moreover, as we are emphasizing the work done by NAPCA, we could also expect more attention from the public to the health condition of our elder population within the AAPI communities.
What we learned about?
Our capstone showed that in order for public health practice, more specifically organizations providing public health services, need to work together in order for success especially when it comes to Covid-19. We also learned that when disseminating public health information, short, simple, and engaging was key. Our final deliverable, an informational TikTok, puts this all into practice by combining resources such as NAPCA, the CDC, and the DOH, in a short and simple, trendy TikTok.

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District Oral History Project

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Name: Maria Peracha
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone site: Section AC- Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: For my capstone, I worked with both the Washington State Historical Society and the Snohomish Health District to document and interview first responders to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to be put in an exhibit by the WSHS. I was given the opportunity to be partnered with a first responder to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brenna Hoppe, who is an environmental health specialist and helped develop COVID-19 community-based testing in Snohomish. I learned about her experiences being thrown into COVID response and the ways that the pandemic changed the course of her career and life for a while. Her priorities shifted and she didn’t have as much free time since there was always something to work on. She described the uncertainty of not knowing when the work would end and whether COVID conditions would start to get better or if it would constantly be getting more hectic. Brenna spoke on learning to rely on her coworkers more and how she hopes that the post-pandemic world will have more funding and attention towards public health preparation and response systems. I also got insight into how she believed that there should’ve been better communication between the public and public health professionals so that they would cooperate and make decisions that not only protected others, but themselves as well. I then sifted through the interview for quotes and reflected on the impact that COVID has had and that in the end, there are a lot of similarities between us all.

Public Health Impact: The project can provide a way to look back into what went well and what could’ve been done better when it came to responding to COVID-19. From previous outbreaks, such as with the Spanish Flu, there’s very little that’s been recorded or kept from that time. Without any documentation or insight, the same mistakes could be made again and with the COVID pandemic, there may have been some of those mistakes made. The oral history can provide insight for future pandemics and can also inspire ways to keep communities going during hard times. Also, how first responders can be supported and ways to prepare so that there isn’t an overwhelming amount of work or supplies that people aren’t ready for. Brenna relayed how “the preparation is worth so much, even if it never gets used, it’s worth having a workforce that’s ready to react and responds and serve people”. Especially at the start of the pandemic, there wasn’t a solid plan and there was a lot of uncertainty when it came to next steps or how different areas would respond to different pandemic necessities. Brenna spoke a lot about needing unity and to have a greater line of communication to keep citizens in the loop, so they know the reasoning behind public health measures. Brenna went on to say, “we want everybody to be healthy, we want everybody to make good decisions, not because they have to, or because they’re scared, but because you know they want to be healthy”.  Advice such as with Brenna’s insight can keep future generations from making the same mistakes and providing powerful perspectives from professionals on what they learned from their two years of experience.

What I learned: I learned that public health could relate to a lot of different careers/sectors and that it’s a very broad field. There are also a lot of ways that people can be involved with public health that doesn’t necessarily have to be related to their job. I’ve also learned how incredibly strong and dedicated people in healthcare and public health are. If it wasn’t for all that they sacrificed and working so hard at the start and throughout the pandemic, it could’ve had a completely different outcome. It’s amazing how resilient people can be and that although I knew that first responders did amazing work, hearing it firsthand is a different opportunity. It can be especially powerful to hear personal experiences and how a person’s life changed drastically as a result. If one person had that kind of impact on me, I feel that hearing those stories can change people’s perspectives or reaffirm their beliefs.

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District 

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District 

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Name: Adriane Phi
Location: Seattle, Washington
Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District

What I did: I had the opportunity to capture the oral history of Colby Cavanaugh, Emergency Management Program Analyst for Snohomish County, during the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We had a very valuable discussion on his experience and dove into deeper detail of the vaccine rollout, combating misinformation, and turning to more modern tools to guide their response and preparation.

Potential public health impact: This project documented the very first COVID case in the United States. This is a historical moment that hopefully will guide future pandemic response. Despite not having much information on the disease itself and any prior communication protocol to look to, Colby applauds the work that he and his team did. The potential public health impact of this project is astonishing and could help future emergency managers turn to their own teammates, create notification systems, and have emergency procedures in place to help the communication go more smoothly from day 1.

What I learned about public health practice: Colby mentioned that his director says that emergency management is the ultimate team sport. This was a noteworthy quote since it can be applied in various fields of public health. Public Health ultimately serves many marginalized communities and it takes all hands on board to make our service more impactful.

Memorable quotes:
- "The first case being in Snohomish County dropped my stomach into 1000 knots. When we are talking about a public health crisis that we're seeing abroad coming into the US is already always kind of scary for an emergency manager."(00:01:30)
- "So, COVID is straining, there's no doubt about it, like it was very exhausting but it gave me a more confirmation that I’m in the right field, because even all the exhaustion going on, I can still look back on the initial response and say we did a good job, I’m proud of what we did, and it hasn't jaded me, or it hasn't you know forced me away." (00:20:19.680)
- "Hopefully 100 years from now they're not knowing what Snapchat is, but they're going to look back and they're like, oh, they're going to use this technology to progress"(01:11:49.890)

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Washington West African Center (WAWAC)- Video Production

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Washington West African Center (WAWAC)- Video Production

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Name: Annaliese Youngs and Khan Nguyen

Location: Seattle, WA

Capstone Site: AB, Washington West African Center (WAWAC)

What we did: We created a vaccine promotion video for WAWAC, specifically targeting kids 5 and up, as the Pfizer vaccine recently gained emergency approval for ages 5-12. To do this, we visited WAWAC during one of their vaccination clinics. We obtained footage of the site and interviewed kids getting their vaccine. We incorporated feedback from Pa Ousman such as adding music and questions to ask during our interviews. We attempted to make the message simple and clear to effectively communicate to our target audience.

Public health impact: We wanted to outline the whole process of getting vaccinated in hopes of making it seem less scary. Vaccine hesitancy for kids is much different than the reasons adults are hesitant to get the COVID vaccine. Rather than focusing on misinformation or cultural barriers, we wanted to focus on reducing the fear around getting vaccinated. We included personal accounts of the honest feelings of kids prior to getting vaccinated and their testimonies after getting vaccinated. Many of the kids in our video made a call to action to encourage other kids in their community to get vaccinated. We included subtitles to improve comprehension of the video and the COVID vaccine song to make it catchy. We hope our video helps increase vaccination rates among kids ages 5 and up to decrease the spread of COVID and help reach herd immunity.

What we learned: The process of making the video and working with WAWAC taught us a lot about culturally competent communication. WAWAC originally began as Gambian Talents Promotion (GTP), which established a very strong platform for disseminating important health messaging through the creation of videos. WAWAC understands the most effective means of communicating to their community and it was amazing to learn from them the ways in which they work to address any need. Through working with WAWAC we also learned and experienced their selfless generosity. WAWAC bestows countless gifts to their community members and visitors. It was an honor to work with WAWAC and experience their generosity.

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District Oral History Project

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Name: Anumita Chopra
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society and Snohomish Health District

What I Did:
For my capstone, I had the opportunity to partner with the Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD) to conduct oral histories of the first responders to COVID-19 in the United States. I had the chance to interview John Holdsworth, who was the Emergency Program Manager for the SHD at the start of the pandemic, and hear about his experience dealing with COVID-19 from an emergency management point of view. There were a few things that John mentioned that really stood out to me, specifically the importance of adaptability, funding, and communication within a Public Health system. What I enjoyed most about my interview with John was his positive outlook on moving forward. John made it a point to highlight that while lots of bad came out of this, it's important to take the lessons we all learned and apply them to future challenges that may arise in the future. After the interview, I spent time cleaning the transcript, and pulling out some quotes from John that I felt were significant, and then created a short presentation to share John’s story with my peers.

Public Health Impact
Having the opportunity to be forever archived in history is something that is so unique and I never imagined I would ever do! I think that as Public Health practitioners, learning from the past is so critical to improving how we change things for the future. I hope that one day in the future, someone can watch these interviews and hear from the people who were in the heat of the pandemic and working non-stop to take care of their communities. I feel grateful to have been given the opportunity to amplify the voices of critical responders to COVID-19, and I believe it is so valuable to future generations to have the perspectives of the people that were first hand experiencing COVID-19 as it emerged. I hope that this project encourages future Public Health professionals to learn from the stories that we all came together to share.

What I Learned:
Throughout this process of planning for and conducting an interview, I learned a lot about the importance of listening. I was first really nervous that I would not be able to bounce off my interviewee during the interview, and that the questions I wanted to ask would be scattered or not very thorough. However, as I was interviewing John, and became more comfortable in the conversation, I realized that simply engaging in the conversation was the key for me to be able to ask good follow up questions. Paying attention to what John was saying, and taking notes helped me a lot to stay focused on his story and keep the conversation natural. Other than learning how to conduct an interview, I also learned how much hard work goes into cleaning transcripts! I also learned so much about how COVID-19 impacted our first responders, and my appreciation for the hard work that people have devoted to helping their communities continues to grow as I reflect on the experiences that are being shared.

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

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Name: Anna Elias-Warren

Location: Seattle Washington

Capstone Site: Section AC - Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: For this project we were interviewing COVID-19 first responders in Snohomish County. My interviewee was Megan Dunn, who is a councilwoman for Snohomish County’s District 2 - Everett, Mulkilteo and Tulalip. Megan had just been sworn into office when the news of the first COVID patient hit, so she had to jump into COVID response during her first few days in office. At the start of the pandemic she helped businesses navigate the changing protocols and mandates related to “essential” businesses. She also created meetings between the health district and human service providers, as programs such as shelters were impacted by new restrictions and needed a way to figure out how to function to serve their populations. Megan also shared that she was an avid volunteer in the medical reserve corps (MRC) during the pandemic, and she helped out at vaccine clinics and COVID isolation areas. During the pandemic she assisted with some projects like rent relief in Snohomish County and the Vaccine Equity Project. The Vaccine Equity Project focused on vaccinating BIPOC communities, and around 90% of those vaccinated in this program were part of the BIPOC community. She also discussed her feelings during the pandemic, like feeling burned out and the pressure to stay positive throughout. After the interview I cleaned up the transcript by fixing any spelling mistakes and condensing split sentences.

