Details about the Program
The Community Health Foundation (CHF) is committed to improving the health and health care of the communities it serves, particularly frail elders and children of poverty. One strategy to achieve that end is leadership development with a focus on the collaborative implementation of competencies that reflect person-centered care, continuous quality improvement, and national best practices.
It is the intent of the CHF Health Leadership Fellows Program to provide such an experience. CHF, through its Health Leadership Fellows Program seeks to develop and support a cadre of diverse, highly skilled, collaborative leaders from the health care and safety-net organizations of Western and
Central New York.
For each class, a cohort of thirty to thirty five fellows will be selected from Western and Central New York who are presently in positions of influence within organizations that impact the health of frail elders and children of poverty. The program will be implemented over an eighteen month period. It will require a commitment by the fellows to attend four residential sessions of two-three days each. The academic and experiential work of the residential sessions will be applied and reinforced in the months between sessions through distance learning in smaller work groups and individually.
Some anticipated outcomes of the CHF Health Leadership Fellows Program are:
- Collective advocacy for improved health care delivery
- A network of leaders with practiced collaborative and communication skills from common experiences
- Concrete integration of core competencies among organizations represented by the fellows
- Leaders with enhanced self-awareness, personal and reflective skills
- A core group of change agents for their respective communities
- New partnerships for managing change and creating systemic quality improvement
- Increased integration of informatics, evidence-based outcomes, and inter-disciplinary teams in the practice of health care.
General Overview:
Core to the CHF Health Leadership Fellows Program experience are the concepts of teams, collaboration, the Institute of Medicines core competencies, and the ability to give and receive feedback. Additionally, having the sponsoring organization for each fellow as a partner in this endeavor will help to ensure the collaborative element of the fellows work and organizational buy-in for change.
The shape of the program would include four residential sessions of two - three days each. In addition, a fifth session will be held for the presentation of the fellows group project to the full cohort and their organizations leaders. The sessions would build upon each other beginning with individual leadership assessment. The concept and exercise of managing change as a leader would comprise the second residential session. The third session would address the challenge of developing new strategies for improved health care delivery. This residential session would include the Institute of Medicines five core competencies within the context of quality of care. Communication skill development will comprise the fourth session. This session will address the art of telling a story as a leader and the impact of ones personal communication style on change and cultural competence.
Much of the work of the CHF Health Leadership Fellows program will occur in between the residential sessions in teams comprised of 6 fellows, within geographical proximity. Each fellow will design an individual leadership development plan and share with his/her team in the initial stage of the program. Each team will be responsible for the development of an asset inventory of their respective organizations and will select a common challenge faced by their organizations during the first intersession period. The team task for the second intersession period will be to use real case examples, apply the core competencies to the case and submit that case for incorporation onto the CHF Health Leadership Fellows electronic knowledge site. During inter-sessions three and four, each team will be responsible for the development of an inter organizational team project that incorporates the Institute of Medicines five core competencies. The work on all projects will be done via monthly group meetings, electronic communications, web-based research and other distance learning techniques. Mentors in both process and content areas, along with research assistants from the Maxwell School, will work with the teams and provide advice to them on their inter-organizational projects.
During the residential sessions each group will report on their inter-session work and project, giving and receiving feedback from the larger group of fellows.
The four main, residential sessions will be conducted by experts in their specific fields as they relate to the focus of the sessions. The inter-session time will be the time for collaborative application and additional research of the material put forth during the residential retreats.
Evaluation Process:
Individual Change and Impact:
Pre-program assessments to include a "360" assessment and analysis in addition to two additional leadership and personality assessments and analysis were administered prior to the program.
Residential sessions:
Each of the four residential sessions is evaluated by the CHF Fellows regarding the relevance of the material to their learning and the quality of the faculty's delivery of the material. CHF Fellows also report as to whether the material and the processes worked together to accomplish the stated outcome of the session. There are also open-ended questions and areas for suggested revision, as well as an evaluation of the setting , service and food.
General Overview:
Each CHF Fellow participates on a team that meets monthly between residential sessions. Each team completes a de-brief form after each monthly meeting to report on the level of participation, task development, conflict resolution (should conflict arise) and work of the team.
Feedback Survey:
Following the first two residential sessions and the first two intersession team assignments, the individual CHF Health Leadership Fellow completes a feedback survey regarding the usefulness of and learning from the team participation, the executive coaching, and the use of the electronic knowledge site, relative to the implementation of their individual leadership plan.
Team Adviser Survey:
Team advisers will provide evaluative feedback of the CHF Fellows with whom they have worked. They will comment on categories of leadership development that they have observed. Those categories include: 1) The ability to facilitate the team's development of specified outputs and the completion of the team's inter-organizational project. 2) The ability to build consensus in team decision-making. 3) The ability to provide focus and clarity around the team's tasks. 4) The ability to manage conflict among team members. 5) Creative use of team differences. 6) The provision of insight.