Public Health Impact: Documenting first responders experiences during this pandemic will be incredibly useful for future pandemic preparedness, however far in the future that may be. Future generations can look back at these oral histories and learn from what our interviewees did. Additionally, talking to first responders captures their personal experiences and creates a humanistic perspective on the pandemic that we can all learn from. Many of our interviewees, like Megan, sacrificed so much of their time and wellbeing to make sure we were as informed and safe as possible. This project helps to document both the time and effort these first responders put into the pandemic, while capturing each interview’s human experience. Hopefully in future pandemics first responders mental health can be prioritized and they can be viewed as the heroes that they are.

What did I learn: Talking to Megan helped me learn more about what a councilwoman does in their position, as well as good public health practices. Throughout the core series we learn about equity based frameworks and the importance of community-based research, and Megan helped me to see how both of those ideas can be put into practice. Additionally, I learned how to interview, conduct an oral history and I was able to practice my active listening skills. I also talked to Megan about future career paths in public health, and I am appreciative to have had the opportunity to meet with her and learn from her pandemic experience.

Some favorite quotes: “Yeah I definitely felt burnt out, I felt the burnout of needing to be positive too. Always needing to say like it's just around the corner. Like this is gonna be over soon everybody. And now it's February 2022 and it's been two years plus…”

“...we were asking volunteers to [be] in the rain, in the snow, in the cold or in the hot. So I wanted to make sure that I was volunteering and seeing their perspective as well…”

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Washington West African Center: T-shirt Design

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Washington West African Center: T-shirt Design

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Names: Andrew Nguyen, Patrice Luong

Location: Seattle, WA

Capstone Site: Washington West African Center (WAWAC)

What We Did: For our capstone project, our goal was to produce a T-shirt design that illustrates West African culture. This was one of the projects we were assigned to contribute to some of WAWAC's main missions- bridging the gap between the West African community and the wider community and promoting West African culture. We chose to centralize our design around a picture of a woman wearing traditional West African textiles and coloring, and incorporating WAWAC's logo into the design. The design process took place on a drawing app on the iPad, and we were able to print out a design using a DTG printer and transferred it onto a T-shirt using a heat press machine.

Public Health Impact: One of the ten essential public health services is to strengthen, support, and mobilize communities and partnerships to improve health. In building strength and support within communities, the empowerment and promotion of culture plays a crucial role. We have observed how many communities experience adverse health effects due to systemic injustices, and a large part of that comes from populations who immigrate to a place with a different culture that they are not accustomed to- resulting in poorer health outcomes. In addition to WAWAC's services that inform and distribute health resources, having resources such as T-shirts that illustrate their community's culture can provide them with a sense of belonging and security, which in turn can contribute to improved health outcomes.

What We Learned: Prior to this project, we had minimal knowledge on West African culture. Through research and working with WAWAC throughout the quarter, we were able to better understand the history of West Africa and the diversity that is seen within their culture, including traditional events, music, and clothing. We also learned the significance of these aspects of West African culture and how they are seen in the daily lives of the individuals of this community. By applying what we learned into our project, we also gained an increased knowledge of ways that we can contribute to an organization's missions in addressing health inequities.

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project 

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project 

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Name: Milli Wijenaike-Bogle
Location: Seattle, Washington
Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did:
For my capstone project, our section worked with the Washington State Historical Society and the Snohomish Health District to document the experiences of public health workers at the SHD responding to the first case of COVID-19 in the United States. These interviews will be preserved as part of the Washington State Historical Society's exhibit on Washington state and COVID-19. Throughout the quarter, we developed interview questions, practiced interviewing one another, learned about different types of interviews and qualitative data, and developed our active listening skills. One particularly impactful session was when we received a virtual tour of the Wing Luke Museum and spoke with Wing Luke staff about best practices surrounding conducting an oral history. Each person in our class interviewed a different person affiliated with the Snohomish Health District. I had the honor of interviewing Katie Curtis, Director of Prevention Services at SHD. Katie was the staff member on call when the first suspected case of COVID-19 in the US was reported in a person returning from Wuhan. Katie walked me through the decision-making process catalyzed by that call and the many difficult choices she and her team had to make in order to protect their community. She described the process of arranging transport to Providence hospital for this person while trying not to create mass panic for the public. Katie described how little information was known about COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic and how dealing with this crisis felt so different from any of the scenarios they had practiced in the past, such as responding to the potential Cascadia earthquake or a nuclear threat. Katie also described the immense physical, emotional and mental toll working through the pandemic took on her and her staff, as well as the impacts of continuing burnout and mass resignation in public health workers. She described how painful it is to have people close to you discredit public health and spread misinformation and how angry some of the public was at COVID-related restrictions and regulations. She also spoke candidly about how difficult it is to be an effective leader while dealing with all of these crises, trying to stay safe, and trying to emotionally present for her staff. Throughout our interview, it was evident Katie deeply loves public health and cares for her community immensely. I was incredibly grateful to bear witness to her testimony and to be able to preserve it for future generations of Washington state residents to experience. After our interview concluded, I spent a long time reflecting and then cleaned our transcript. I presented my mini-presentation to our capstone section and was able to share Katie's experiences with my peers.
Public Health Impact:
Something I found especially meaningful about this project is how it brought the experiences of individuals to the forefront of public consciousness. Although there has been discussion of the impact that being a frontline public health worker has had on people’s mental, emotional and physical health, I think it is especially important to hear the testimonies of each person, to know how the pandemic influenced them, their families, the trajectory of their career and life. I think this is an important public health impact unto itself as it highlights the need for support and restructuring of public health as a field to ensure that the people in it have the resources they need to be healthy and happy. I think another important public health impact is the knowledge and lessons that this pandemic has provided as a sort of blueprint for future large-scale health crises. At the beginning of the pandemic, although there were plans in place, Katie and her team felt largely unprepared for what was coming down the line. They had no way to anticipate the impact of not having enough PPE or resources, the reluctance of the federal government to help in the ways they expected, the politicization of the virus, the public uproar, the logistics of organizing testing sites and preparing for mass cremation/burials if needed and the supply chain demands. Preserving this history, the choices made and the lessons learned will help future public health practitioners get ready for similar crises should they occur.
What I learned:
I've always believed Public Health is a special field, one that comes with a great responsibility to serve respectfully and compassionately. This process has re-affirmed my belief that the strength of Public Health comes from the care and dedication of its practitioners. Public Health practitioners are asked to make (at times) impossible choices and decisions to protect our communities and I believe that as a country, we need to invest more resources into the field. In conducting the oral history, I got to participate in collecting qualitative data for the first time and I realized how powerful it is to be able to hear someone's story and try to honor it. I learned how much of an interview comes from responding to a person's thoughts and feelings at the moment as they come up and not trying to shoehorn my questions in. I learned a lot about nonverbal communication and how to make people feel comfortable in a virtual interview and how to be both professional and compassionate. I also learned that I would really like to work in a leadership role---while it is undoubtedly stressful and a big responsibility, I think being able to work with a team and encourage other people's professional development/serve them as a leader would be so rewarding.

My favorite quote:
“I do love public health and I love the different ways in which we touch people's lives that are so meaningful…But I do know there are days when I come in and it's like  I cannot deal with this  today, I don't want to be here, I’m not being an effective leader, because I'm so overwhelmed.” (Curtis, 39:48)

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Washington State Historical Society/Snohomish Health District Oral History

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Washington State Historical Society/Snohomish Health District Oral History

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Name: Emil Talerman
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and the Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I Did:
I was fortunate enough to interview Doctor Eric Cooper, the current acting Snohomish County Emergency Medical Services Program Director. The goal of an Emergency Medical Services Program Director is to manage the response to emergency situations, whether they be disease related, such as the flu season in 2015-2016 that taxed the Snohomish County healthcare system, natural disasters, such as large landslides that have occurred in the county, or even horrific events such as school shootings. My conversation with Dr. Cooper was mainly focused on the COVID-19 pandemic response and the response to the first COVID-19 case in the United States. I got to learn about the ins and outs of the EMS response to COVID-19 and the experience of being the EMS Program Director of the county with the first identified case of COVID-19. We also discussed some of the personal impacts that this role had on Dr. Cooper's life and career.
Public Health Impact:
An oral history is a very useful type of qualitative data that can be coded into many different main themes. Our conversation will hopefully be able to give better insight on future pandemics and guide decisions and thought processes for future EMS directors or public health practitioners in general. Dr. Cooper and I talked a lot about what the goal of public health should be in the face of emergency situations, and his answers were very unique due to his role as a EMS director for Snohomish County. Being able to continue helping people and ensuring his employees were safe and as comfortable as possible in the face of danger was very important to him. I also hope that people have the chance to listen to my interview and to be able to fully understand the passion that Dr. Cooper has for his job. His passion motivated me to continue on my path as a public health practitioner and I hope it can do the same for countless other young people!

What I learned:
First off, I learned how to confidently conduct an hour and a half interview with a well-established public health official. Initially, I was shaking in my boots at the thought of conversing with someone I did not know who was an important public health figure in my locality. However, after settling in to our conversation, I was also able to learn about the behind the scenes work of emergency medical workers at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, my conversation reminded me why I love public health and public health workers. With such poise and grace, Dr. Cooper was willing to talk to an undergraduate student like myself with such emotional vulnerability about tough topics that impacted his life. The  people that my capstone site were able to interview for this project are true heroes that continue to change lives and that continues to propel me to be the best public health practitioner and person that I can be.

My Favorite Quotes:
Having the first case of COVID-19 in the United States meant that there were no procedures in place to effectively provide care to infected individuals. Constantly evolving was important in order to provide the safest care for patients and healthcare workers.

“That had to be the norm. The norm was change. The norm was, ‘we're going to learn more and we're going to keep trying to keep up to date with what we're learning and let's not look at it, as wrong or right we're just going to keep changing.’” (00:17:45.660)

The media was constantly judging the success of the emergency response to the COVID-19 outbreak. While the media’s perception of the success may be based off of different data, emergency medical response workers were able to go to work every day and save lives, which is a success on its own.

“I mean I don't know how people are going to define our success and navigate through this pandemic. But our success was we were able to have first responders show up to work every day, and we were able to keep them safe. And that's really our job to be able to respond to emergencies in the community, and you can only do that if you have a workforce and, of course, that workforce is important and we want that workforce to be safe and healthy. So I think that's kind of how we look at our success is being able to show up every day and do the job.” (00:22:32.370)

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Name: Lucy Artman
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Section AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: In partnership with the WSHS and SHD, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity of conducting an oral history interview for the Wing Luke Museum. I interviewed Councilmember Elisabeth Crawford about her experiences during the pandemic and learned about COVID-19 response from a policy standpoint. Elisabeth is a member of the Mukilteo City Council and the Washington State Board of Health. Talking with Elisabeth enabled me to get a glimpse into what it was like to be one of the first responders to the pandemic. I learned about the different stresses and responsibilities that came with the policy making processes and what it was like to be in the public eye at the midst of a wide array of misinformation. To be honest, I was incredibly nervous for my interview and how I would possibly take up the entire hour and a half. After my interview, I felt that an hour and a half was far too short to fully capture Elisabeth's experiences during the pandemic. However, what I learned was truly insightful. I was able to connect with Elisabeth on a personal level and learn from her personal and professional story.

Potential Public Health Impact: I did not really come to terms with the vast importance of this oral history project until I asked Elisabeth "What do you want people to know about the pandemic and your experience one hundred years from now?"

She responded: "Oh gosh that is a really hard question (laughing). I think I would like people to know it has been really hard, very difficult, very sad (crying). We have lost a lot of people. I think something that could be done differently could be to really focus on the facts and the science. And I think financials come second, and as a country-- I mean the United States will always find a way to recover, because as a lot of people would say, we are the greatest country in the world. But putting our people first is a priority. I think we are doing the best that we can now. I think we could have done better. One hundred years from now I hope people don't have to live through something like this. But if they do, that they can see the lessons that we learned during this pandemic and be able to apply them to save more lives."

I realized in this moment how impactful this project is for future generation. The Public Health Impact of this project is that we are directly recording history and documenting our experiences and public health responses so that future generations can learn from our mistakes and tackle outbreaks and public health crises in years to come.

What I learned: I learned how to be genuine in a professional environment. This was the largest takeaway that I received from this project. I was able to learn things about Elisabeth that she had not told some of her own friends. It was very impactful to me personally. This was an emotional experience and it really taught me how to welcome vulnerability. I learned how to produce open ended interview and probing questions that enabled honest responses from my interviewee. Another learning moment was with regards to active listening. I am a very social person and a huge talker. I learned how to listen and respond with meaningful responses instead of just simply sharing similar experiences. I also learned a lot about how our policy makers are incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into their own processes. I will be taking what I have learned from Elisabeth into the medical field when I become a Physician Assistant. I want to incorporate similar methods of community based approaches in the health care environment. I am so grateful for this opportunity. Thank you to the teaching team, Elisabeth, and everyone who made this possible.

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Capstone Project

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Capstone Project

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Name: Taylor Noval

Location: Seattle, WA.

Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: For my capstone project, I got the opportunity to work with the WSHS and SHD through conducting oral histories of the responders of the first COVID-19 case in the United States. I was grateful to interview Scott Bader, a council member for the Board of Health of the SHD. During the pandemic, Scott worked part time on the Board of Health. His position was responsible for conveying information regarding the pandemic to the public. He mentioned the need for transparency in disseminating data and providing context for such. When discussing the challenges of communication, he talked about the lengths that his staff went to in order to ensure that vulnerable groups such as the elderly and non-English speakers were receiving this valuable information. In addition to sharing about his role with the Board of Health, we talked about the importance of family during this unprecedented time. Like many of us can probably relate to, Scott used this time to go on walks in the park, play board games, and complete puzzles with his close family members. Upon conducting the interview, I pulled out key quotes while cleaning up the transcript. Finally, I created a presentation that touched on Scott’s experience and response to the pandemic, the process of conducting an oral history, and the personal impact to share with my classmates and other interviewees.

Public Health Impact: The public health impact that I hope was captured during my interview with Scott is the importance of effective communication and personal connections during times of public health emergencies. Given the constant relay of new findings in regard to the virus itself or how to best protect yourself from it, communicating this valuable information to community members should be of high priority. Along with that, Scott’s experience highlighted a model of how to approach barriers in communication. For example, with the elderly population, he stated that the Board of Health teamed up with caregivers in nursing homes or retirement communities to pass on up-to-date information, as well as restrictions and guidelines. In regard to the connection aspect of the public health impact, I have developed a greater understanding of the interconnectedness of the public health field, and the different relationships that are forged during a public health emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In Scott’s role as a council member on the Board of Health, he was in contact with school district superintendents, business managers, and most importantly, his constituents, in order to spread public health messages.

What I learned: Throughout this oral history project, I learned how to best capture one’s words and experiences through the process of active listening. In addition, I learned that reading body language and facial expressions can reveal more to one’s story than just simply their words. However, in order to be able to accomplish that, I had to become fully present with the moment. While conducting my interview with Scott, I came to realize how much public health is growing as a discipline and a field. Scott got a degree in political science, with a minor in history and economics, yet 35 years later he is talking about how he wishes he knew more about public health as a university student because of how interesting and relevant it is. This makes me excited to go out into the real world and explore the different opportunities that public health has to offer. Most importantly, this capstone project has taught me that there are so many dimensions to this field and that the work that I will do within it will serve to make a difference in our communities.

Favorite & Relatable Quotes:
“Even before the pandemic, I actually learned a lot about public health so I'm kind of envious of you, and I think it's a great field to choose as I look back 35 years ago when I would have been at the UW, it's like 'Wow I wish I would have chosen public health because that's a lot more fascinating field than I thought it was'.”

“I think having a family was an advantage because it helped me to focus on just the normalcy of everyday life that was going to happen regardless. I mean… taking walks around the neighborhood or just being able to watch something on TV or something like that. Whereas I think if I had not had family at home, it would have been easier to become almost obsessive about the situation with COVID, rather than treat it as just an overlay on the way we had to live life for a while.”

“I think it was the stress of the unknown.”

In regard to one lesson he will carry with him moving forward: “The need to get to know your neighbors better, so you can maintain those connections because it's easy to become isolated when there's lockdowns, if that ever were to have to happen again.”

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Scott Bader Council Member on the Board of Health for SHD (2)

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SPH 496 A Oral History Presentation Summarizing the story and impact of my time working with Garry Mulgrew

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Name: Sebastian Lucatero
Location: Seattle, Wa
Capstone Site: Section AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did:

For this capstone project, my capstone section AC partnered with the Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD). Our goal was to interview public health practitioners which worked with the SHD during the beginning of the pandemic to respond to the first cases of COVID-19 in Snohomish County and all of the U.S. My peers and I collected these interviews and documented the audio, video, and text transcripts in a shared database to be shared with the WSHS so that they could collect these stories into an Oral History of the first few people to experience the pandemic in the U.S. I had the opportunity to interview Garry Mulgrew who worked as an Environmental Health Specialist II before and during the pandemic. Before the pandemic, Gary worked in regulating inspections on pollution prevention at onsite hazardous waste and stormwater treatment. During the beginning and interchangeably throughout the rest of the pandemic Garry helped set up mass testing sites in Everett and around Snohomish County. He covered a wide range of roles at these testing sites from being a safety officer, giving out COVID tests, distributing PPE, and eventually administering the Vaccine. During our interview we discussed a range of topics that covered a few key themes ranging from misinformation, COVID guidelines, Fostering Hope, and contemplations on freedom and security as a public health practitioner. In regards to misinformation, Garry was a large proponent of following the science and empirical data and sharing this information to allow one to inform their opinion and be patient with people. He was also a supporter of following the guidelines that are set in place to help people and had positive things to say about the SHD's model for prevention against infectious diseases. Additionally, what I found especially poignant was Garry's ability to foster hope amidst overwhelming cynicism and how he gained motivation from his religious beliefs, family, community, and the hard work put in by his peers. Finally, his perspective on freedom and security was important for public health and highlighted that one's personal choices still have very public consequences and as such should be factored in informing those choices.

Public Health Impact:

The public health impact that I hope my interview with Garry Mulgrew is captured and shared with the wider world is to first capture the stories of the first responders. This is to highlight the importance of the individual workers that put their time and energy to contribute to collective well-being and greater public health. Additionally, Garry and I discussed a lot of aspects of the country's response to the pandemic that hindered progress mainly on misinformation, monitoring population health, and public and private spheres of influence. What is important is that this perspective is documented to help inform how to better structure a response to infectious disease to better serve and equitably distribute heath services to Snohomish County and the wider world. Finally, I hope that this interview helps inspire more people to learn of the importance of Public Health to welfare and healthfulness as well as motivate more people to participate in Public Health.

What I learned:

Throughout the process of conducting this oral history, I learned introspectively and retrospectively how to be a better communicator and active listener. I learned how to ask open-ended questions which allow for a range of topics to be discussed. I also learned how to ask follow-up questions which probe at additional information which can be useful for directing a conversation towards any trajectory. Additionally, I learned about the importance of being a listener and allowing conversations to unfold naturally. I also learned how to foster hope from overwhelming odds and the need to always continually improve my communications skills as there were times when I knew I wanted to improve in this area. Finally, I learned how to collect audio, video, and speech-to-text files from an interview as well as how to clean and edit a text transcript.

Impactful quotes:

“thumbs up to a lot of these are young people a lot of these are people just coming out of college like yourself, many of them that are in our IC command unit. A lot of people that are working, our test site our vaccine site they're brand new. graduated people you have in various areas and I’m telling you guys stepped up, and I have complete confidence that our future looks good” (00:26:21)

“that's a public thing, so now you've got a public issue, and I think sometimes people forget, you can do personal choices, but when you do something that's public that affects the public, you need to be thinking outside of yourself, and I think that's the challenge sometimes” (01:11:11)

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National Asian Pacific Center on Aging: COVID-19 & Cultural Mistrust

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National Asian Pacific Center on Aging: COVID-19 & Cultural Mistrust

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Location: International District; Seattle WA

Team: Aaliyah Fields, Ritu Patel, Wenxiao Zhang

What We Did
For this capstone, we created a public service announcement and viral video about Anti-Asian Americans' hesitation towards getting vaccinated in the current COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with NAPCA, these videos are used to help raise awareness about the ongoing cultural mistrust and misinformation with vaccinations.  As the COVID-19 vaccination decision-making is influenced by cultural, political, social, and individual factors, our hope is to increase trust, access, and vaccination rates within this population.