Individual interviews mid-experience:
After the third residential session and during the second intersession period the CHF Health Leadership Fellows' Coordinator interviews each CHF Fellow in order to determine from the CHF Fellow what specific, observable change they have experienced as an individual leader as a result of their participation in the CHF Health Leadership Fellows program. They are also asked t describe any specific impact or change that the organization they represent has experienced as a result of their participation. Additionally, the CHF Fellow is asked to predict what impact or change they envision for the community that could be firectly or indirectly attributed to participation in the CHF Health Leadership Fellows program. All responses to those three categories of inquiry are documented.
Exit Interviews:
Each CHF Health Leadership Fellow will be interviewed at the end of their experience and will be re-surveyed within a nine month period after the experience to determine what changes have occurred for them individually, within the organization they represent, and within the community that may be attributed to their having been a CHF Health Leadership Fellow. The survey will seek to determine if the CHF Fellows' activities, after their leadership experience, have become more collaborative, have included more community-based initiatives and if they have remained connected to the work and mission of the Community Health Foundation.
Organizational Change and Impact:
Organizational Leader Interviews:
In the last quarter of the CHF Health Leadership Fellows' experience, the organizational leaders who recommended the participation of the individual CHF Fellow participant will be interviewed by phone by members of the Fanning Institute of the University of Georgia under the supervision of Dr. Robert Williams regarding the CHF Fellows' learning, change and impact on the organization they represent.
Inter-Organizational Team Project development:
Each CHF Fellows' team develops and implements an inter-organizational project that, in its development and implementation, will require the teams to demonstrate the five IOM (Institute of Medicine) core competencies. How that is manifest is part of the teams' final presentation of their project in April of 2009. Each project is to focus on at least one of the core competencies and is intended to have a direct or indirect impact on the care of the frail elderly or children from communities of poverty. The projects will be pilot projects and replicable on larger scales and elsewhere. They may also be projects upon which others may build and expand.
Final Interviews:
Staff of the Community Health Foundation, the CHF Fellows, the CEO or Board Chairs will be interviewed six months following the program to determine if there is any lasting, observable change for the individual, whether their participation had an impact on the organization, and whether or not the projected outcomes of the program were achieved.
Community Change:
Alumni Development:
The Community Health Foundation has commissioned the Center for Health Professions of the University of California at San Francisco to do a feasibility study regarding the development of a sustainable network of CHF Health Leadership Fellows "graduates" to serve as collaborative leaders and initiators of change in the communities served. It is intended that continued participation of the CHF Fellows will be encouraged and offer them opportunities to make a substantial difference in the health care system of the regions, remaining and serving as community ambassadors to the Foundation.
Surveys and Interviews:
Both the Fanning Institute and the CHF Health Leadership Fellows Coordinator will interview and survey the CHF Fellows after graduation to determine if there has been any change in the community that can be attributed to the CHF Fellows' participation in the Community Health Foundation's Health Leadership Fellows program.
Project Implementation:
The CHF Health Leadership Fellows' team projects will be followed after initial implementation to determine their impact and meaningfulness as springboards to other initiatives and increased quality of care.
Final Report:
A full evaluation of the impact of the program will be submitted by the Fanning Institute that will cover two cohorts of CHF Health Leadership Fellows in 2008. The report will incorporate the above mentioned efforts and processes. An interim report will be presented that covers the evaluation of the first cohort of CHF Fellows by the summer of 2007, with the exception of the inclusion of the six-nine month review of the status and impact of the projects and the lasting quality of individual change.
Pre- work for individual fellows and organizations:
Readings, leadership styles assessment and a 360 will be assigned and administered to each fellow prior to the first residential session. There will be some connecting of classmates to one another ahead of time, through a Foundation sponsored event, such as a dinner. Additionally, the organization in which the fellow is employed, will have endorsed the fellows participation, given consent for the fellow to use company time to attend sessions, and will have acknowledged the fellows leadership role and leadership skill within the respective organization. The organizational leader will also be invited to the Pre-program event, such as a dinner.
A brief sketch and schedule of the residential sessions and the inter-sessions for the 3rd and final cohort follows:
SESSION I: THE INDIVIDUAL LEADER: OCTOBER 29th, 30th, 31st, 2007;
Beaver Hollow Retreat Center, Java, New York.
Faculty: Michael Hostetler and George Sweazey
Coaches: Michael Hostetler, George Sweazey, Katie Doucette, Susan Burgess, Elaine Respass, Geri Grossman, Susan Alessi
Fellows will receive feedback on pre-session leadership style assessments and personal 360. The relevance of self-knowledge as it relates to leadership and authenticity will be explored. This may include exposure to experts in leadership, leadership models, and the role of leadership in change. Emphasis is on engagement of the fellows in the process of personal leadership development and connecting with others in that process.
Fellows will begin to develop a personal leadership development plan that they will further develop during the inter-session period and work on during the fellows program.
Teams that will work on projects during the inter-session periods throughout the fellows program will be assigned during this session. The teams will be diverse yet similar geographically. Team advisors will be assigned respective groups at this time. Team advisors will be present for part of each residential session.