Potential Public Health Impact of This Project
The collection of data from people who experience or witnessed mistrust in vaccines in the past may decrease. This comes as there has been much more vaccine information available through the pandemic to support the actions of herd immunity. Evidence has shown the implementation of vaccination against COVID-19 has resulted in decreased rates of infection and other adverse health outcomes associated with COVID-19. Vaccination helps collectively as a whole to ensure everyone in the community lives a healthy life especially if those around you cannot get vaccinated. In the end, our aim is to increase overall vaccination rates and decrease such adverse health outcomes associated with COVID-19 within the AAPI communities.

What we learned
In making these videos, we learned about the history of NAPCA, the project’s mission, and how to communicate public health information in culturally appropriate and concise ways. Making a PSA and viral video was a crucial implementation of having them be uniquely diverse and understandable to varying ages of people. This project has allowed us the opportunity to be advocates for minority populations like the AAPI and to connect this population to resources that would impact their overall voice and future policies.

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Name: Willy Willoughby
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Section AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I Did: For our capstone section, we had the opportunity of interviewing the first responders working in Snohomish Health District, who responded to the first positive COVID-19 case in the United States. Through these interviews, we are able to document the oral histories of the initial response to the first COVID-19 case in the US for the generations to come. I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Alessandra Durham. During the beginning of the pandemic, Alessandra was the Snohomish County Senior Executive Policy Analyst as well as Office of Social Justice prior to a promotion. Alessandra worked directly with the formation of pandemic response and the advising of policy. She commented on the planning and implementation of the Structural Isolation Quarantine Facility in Everett and the number of minds and hands allocated to ensuring this facility was successful. In addition, a large priority of hers stemmed into equity work and outreach to communities. During our interview, we discussed the importance of trust and allyship with communities who have been harmed and targeted for generations. It's about fulfilling promises, showing your true intent with actions and being accountable for your mistakes, if they occur. In addition, we were able to highlight aspects of self-care as well as where she turned to for support. Even in the darkest days and instances where she was exhausted, she found hope out of the sense of duty and the love for her community. After the interview, I cleaned up the transcript, pulled out key quotes and themes, and was formed a presentation as a snapshot of our interview together.

Public Health Impact: My capstone was able to document the response to the first positive COVID-19 case in the US. My hope is that by documenting these stories, the generations to come with have a greater understanding on how to prepare for the next public health emergency. I hope that through these personal moments and times of vulnerability, we are able to be more receptive, considerate and understanding with one another. I also hope that by documenting these oral histories, we are better understanding of the work and efforts that are put forth in the Public Health field that span beyond medical or frontline personnel. Alessandra and her equity work represent an aspect of importance and value that is necessary to support communities who have been discriminated against for generations. These experiences give a glimpse of the strain and mental exhaustion that this pandemic has created. I hope that the listeners of these oral histories can peer into the first few moments of COVID-19 and attempt to understand the dedication and tireless efforts of the Snohomish Health Department.

What I learned: Through this experience, I truly admired the passion, dedication and tireless efforts put forth by Alessandra and her team. I am truly inspired to take my public health work and future forward and to recognize the potential that I have to positively impact communities around me. I learned about the personal moments of conducting an history and felt more connected with my interviewee. I learned how to be an active listener and to properly clean up a transcript. In addition, I learned how to pull certain quotes our and which themes I should highlight. I am so thankful for this experience and hope to utilize this experience in my public health work moving forward.

My Favorite Quotes:

How to Find Hope

“I think I mean anybody who, who has a passion for this area of work or a passion for people who are marginalized or experiencing hardships, won’t stop. And if you don't, if you just stop completely, imagine what things would look like. Right, so I think it would have been easy for anyone in our team to go it's just really bleak and sometimes you go home and you feel pretty defeated. But you go back every day, out of a sense of just duty and like a love for the Community.”

How to Gain Trust

“You have systems, who have harmed people and it takes a lot to get trust back. You demonstrate it consistently and you make good on your word and you keep your promises.  You have to keep showing up in that way and accountability is a big deal, I mean we all make mistakes, if you make a mistake explain it to the Community and try to do better, make the next day right.”

Spanish Flu Graveyard Connection to COVID-19

“In 100 years somebody is going to be walking through a cemetery just like this going, “Wow”, look at all of these people who passed away from COVID. Granted they'll have more access to content because of where we are with modern technology and all the reporting, but at the same time it's a little bit of frustration, because you know in we had a politician who didn't believe in science right, so a lot of the measures that we know that could’ve saved lives were delayed, and we have politicians that are still telling people not to get vaccinated or to gather unmasked. So in 100 years we're going to see people walking through cemeteries with probably similar thoughts of just like wow how tragic, but it was so unnecessary.”

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Mini Presentation that summarized key points from my interview 

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Name: Jennifer Rueda Verduzco

Location: Seattle, WA

Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: For our section's capstone project we interviewed first responders working in the Snohomish Health District (SHD) who were the first to respond to COVID cases in the United States. I had the pleasure of interviewing Hollianne Bruce, who is one of the lead epidemiologists at the SHD. In order to prepare for the interview, our section learned about oral histories, including why it is so important to preserve people’s stories during historical events, and how to conduct an oral history. During my interview with Mrs. Bruce, I was able to learn more about what the process of dealing with the first COVID case looked like, how SHD prioritizes vulnerable populations and the importance of being community-minded. Mrs. Bruce also shared a bit of what was occurring in her personal life as well, and emphasized the role that her family had in keeping her grounded during such a stressful time. After conducting this one hour interview, I cleaned up the transcript and reached out to Mrs. Bruce for artifacts from this time of her life. Mrs. Bruce graciously shared a picture of her family at Glacier National Park.

Public Health Impact: The biggest public health impact of this set of interviews is to capture the pandemic response from the perspective of first responders, and to capture the impact that mounting a response to a novel virus had on the personal lives of first responders. One of the essential public health services is to assess and monitor population health, and through this interview I was able to learn more about how that logistically happens. This information will be accessible for future generations to glean a look into what first responders were experiencing during this pandemic.

What I learned: I had never been on the interviewer side before, so one of my biggest takeaways from this project is the process of interviewing someone and being an active listener. I also learned a lot from Mrs. Bruce, including how they interviewed the first COVID case, what worried them during the pandemic, and the challenges of communicating to the public in a situation that was rapidly changing. I was inspired by the commitment that Mrs. Bruce had about keeping our community safe and her resilience throughout the pandemic.

Quotes that will stick with me:

“You want people to trust us and that we know what we're talking about, but there were times when we're like well, we thought it was this and now it's this and and how, how do you communicate live science and I think we’ve all learned a lot about how to and how not to communicate different risks to the public with diseases like COVID”

“Fortunately, I have a really funny kid so I would just go home and he would have me laughing, and so it definitely kept me grounded”

“I think I want people to know about resiliency. I think humans are naturally resilient. I think we're more resilient than a lot of people might think they are, and I think in particular our kids are very resilient and I, you know I saw my son and all of his friends who had do remote school for a whole year and and they did it and they're resilient and they're still happy and healthy and I think he has mental health needs to be addressed, but I do think innately humans are pretty resilient and we can we can get through it just like they did in 1985”

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

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Name: Sophie Reynolds
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Section AC, Washington State Historical Society & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: For my capstone project, I worked with the Washington State Historical Society to collect oral histories to document the response to the first case of COVID-19 in the US in Snohomish County, WA. I conducted an oral history interview with Kari Bray, the Communications Coordinator for the Snohomish Health District. Kari had been working at SHD for about two years when COVID-19 landed in Washington State, she quickly shifted into COVID-19 communications and worked on Covid until taking maternity leave in the Fall of 2021. During this interview, we discussed the earliest days of the COVID-19 response in WA State, work/life balance during the pandemic, and the state of the pandemic two years later. After our interview, I cleaned up the transcript, pulled key quotes and themes, and created a short presentation to highlight some of my favorite moments from the interview.

Public Health Impact: My hope is that my documenting the stories of the first responders to COVID-19 in Washington State, we will be better prepared for the next public health emergency and hopefully will be more gracious with each other. I think that documenting the toll that COVID-19 has taken on the mental health of front line workers during the pandemic will be a valuable lesson for preventing burnout and a mass exodus of healthcare workers during future public health emergencies. I also hope that this project will highlight the importance of public health personnel that are not medical or frontline workers. The SHD communications team has certainly saved lives over the last two years, and I don't think that these folks always get enough credit.

What I Learned: I learned to lean into the personal moments when conducting an oral history, that the stories that best convey what the last two years have been like are the personal ones. I also learned how to clean a transcript and decide which quotes best highlight key themes of an interview. I also learned more about the different considerations of public health communications. For example, at the beginning of the pandemic, it was hard to find the balance between getting people to take covid seriously without causing a panic.

My favorite quotes:

"On days, where I felt like it was hard to to look at the future you come home and you look at that kiddo and you're like that is the future right there like we're going to get  through this and this girl is going to run the world. That's how that's going to work." (00:24:04.830 --> 00:24:10.290)

"It's going to take a long time for me to let go of those early days when it was just a monster, I mean this thing was the  boogeyman for a very long time, and I think it might always be a little bit of a boogeyman to me." (00:43:35.910 --> 00:43:48.210)

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Washington West African Center  - Gallery Wall Production Project Managers 

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Washington West African Center  - Gallery Wall Production Project Managers 

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Location: Lynnwood, Washington

Team: Christine Nguyen, Kaycie Opiyo, Mo Daniels from University of Washington School of Public Health

What We Accomplished:

Our role as Project Managers initially was to support the recruitment of West African fabrics for the gallery production. This required us to collaborate with our team to research the West African community in Washington, create marketing materials that accurately and appropriately interacted with the target audiences, and monitor the collection of fabrics.

With the support of the WAWAC’s network, our class was able to receive about 15-20 unique fabrics. Our quiz section collectively arranged and framed each fabric and researched the cultural significance and origin of each one. Working with Pa Ousman Joof at the WAWAC, our instructors, and peers, we created a successful and elaborate gallery wall that was unveiled at the Washington West African Center (WAWAC) in Lynnwood, Washington. This gallery is not only available online for viewing, but is displayed publicly at the WAWAC as a source of cultural education and pride for West African people. S

Public Health Impact:

The public health impact of our work with WAWAC is fostering community collaboration and cultural education. The gallery wall is meant to serve as a source of cultural pride to represent the rich and diverse backgrounds of the West African community and share the stories about the significance of these fabrics in their unique cultural traditions and celebrations. Many of the fabrics were generously donated by members of the community, and this collaboration was a critical part of the creation of the final deliverable. Our hope is that the gallery wall will serve as a tool specifically to educate those who visit the center on the cultural background of the different communities that WAWAC serves, and especially have an impact on educating the youth who may not have as strong ties to their home countries as they grow up here in Washington. In addition, we hope that the gallery wall can create a sense of belonging for WAWAC community members who can be reminded of a small piece of home through the different fabrics representing multiple West African countries, traditions, and special occasions.

What We Learned:

From this capstone experience with WAWAC we learned a lot about the meaning of culture. As a group with two members being of African descent (Nigeria and Kenya), it was great to be involved in creating this space for the community. We learned the significance of specific traditions and fabrics in West African culture and how important it is to understand the process of making the fabric and how it tells a story of different communities. We learned how to relate to the community and ask for fabrics that they were willing to let go of in order to showcase in our gallery. We learned how to tell the difference between a real or fake fabric for Aso-Ebi clothes and more cultural attire. We learned how to be involved in the community and showcase all cultures in Africa.

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

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Name: Sally Heeweon Hwang

Location: Seattle, WA

Capstone Site: Section AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did

For my capstone project, I have interviewed Jennifer Reid who is an emergency management specialist at the Snohomish Health District. During Covid-19, Jennifer took charge of Snohomish county’s logistics and resource distribution. She has worked on distributing PPE at various organizations and ran mobile clinics at WA school districts. To conduct this interview, I have prepared interview questions and practiced my conversational and active listening skills with friends and family. During my interview, I was able to hear about the pandemic from the Covid-19 first responder's viewpoint and gained insight on how to address vaccine hesitancy and technological barriers accessing Covid-19 information. After the interview, I cleaned up the transcript and retrieved memorable quotes from the interview. With the help of our capstone site, the recorded interview and written transcript that I have completed will be preserved in the museum for future generations to look back on. Also, the virtual tour with Wing Luke Museum helped me realize the significance of collecting oral histories and how it can impact improving health for future generations.

Public Health impact

This capstone project will be a valuable resource to prevent public health emergencies and to be more prepared for pandemics in the future. Not only do the preserved oral histories represent the power of public health but they also capture the historical moment of the COVID-19 pandemic for future generations to look back on. The oral histories will provide a more personal perspective of what it means to live under a pandemic compared to their experience reading articles online. Furthermore, Public health practitioners and researchers can utilize these resources to improve future pandemic guidelines and possibly reduce the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 upon communities of color.

What I learned

By completing this capstone project, I deepened my understanding of the importance of oral histories and the amount of effort that is needed to conduct an interview. As it was my first time being an interviewer, this project was challenging for me. However, through building conversational and active listening skills during our capstone course, I felt more confident and comfortable doing an interview for over an hour. I have also learned how to clean up transcripts which was a valuable experience for me for any qualitative research in the future. Furthermore, it was interesting to hear about the pandemic from the first responder’s point of view. It was inspiring to see her passion and to positively contribute during the pandemic using her skills. Listening to her stories reassured me that I have made the right decision to choose public health and to begin graduate school in September with a positive mindset. Lastly, I have learned that my oral history would be beneficial for future generations to look back on and to improve future pandemic responses. I would like to utilize my interpersonal, conversational, and active listening skills to improve the health of our community as a public health practitioner in the future.

My Favorite Quotes

- Every little action you take no matter how small has a huge impact on everything. I think that really keeps you going, instead of feeling like “Oh well, what I do here doesn't matter”, because everything really mattered. (00:33:14.220)

- We're either going to be a society where everyone just does whatever they want and society crumbles. Or, we're going to come together and say “Okay, I may not want to do this, but if I want to be a part of this group of this community then this is what I have to do”. I think we have to get to some point there. (00:51:53.190)

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Slides from my three minute mini presentation summarizing my time with Keri Moore. 

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

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Name: Kau'i Pi'ilani
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Section AC: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: In this section of the capstone course, we were partnered with the Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD). Through this partnership, we provided support by collecting oral histories via interview of a COVID-19 pandemic first responder at the SHD during the initial stages of the outbreak. When the interview was over, I then transcribed the interview and contextualized a brief abstract. Afterwards, once all of the required paperwork, transcription, and abstract were edited and finalized they were turned in alongside the original transcripts, recordings, and relevant media to the WSHS. By collecting these oral histories, my peers and I were able to create a COVID-19 historical database for future generations to reflect back on. I was given the privilege and pleasure of being paired with Keri Moore, the Deputy Operation Section Chief at the SHD. Keri shared with me her timeline at the SHD which included a variety of roles, most notably her time in tobacco prevention among youth, to a Healthy Communities Specialist, and then finally her activation in March of 2020 to be a D.I.S. or Disease Intervention Specialist until around July where she was given her supervisory role of Deputy Operation Section Chief. Her work during the start of the pandemic was calling people who tested positive for COVID and doing a case investigation interview with them, asking about symptoms and health conditions followed by giving them directions for isolation and talking to their close contacts. When she was given the supervisory role, Keri managed seven different teams that were developed during the COVID response, while also working with specialty teams that oversee areas of employment, long term care facilites, schools, and childcares. Through talking about her working experiences during the pandemic and even now, a common theme mentioned was that she was honored and proud. Keri mentioned multiple times that not only was she proud of herself to be a part of this COVID response with the SHD and protecting the people with Snohomish County but she was also proud of her team and coworkers. That even with the times where there was too much to do in a small amount of time, hope came from seeing how diligently and hard working those around her were, alongside herself. As we get to the stages of COVID-19 slowly becoming more endemic, Keri shares what the future of her work will look like. This involves just looking over the specialty teams as the other seven general teams are gone and looking into how they can demobilize the COVID response, switching gears to sustainability and how they can give communities the resources they need to remain healthy and safe.

Public Health Impact: This project gives an opportunity for future public health practitioners and general public to look back and reflect on how our first responders reacted and work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WSHS shared what little memorabilia, artifacts, and other material there was available regarding previous pandemics and outbreaks, so by being given this opportunity to collect these oral histories we can finally change this pattern and have something to look back on 5, 10, 100 years from now. Aside from compiling a database of a variety of different roles and experiences from first responders, this projects gives insight into the personal, emotional, and mental health aspects that are never always shown. Along with that, due to the nature of some of the questions that could have been asked, the oral histories provide advice from the responders that hopefully future generations can take into consideration if or when the time comes again. The perspectives provided from the oral histories collected will be crucial for future public health work, not only in how we can prepare ourselves for next time but also what worked and what didn't work, and that nothing is ever permanent, there is hope and strength within public health and each other.

What I learned: By being a part of this project, I learned valuable aspects of what it means to work in Public Health. I gained insight in the behind scenes work that our first responders did for two years an continue to do today, more specifically the roles Keri had to play. I also honed my active listening skills and what it means to just take a step back and listen, to rather just sit and listen than rather conjure up a response in my head while the other person speaks. This skill can not only apply with oral histories but also when we start to work for the communities we will be serving. I learned that our first responders are not only resilient, hard working, compassionate and brave but also human. As much as I would feel nervous about the unknown in the early stages of this pandemic, by speaking with Keri, I learned that she was too. This part really hit home for me because I tend to put this barrier between myself, a student, and public health practitioners. That they're just always full of energy and have the capacity to keep going and not be scared or nervous. However as most of that is true, the part about them not being nervous or scared is not, as much as I and others were stressed or tending not to take care of ourselves or struggling to, they were too while having to work and care for not only friends and family but all of us. Getting to speak with Keri gave me more appreciation and love for the fact that I am in this field, this project helped me learn what it means to be an active listener, and that when the time comes Public Health practitioners such as Keri, will show up and be as ready as they can be.

Quotes that stuck with me:

"it was stressful I think, for all of us moving into COVID or working really, really long hours much more so than me even. Even though I was working you know over time, but I do feel like there was a lot of support, there was kind of a camaraderie and we're in this together and we're here to help each other." - 00:07:57.300 -->00:08:18.690

"hearing people and being empathetic but being firm, you know we can't, we can't change our guidance and unfortunately this is, this is what you know you need to do. Giving them resources if we could, but just you know being professional and letting people know that they're heard goes a long way." - 00:16:38.190 --> 00:16:57.660

"You know, it was such an eventful time it was you know we were living through a historical event and that so many people in public health really worked so hard and gave their all to help the people of Snohomish county to protect the people in Snohomish county to try to combat the spread of COVID and keep people safe, and I think is, would really be the message that folks were really dedicated and just working hard to save lives." - 01:08:53.730 --> 01:09:26.130

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Washington State Historical Society/Snohomish Health District Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society/Snohomish Health District Oral History Project

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Name: Annika Lee
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and the Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I Did:
For this capstone project, every student in our section conducted an interview with someone who was influential in the initial response to the very first identified case of COVID-19 in the United States, which appeared in Snohomish County. These interviews were specifically oral histories, which is a form of qualitative data that aims to collect and preserve first-hand stories of important events or people for future generations to use. I had the opportunity to interview Kent Patton who is the Communications Director for the Snohomish County Executive. I was able to get invaluable insight from him regarding those first few days of the pandemic and the crucial role he had in the response. As the Communications Director, he spent 24/7 working on devising the responses and language used, which was particularly difficult at a time when very little was known about the virus and what it meant for Snohomish County. Despite these challenges, I learned from Kent the power of working together and teamwork even when everyone may not be in agreement. After completing the interview, I have been working on cleaning up the transcript and have found some really powerful quotes.

Public Health Impact:
This capstone project will have a huge public health impact for generations in the future. Future public health students/professionals will be able to see and read these first-hand stories of the COVID-19 pandemic from the first-responders potentially hundreds of years from now. When another pandemic inevitably happens in the future, these documented oral histories and the thoughts, opinions, and advice collected from these first-responders will be able to inform future policy and decision-making. Future leaders can learn from the strengths and mistakes of the past to handle a worldwide pandemic better.

What I Learned:
I learned that being a public health professional doesn't necessarily mean that you work directly in traditional public health fields. Kent, my interviewee, works as the Communications Director for the Snohomish County Executive, which may not seem like it directly relates to public health, yet he had a huge impact on public health through devising language and response to COVID-19. Kent had a huge hand in decision-making regarding COVID-19 response and he impacted the health of his county in major ways. I am excited at the thought that, no matter where I end up in life or where I end up working, I can still impact public health and strive towards improving the health of my community. Public health practice can show up anywhere you want it to if you put in the effort.

Favorite Quotes From Kent Patton:

“It's something that starts and you never really know when it's going to end and you don't know the scale. I mean, are we going to lose half our population? Are we talking a medieval plague? … my job is sort of the communication side of it, so what do you say to people? You can't say everything's gonna be okay because you don't know that.” (00:09:19 → 00:09:56)

“It's one thing and it never ends, and so it really was just that Groundhog Day thing. You wake up and every day is almost the same. Slightly different problems, slightly different challenges, slightly different frustrations.” (00:46:59 → 00:47:18)

“From day one until now, everybody worked super well together, and we've got different personalities, different political perspectives, a lot of differences, but there never was any drama. There never was any sort of acting out. There was never any sort of attempt to politicize anything. It really was, ‘what's our challenge today and what do we need to do to address it.’” (00:31:42 → 00:32:21)

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

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Name: Sahib Ghatore
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Section AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I Did:

In my capstone project, I interviewed Lucas Larson who is an Environmental Health Specialist at the Snohomish Health District, and he worked alongside logistics, testing, and emergency response. I started my historical journey by developing interview questions using the aid provided. It was also beneficial to do preliminary research on the Snohomish Health District and environmental health as an overall topic as it helped me gauge which questions were going to make sense for Lucas. After gathering this information, I conducted my interview with Lucas and learned about he and his team’s perspective on the public health response and how this impacted not only his life but the community he’s a part of.  I learned a lot of valuable lessons and how the pandemic for him was seen through two lenses, from a citizen standpoint and also a public health professional’s standpoint. After conducting the interview, I cleaned the transcript, wrote an abstract, and identified important quotes. Lastly, I pooled the audio, video, and written transcript files to send to the Washington State Historical Society.

Public Health Impact:

The public health impact of this capstone project revolves round the COVID-19 pandemic and how conducting these interviews can help give a personable perspective on emergency preparedness and how the public health sector handled the pandemic. This pandemic will go down in history as one of the most pivotal events so archiving these experiences are crucial for not only future public health professionals but for current ones too as they can reflect on what they did right and wrong over the course. In addition to the future scope, the pandemic also gave a new meaning for public health as people are now aware as to what this field is responsible for. Using an interview to display these themes is extremely beneficial as it gives an emotional side of these facts which can reach out to greater audiences.

What I Learned:

I learned a lot of things from this entire capstone project however the main thing I learned was that I am extremely excited to graduate as a public health major and pursue a career in public health as the work is very holistic and shows to prove a good cause. What I mean by this is that many careers are extrinsically motivated but through my interview experience it seemed that Lucas enjoyed his occupation even throughout the pandemic as he saw people being positively affected by his and his team’s actions. I also learned a lot about the pandemic and how us as outsiders are often lied to by the state and media but being able to ask a first responder what actually happened is a lot more effective in receiving correct information. Lastly, I found the entire process beneficial to my learning as an interviewer in that I now know how to conduct better interviews in the future and how to prepare myself for them.

Highlighted Quotes From Lucas Larson:

“There's TVs on all of the walls showing local, national and world news going on, I think that's when it was really like this is a real thing going on here that kind of brought it all together…maybe not full circle, but it really, really solidifies this was the real thing”

“Make sure everyone around us taking care of themselves and not overdoing it and taking care of the stresses that come along as you all work together towards achieving that goal”

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) 

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) 

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Name: Teyj menon
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone site: AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: This capstone project that I was so lucky to be apart of was focused on conducting interviews with the first health responders to the first cases of COVID-19 back in early 2020. More specifically we were paired with a health responder, retired supervisor for my case, and held an interview focused on assessing what all was going on in their mind during this stressful time, and as well investigated many other questions that we prepared in advance. Through the work with WSHS, SHD, and the Wing Luke Museum throughout the quarter, we learned how there are many of benefits to collecting oral histories. After the completion of this interview I was tasked with cleaning the transcript in which I pulled important quotes out of to present in my 3 minute presentation.

Public Health Impact: Being immersed in the creation of oral histories was a very cool and unique opportunity that most people don't get. Getting to hear, first hand, the troubles and strategies to work with the first Covid-19 case in America was a life changing experience. Recording this oral history paves way for future Public Health Workers to identify better strategies to work through the beginning of a pandemic. Who knows... The oral histories we have collected may be used in training future public health officials in how to react to such a disaster with such little time to act.

What I learned: Prior to working with the Snohomish Health district in my capstone project, I was not fond of the idea of oral histories. I had not previously understood how important these interviews would be when assessing how to move forward in combating such a pandemic. Specifically this opportunity has showed me that there are many moving parts to acting on a pandemic, but in order to thoroughly address all of them you must take a step back and understand the importance of the work you are doing. This project also has taught me, through interviewing the director of prevention services tasks throughout this difficult time, that the most important thing to remember is that "It is a marathon, not a sprint".

Favorite Quotes:

"It is a marathon, not a sprint"

"One of my favorite sayings if I gave presentations on on communicable disease of any sort was to say we are only 24 hours away from any disease in the world, because people can fly anywhere in the world and 24 hours and bring something into us so we look back at."

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Slides from 3-minute presentation summarizing my interview with Juliet D'Alessandro

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Name: Jamie Lan
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Section AC: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: The main objective of this capstone project was to interview a public health professional who worked on the COVID-19 response in Snohomish County. These oral histories will be collected by WSHS in order to preserve the stories of COVID-19 first responders for future generations. I conducted an interview with Juliet D’Alessandro, who is a Healthy Communities Specialist at the Snohomish Health District. Leading up to the interview, our class sessions focused on practicing active listening skills, forming interview guides, and learning how to use Zoom’s recording and auto-generated transcript features. My interview lasted just under an hour and a half, during which I asked Juliet about her role at the SHD and her personal reflections on the pandemic. After the interview, I went back through the auto-generated transcript to correct any mistakes, format it correctly, and identify pull-quotes to highlight. Finally, I gave a three-minute presentation that summarized this experience.

What I learned: I learned a lot from Juliet about how most non-COVID work, such as the opioid response project she works on, was interrupted by the pandemic. Juliet shared her insight on what it was like to pivot to working on the COVID response, and how even now, her opioid work is still not operating at its full potential. This was an excellent real-world example of how funding and staffing for public health is often inconsistent and may need to be redirected to a “more urgent” project at any time. I also got to hear about the work that the SHD was doing to prioritize equity in the COVID response, through the example of how the health district worked with community leaders in Snohomish County’s large Marshallese community to provide culturally relevant testing and vaccine campaigns. This was a neat connection to the concepts we emphasize in class, and inspired me to continue pursuing public health because of the impacts we can make. Lastly, I learned the important role oral histories play in historical archives and how this project will be used to inform future generation’s perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public health impacts: I think these oral histories will contribute to the collective memory of the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare future generations for future pandemics. I think hearing about the more personal aspects of interviewees’ stories will help future generations remember that real people went through the COVID-19 pandemic, and increase the likelihood that public health remains a priority in everyday people’s lives. The insight given by current public health professionals will ideally help streamline and improve future emergency responses. In particular, Juliet drew my attention to the importance of sustainable funding and preparedness in all aspects of public health.

Favorite quotes from Juliet D'Alessandro:

“I think there was the real urgency of COVID but the urgency of our opioid work didn't go away that whole time, it just got harder to do it" (21:04)

"We talked to a lot of people who were home and really sick and really scared and you know, didn't know what to expect, and early on I think we didn't really know what to tell them" (31:24)

"I had friends who live in New York City and ended up having their wedding on Zoom and like, I went to one of my best friend's wedding on Zoom and you know, I still got to be a part of it, and the fact that people still figured out how to live their lives, I think, was-- I think there was some kind of beauty and hope in that" (49:04)

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Washington West African Center Fabric Gallery 

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Washington West African Center Fabric Gallery 

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Names: Najma Abdi, Lyan Lopez, Magdalene Tran
Location: Lynnwood, WA
Capstone Site: Washington West African Center

What we did:

Our group, the Cultural RA’s, helped  to create a collage of traditional/cultural West African fabric to be displayed on a gallery wall at the Washington West African Center (WAWAC). After receiving the fabrics from the WAWAC community, we conducted research behind the significance of the fabrics. This included research on the designs, origins, and color schemes. Our research was used to create descriptions for each of the fabrics. In addition to framing the fabrics and creating a description, our group designed an eye-catching promotional flier that was used to recruit West African fabrics in the community. Our flier incorporated Kente cloth designs and colorful messaging. The flier was sent out to the WAWAC community through Whatsapp.

Public Health Impact:

The public health impact of the work that we are doing with WAWAC is educating the host and immigrant community, as well as promoting cultural pride within the West African immigrant community in the Seattle area. Through the culmination of fabrics, we hope that the gallery makes a statement on the diversity and uniqueness within the West African immigrant community. Our fabric gallery displays the uniqueness of these communities through dyes and color schemes, patterns, and their cultural use. The origins come from different West African countries, regions, and tribes. Each holds its own significance and story. Through our descriptions, audiences will recognize the diversity within the West African community. Hopefully, this opens up perspectives on the African immigrant population and the communities that form it.

Collective Learning:

Each of us don’t identify with being West African but collectively practice some of the same values that are shared across West Africa as children of immigrants and refugees. We learned about how important community and culture is to us. Growing up and being in white spaces, there is not enough representation found and people can feel a lack of belonging in the spaces they are in. By doing a gallery that embraces different West African cultures and allowing there to be a space for dialogue about inclusivity, those of the younger generations can feel that sense of belonging. Rabi has been an essential part of our learning and how we think about culture in the context of public health. The practice of public health doesn’t embrace the strengths that come with knowing another language or being multicultural and in doing this project, we as future leaders in public health will take that aspect and tie it into what we want to do. Especially in terms of the creation of equity-based practices in communities of color.

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) 

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD) 

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Name: Jillese Bush
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: For this capstone project I was able to interview Therese Quinn who is the MRC Coordinator for the Snohomish Health District working in emergency preparedness and response. Therese gave me insight into the pandemic response and everything that goes into preparing for emergencies or events like this pandemic. With the help of WSHS, SHD, and the Wing Luke Museum we learned about the importance of oral history as a qualitative data tool, and learned how to preserve these stories so that future generations can learn not only about the pandemic as a whole, but also about strengths and weaknesses in the public health response as well as advice from interviewees about how to prepare for the next emergency. An important part of this process was building rapport with the interviewee, validating their lived experience, and actively listening to and engaging with their stories. Once the interview was complete we worked with the folks at WSHS to learn how to clean the transcripts and get all of the content ready to be housed in the museum for future use.

Public Health Impact: This project offered the unique opportunity to write history. We were able to hear stories from the first responders to a global pandemic and the first confirmed covid-19 case in the United States. They offered a very important perspective into emergency public health response and candidly shared the trials and triumphs from their pandemic response so that future generations can utilize this insight to better understand how to combat the next pandemic. We have very few artifacts from the last pandemic which limits our ability to understand the circumstances at that time and to learn from possible mistakes made. This project will give people something to build off of for the next time something happens, and from the perspective of my interviewee, it gives us a chance to really focus on and emphasize preparedness so that communities are ready to come together and encourage cohesiveness and cooperation instead of panic and dissidence.

What I Learned: This project reaffirmed for me that I chose the right agency in public health and that there are people out there working everyday to make the world a better place even if their individual contributions sometimes go largely unnoticed. My interviewee is pushing for culturally competent trainings and community connection every single day and this really encouraged me to continue to put equity at the forefront of my work because there are people out there doing the work, and we have the skills and knowledge necessary to make a real lasting impact on the future of public health. In addition to this, this entire process gave me a lot of perspective and allowed me to take a step back to see all of the good that people are putting into the world. These last 2+ years have been volatile, and turbulent, and extremely difficult, but there are folks out there showing up for work everyday with the mindset that what they are doing will literally make the world a better place and that is truly inspiring.

Favorite Quotes:
“Hope is stronger than fear”

“You know if you tell somebody that you want to spend $100 on on something to prevent something bad from happening they're like “Why do I need to spend $100 that's that's not going on?” and then the then you don't spend that and then you end up spending $1,000 trying to fix the thing well nobody's gonna argue with spending $1,000 because it's horrible thing has happened.” -on the importance of preparedness

“I just think that if people can cross the lines and say, this is not political, this is about human beings…” -on togetherness and responding to crises

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Washington West African Center (WAWAC) Art Gallery

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Washington West African Center (WAWAC) Art Gallery

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Washington West African Center’s Fabric Gallery

Names: Ava Dickes, Rei Marshall, Liz Rauscher, and Lucy Yates

Location: Lynwood, WA

Capstone Site: Washington West African Center

What we did: For our capstone project, our group worked alongside other classmates to recruit, research, and install a gallery of traditional West African fabrics at the Washington West African Center (WAWAC). We utilized WAWAC’s community network and created recruitment materials to ask community members to send us traditional fabrics. Once the fabrics were mailed to WAWAC and received by us, we researched the history, significance, and meaning of each fabric. We received a wide array of colors, patterns, and types of fabrics. Our research helped us to create a description of each fabric, which was printed out and included in our final gallery of framed fabrics. We visited WAWAC as a group to install the gallery, which will remain for years to come.

Public health impact: Community togetherness and feelings of belonging are essential aspects to bolstering health, especially among immigrant communities. Our project aims to enhance WAWAC’s physical space by showcasing aspects of West African culture that bring pride to the community. The gallery will help to encourage community gathering, togetherness, and kinship, while informing younger generations about the history and significance of the traditional fabrics from the cultures of which they belong. We hope that the gallery will serve as one of the many important facilitators to WAWAC’s goals of improving health and supporting the immigrant community.

What we learned: From this capstone experience we have been able to gain a deeper understanding of how cultural wealth works to enhance a community's feelings of pride and empowerment. Throughout our research process, we learned the symbolism behind various fabrics, colors, and designs in traditional West African textiles and the various purposes each type of fabric serves. As we installed our display, it was apparent how the vibrant fabrics enhanced the space and how this piece will continue to impact the community for generations. The installation process, and subsequent celebration after, taught us how impactful a project like this can be in bolstering community pride. After we were done installing the gallery, Rabi talked us through the potential long term effects of our project, including bolstering a sense of pride in community in younger generations whose families are a part of WAWAC. We feel honored to have been part of this project, and are deeply grateful to the WAWAC community for welcoming us into their space!

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS)/ Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS)/ Snohomish Health District (SHD) Oral History Project

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Name: Payton Pedersen

Location: Seattle, WA

Capstone Site: AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and the Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I Did:

For this capstone deliverable, each member of our class conducted an interview with a staff member of the Snohomish Health District (SHD). These interviews will be compiled to create the first COVID-19 historical database in the nation. With the help of the Washington State Historical Society, our interviews will be used for COVID related exhibits and then stored for future generations. My interview was with Samantha Matthew, who serves as the SHD’s manager of the Communicable Disease programs and Emergency Preparedness and Response program. With a nursing and infection prevention background, she served as the central point of contact for long-term healthcare facilities. This interview outlines a multi-faceted approach to community health, and highlights a diverse, skilled, and energized team of leaders who championed the COVID-19 pandemic response effort between 2020 and 2022. After a 1 hour and 18 minute interview, I cleaned the transcript, created an abstract, and picked out several of my favorite quotes from the interview.

What I Learned:

Collecting oral histories from members of a population is one tool in producing qualitative data for public health. Collecting qualitative data through interviews allows public health practitioners to gain a deeper understanding of thoughts, feelings, cultural norms, and values in relation to the topic of interest. From these oral histories, we are not only able to examine what these first responders did in the face of a global pandemic, but why those things happened and how they were experienced. Through this process, I have gained insight on the importance of qualitative investigation. In our core public health courses, we have learned how to engage with communities and community members in an equitable way. This includes centering their needs, remaining reflexive, and establishing positive long-term relationships. My interview with Samantha Matthew was a tangible application of these concepts that will inform my public health practice going forward.

Public Health Impact:

Collecting oral histories for the COVID-19 pandemic will have a multi-generational impact. Public health practitioners, scientists, historians, and our own children will be able to understand this pandemic in a deeper, more meaningful, and more holistic way. As discussed in my interview with Samantha, her hope for the future is that people recognize the power and capabilities of public health.

My Favorite Quotes:

“And so, I guess, that's probably why I describe it [infection prevention] as weird because it wasn't something everyone thought of as quite as important as we find it truly is, which is pretty spectacular, let's be honest.” (00:40:21.060 --> 00:40:34.800)

“It's sometimes the small things that can have the biggest benefit. And so that's, I would say, frequently the thing that i'm most passionate about. The small things we can do to help keep each other safe” (01:04:22.290--> 01:04:40.200)

“I would say just every single day in the last two years has been an example of patience, resiliency and, you know, focusing on opportunities for self care.” (01:10:17.520 --> 01:10:28.560)

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) & Snohomish Health District (SHD)Oral History Project

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Name: Katie Hernandez
Location: Seattle, Washington
Capstone Site: AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and the Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I Did:
For this capstone deliverable, my section was tasked with conducting an interview with a staff member of the Snohomish Health District (SHD.) The reason that we conducting these interviews was so that we could compile and create the first COVID-19 historical database in the nation. I was able to speak with and interview Heather Thomas, who is the Public & Government Affairs Manager at SHD. Heather shared about her vast experiences throughout the pandemic and how her team and her had to quickly adapt, specifically because Heather was one of the main point of contacts for the first positive SARS-CoV-2 case. Since no one could have anticipated or prepared for the pandemic we are currently living in, Heather quickly pivoted and oftentimes dedicated working overtime in order to serve the community. The dedication and passion that Heather embodies was evident when I spoke with her, and her positive perspective was refreshing and hopeful to learn from. This interview outlines an approach to community health, and highlights the dedication and diverse skillset that Heather and her team presented in order to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020-2022.

Public Health Impact:
The potential public health impact of this oral history capstone project will carry on for future generations. Because we were able to collect oral histories for the COVID-19 pandemic, future health practitioners, histories, and scientists will be able to recount key data points and better understand the pandemic. The interviews exemplify candid, transparent recollections from our interviewees that could not be translated on paper. I believe that by hearing these individual stories, future generations will be able to gain different perspectives on the situation and review the pandemic in a more holistic point of view. I hope that viewers of these oral histories recognize the importance and power of public health, the dedication that these public health practitioners embody, and therefore, are able to reflect and appreciate the transformative points of the pandemic.

What I Learned:
By interviewing and collecting this oral history, I was better able to understand how to effectively gather qualitative data so that it is of use to the public health field. Throughout the interview, I improved my active listening skills and realized the importance of unpacking events in order to gain a deeper understanding of someone's experiences. By speaking with Heather, I was able to learn about how her role shifted and changed in response to the pandemic. The knowledge that I have obtained from Heather's experiences tremendously heightened my appreciation for public health practitioners, and has made me even more proud (if that is possible!) to be able to study and pursue a career in this field. One learning that specifically stood out to me was the collaboration that Heather told me about, and how the relationships she has built in the past were able to help her future. Overall, my interview with Heather Thomas was a conversation that allowed me to connect concepts that I have learned throughout my educational experiences, as well as strengthen my desire to continue learning and moving forward within public health.

My Favorite Quotes:
"And that was back when we had to fly specimens to Atlanta, and so they were flown overnight (to Atlanta) and those tests came back later that afternoon saying they're positive so,

It was a flurry of phone calls. I went from one phone call or Zoom meeting to the next until about 11:30 that night."
(0:12:02-26)

"In the early days, there was so much unknown, so people were asking questions and talking to any type of scientist or researcher...

It was just the two of us, so it was really long (days.) The first couple months were brutal. You know, I think I worked 15 to 18 days straight."
(0:33:54-0:35:11)

Over time, like the flu there's a new variantand it becomes a serious health issue. Every year, we continue to say, you know, get your flu shot. But I think it takes time for our bodies and the Communityto develop that kind of immunity.

I think the hope is that we can get to where we just ask, and most people will do it."
(0:57:04-43)

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Picture Version Mini Oral Presenation - Heather Thomas-3

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Washington West Africa Center (WAWAC) Viral Video on Vaccination Status

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Washington West Africa Center (WAWAC) Viral Video on Vaccination Status

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Names: Gabby Green & Kayla Guild-Taylor
Location: Lynnwood, WA
Capstone Site: Washington West Africa Center

What we did: For this capstone project we created a video that explains how the number of doses of vaccines that a person has received for COVID-19 determines their vaccination status (e.g. unvaccinated, vaccinated, boosted). We used information from the CDC website and our own knowledge about COVID-19 vaccination status to create this video. We used resources from WAWAC to make the video more culturally competent. The videos and background music was provided by Pa Ousman the Executive Director at WAWAC. We tried to keep the video short, engaging and easy to understand so that the audience can get the most information out of the video.

Public Health Impact: WAWAC plans to use this video on in their social media to inform members of the West African community in Washington about vaccination statuses. Information out of the CDC can be difficult to digest and is not offered in every language. Pa Ousman told us that members of the WAWAC team will add voice overs in other languages so that the video can reach a larger audience. It is extremely important that all people are able to have access to COVID-19 vaccination information so they can keep themselves and their community safe.

What I Learned: I learned a lot about culturally competent information and communication. I was able to experience, first hand, the importance of working with a community as opposed to 'helping' a community. We made a video that was requested by WAWAC because it was information that needed to be disseminated to their audiences, we did not go in and tell the organization what they needed. We were also able to receive feedback on our video drafts from Pa Ousman. He informed us that the websites we had listed at the end of the video should be taken out because the older members of the community would not be using the Washington vaccine locator tool. Instead, he had us put the WAWAC phone number so people could call to get the information they need. This kind of feedback is invaluable in public health work because a people who are not members of the West African community working with someone from the community helps us to do more effective and more meaningful work.

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Chief Health Officer at Snohomish Health District- Dr. Christopher Spitters

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Washington State Historical Society/Snohomish Health District Oral History Capstone Project

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Washington State Historical Society/Snohomish Health District Oral History Capstone Project

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Name: Rachel Ho

Location: Seattle, WA

Capstone Site: AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: In my capstone project, I conducted an interview with Dr. Christopher Spitters who is the Chief Health Officer at Snohomish Health District, and worked in response to the first COVID-19 case in Snohomish county and in the United States. To conduct this interview, I first learned about what oral histories are, and why they are important. I also learned how to develop interview questions, use active listening, and use probes to gain a deeper understanding of an interviewee’s story. Using these concepts that I learned, I conducted an hour and a half interview to learn more about Dr. Spitter’s work in the public health response, how this work impacted his life, and what lessons people should take away from this pandemic for future public health work. After conducting the interview, I cleaned the transcript, wrote an abstract, and picked some quotes to highlight. Finally, I put together the audio, video, and transcript files for WSHS.

Public Health Impact: The potential public health impact of this oral history capstone project is to learn about what happened in the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to have information for future public health emergency response work. If there is no training available for a future emergency, then there is information in these historical archives. Public health professionals will be able to work on an unfamiliar problem because they will have a structure for addressing the problem. Additionally, hearing these stories about the impact of the pandemic on people’s lives may give a different perspective on the situation in comparison to reading research articles and statistics. Hearing a story and seeing another person’s body language and emotions can bridge a connection to the viewer. This may bring out sympathetic emotions and cause viewers to think about public health situations differently.

What I learned: By preparing for the interview, I learned that oral histories are the collection of interviews that contain historical information and knowledge of past events, and that these are important to preserve so others can learn and understand from these stories. I also learned how to improve my active listening skills and that this skill is important to learn in order to gain a deeper understanding of what other people are trying to convey within a conversation. In the interview itself, I got an insight into public health work in response to the pandemic. As a student interested in a career in healthcare administration, it was interesting to learn about the decision-making processes, research, and collaboration behind the policies and mandates that impact my life today. Overall, I believe that this capstone project gave me the opportunity to improve my understanding of public health work and practice my interpersonal skills.

Quotes that stuck with me:

“You know I had to switch over to this job full time, which was hard. I left you know a lot of treasured colleagues and a job that I really enjoyed. I had to like leave behind at the drop of a hat and most of them, I have not seen since so. very, very. Just challenging in terms of logistics, but also, you know emotionally and vocationally kind of a -- a. very kind of traumatic episode there.” (Spitters, 00:13:42.000 )

“The emotional and social impacts of the extended stay-at-home stuff and -- and all the downstream effects of that . . . So it's been hard to watch and sometimes you feel powerless and you know things that used to get done quickly in the pre-pandemic era are now you know dragging on and taking forever and you know, particularly with healthcare.” (Spitters, 00:43:19.410)

“I've got a long-held view that our healthcare system is somewhat fragmented and chaotic, very unwieldy.” (Spitters, 00:50:32.700)

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Deputy Fire Chief Shaughn Maxwell- South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue

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Washington State Historical Society/Snohomish Health District Oral History

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Washington State Historical Society/Snohomish Health District Oral History

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Name: Sophia Henke
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: AC, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I Did:
For this capstone, the major deliverable was an interview with first responders working in Snohomish Health District to understand, validate, and record their individual experiences throughout and during the onset of COVID-19 in the United States. Additionally, a key component was cementing these historical artifacts by cleaning and sharing them with the Washington State Historical Society to be put on display and stored for future use. As many of you know, the first recorded case of COVID-19 in the United States was found in Snohomish County, and so hearing and understanding how first responders reacted to and dealt with this fact is both extremely impactful and an important piece of historical evidence.  My interview was with the Deputy Fire Chief of Snohomish County Fire & Rescue, Shaughn Maxwell. Chief Shaughn Maxwell led the creation of a COVID-19 safety "playbook" that was then shared across the United States and into other countries for EMS and other first responders to use. He also directed the ambulance that transferred this first COVID-19 case, so hearing about his experience, feelings about the pandemic itself, preparation for potential future pandemics, and more was incredibly interesting. After conducting this 1.5 hour interview I cleaned the transcript and reached out to Chief Shaughn Maxwell about sharing photographs or physical artifacts with the WSHS.

Public Health Impact:
One of the most shocking details shared by Maggie Wetherbee at the Washington State Historical Society was that we have only one artifact from the 1918 pandemic. Conducting 1:1 interviews with these first responders will ensure going forward, even in 100 years, there are concrete artifacts and oral histories to accurately describe what living through this pandemic has been like. Even further, as proven by Chief Shaughn Maxwell's innovative ideas (like to clean N95 masks with UV radiation to lengthen use!) we can adapt and utilize these public health ideas for future pandemics or other health crises. One of the ten essential public health services I have seen to be the most relevant to this project is communicating effectively to inform and educate- in this case educating both generations today dealing with COVID-19, and hopefully educating future generations as they seek innovation through their health crises, like a pandemic. How did, in 2022, first responders react to the unknown, create and organize new ideas to improve safety and treatment, and prioritize their own health through it all? Going forward, this information will be accessible for all.

What I Learned:
Although not a concrete data point, one of the most valuable pieces of information I gained throughout this capstone was how resilient humans are. Chief Shaughn Maxwell, regardless of how difficult things got, never gave up. He was constantly researching, innovating, and supporting those around him, and really highlighted how much he felt like everyone he works with became a family throughout all of this. Humans can get through so much, and I really learned that through this entire project culminating in the interview. Chief Maxwell created a playbook to keep emergency responders safe that he then edited everyday; he learned how to avoid supply chain issues by learning how to clean N95s effectively; and so much more. Secondly, I learned how public health really impacts every aspect of life, and how intertwined history and public health are. History shapes our public health system and ideas today, either by learning from what was wrong or adapting great initiatives from the past. Although adding to a historical society might seem to focus more on history than public health, this couldn't be farther from the truth. Saving all of our knowledge from this pandemic will eliminate the "starting from scratch" feeling I know many felt during COVID-19, and will immortalize the status of public health in 2022 forever.
Lastly, I learned how much people want to help, and how at ease I could feel during an important interview!

My Favorite Quotes:
"a lot of people thought we were in a sprint, but now we've been in a two year marathon (...) I'm definitely ready to quit the marathon but I keep going" - Chief Shaughn Maxwell

"we have to really start looking at the complexity of the world, and how do we fight complexity and not each other" - Chief Shaughn Maxwell

"One of the biggest things that public health can probably learn is being ready to go into battle" - Chief Shaughn Maxwell; as someone who has always work in Fire & Rescue, some emergency responders were comfortable with quick changes to policy and science. Chief Shaughn Maxwell felt this is something public health professionals can work on!

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Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers showing off one of his favorite de-stress hobbies, Morse Code

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Washington State Historical Society Oral History Project

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Washington State Historical Society Oral History Project

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Name: Kaija Corry
Location: Seattle, WA
Capstone Site: Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and Snohomish Health District (SHD)

What I did: For this capstone project our class conducted interviews with those who were the first responders to the first case of COVID-19 in the US that was located in Snohomish County. The goal of the interviews were to collect oral histories on this COVID-19 pandemic to be displayed  at the Washington State Historical Society and kept in their archives for future generations to learn from. I conducted an interview with Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers to understand the evolution of his work and emotions from the initial outbreak of the pandemic to now. I then cleaned the interview transcript and found pull quotes- quotes that stuck out as especially profound, emotional, or new information.

Public health impact: Part of the ten essential public health services includes building and maintaining strong public health organizational infrastructure and improving and innovating public health functions through evaluation and research. This pandemic is truly an unprecedented moment in history and one that many experts say is likely to happen again in similar nature given the direction this planet has been going in. Collecting and preserving these oral histories then can be used as a point of learning and reflection in the present day as we continue to navigate this pandemic as a nation, and also for future health professionals hundreds of years from now to inform how they approach their communities or other pandemics.

What I learned: Before this project I had very little knowledge regarding what oral histories are, why they are important, or how they relate to public health. Through conducting this project with WSHS and the SHD however I learned about the processes to collecting oral histories and the positive impacts they can have on the health of communities both present and future. This project specifically can aid in improving future emergency response plans, understanding specific community needs, and shaping what health equity and justice looks like by adapting new strategies. The interview portion and the prep that went into it helped me to sharpen my active listening skills and be able to listen with intention to focus solely on the interviewee and ask open-ended questions that elicit deeper responses. Overall this whole project was a new and exciting experience that really allowed me to grow in my confidence and interpersonal skills.

Relatable quote:

"People are tired" - Dave Somers