Outcomes for this session are:
a) Increased knowledge of self and ones own leadership style as a result of personal feedback from the assessment tools and 360
b) Increased knowledge of leadership skills and how they relate to the environment
INTER-SESSION I: November, December, 2007, January 2008:
Team advisors: Dr. Lito Gutierrez, Ms. Carole Bellanca, Ms Shelley Hirshberg, Mr. Kenneth Rogers, Ms. Gwen Webber-McLeod, Mr. John Frederick and Individual Teams
Fellows share individual leadership assessments and create their plan for personal development. Fellows serve as mentors to each other, creating a peer-to-peer mentoring engagement. Each team develops an asset inventory of their respective organizations, as they discuss their organizational strengths. Each team decides what common challenge their organizations face together.
Tangible outputs resulting from the intersession will be:
a) Each fellow will have a personal leadership development plan
b) Each team will have completed an asset inventory and will have articulated a common organizational challenge among them.
SESSION II: LEADING CHANGE: FEBRUARY 4th & 5th, 2008;
Buffalo Conference Center, Buffalo, New York
Faculty: Bram Briggance, Ph.D., Thomas Dennison, Ph.D., Elaine Respass, MPA
At the beginning of Session II each team will briefly summarize their intersession work with the full cohort.
At the foundation of session II is the role of leadership in creating and managing change. Change in the culture of health care organizations and systems as it reflects the core competencies will be integrated into the study of managing change and the leaders role.
Anticipated outcomes from Session II would be:
a) Increased knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of change
b) Understanding of the role of leadership in change
c) Application of the theories of change and leadership to the fellows organizations, in light of the core competencies
d) Increased advocacy for improved health care delivery applying the core competencies
e) Increased cross organizational learning
INTER-SESSION II: March, April, and May, 2008:
Team advisors and individual teams
Each team will select ways in which the core competencies might be applied to real situations. Each member brings a case to the team meeting whereby the group discusses the cases in light of the I.O.M. core competencies. One case is selected to be submitted for inclusion on the CHF Health Leadership Fellows electronic knowledge site.
Tangible outputs from this inter-session work:
a) A body of actual case material
b) Five model cases for applying the core competencies
c) CHF Health Leadership Fellows having authored cases for the CHF Health Leadership Knowledge Site.
SESSION III: INSTITUTE OF MEDICINES CORE COMPETENCIES: May 12th & 13th, 2008
Beaver Hollow, Java, New York
Faculty: Thomas Dennison, Ph.D., Michael D'Eridita, Ph.D., Dennis Ehrich, MD, Patricia Franklin, MD, MBA, MPH
The first portion of the residential session will provide an opportunity for the fellows to re-connect to the whole group and present each small groups inter-session work. This will give the fellows the opportunity to give and receive feedback on both the products and the process.
The main focus of this session will be the Institute of Medicines five core competencies and the role of leadership in their integration in health care practice.
Anticipated outcomes for this session would be:
a) Increased knowledge of the I.O.M. core competencies
b) Increased ability to identify and apply specific leadership skills to the incorporation of those competencies in health care practice.
INTER-SESSION III: July, August, and September, 2008:
Team Advisors and Individual Teams
Incorporating leadership skills and experiences, each team will develop a concept of an inter-organizational project that they will plan to further develop. This will build upon the collaborative work the team has already done, integrating managing change concepts, leadership skills and application of the core competencies to the target populations of frail elders and children from communities of poverty. Each team will have received a budget, a resource directory of experts and research assistants from which the teams might purchase assistance with their project.
Anticipated tangible outputs from inter-session III:
a) Each team will have developed a concept of an inter-organizational project that is collaborative among their respective organizations.
b) Each team will have produced a project concept
c) Each team will have received and begun to utilize the resource directory and make team decisions regarding selection of research needs and experts.
SESSION IV: COMMUNICATION: October 6th & 7th, 2008:
Beaver Hollow, Java, New York
Faculty: Evelyn Clark, Doug Lipman
At the opening of Session IV fellows present their groups choice of an inter-organizational project and its relevance to the core competencies, leadership and change. This time is for fellows feedback and information sharing.
The central focus of the session is the role of personal and organizational communication style in leadership. The session will include the impact of communication style on organizational effectiveness.
Focused communication training will seek to improve the fellows delivery of a clear and compelling story as it relates to health care.
Anticipated outcomes for session IV include:
a) Increased self-knowledge and awareness of communication skills.
b) Improved ability to communicate a message clearly and effectively.
INTER-SESSION IV: November, December, 2008, January, February, March 2009
Team Advisors and Individual Teams
Each team, with guidance from the programs team advisors, research and mentors support, continues work on the teams inter-organizational project and its implementation, where possible.
Each team will prepare their inter-organizational project for presentation at the final session when
organizational leaders and others will hear about each teams project. The project will be written and prepared for distribution to the full fellows group.
Anticipated outputs from the inter-session work:
a) Written projects, with presentation materials
b) Projects that reflect an integration of leadership skills and the core competencies as applied across organizations and pertinent to the health of frail elders or children from communities of poverty
FINAL SESSION V:
Presentation of individual teams Inter-Organizational Project:
April 27th, 2009
This session will be the shortest in duration and will include a graduation of the fellows. There will be the formal presentation of each teams inter-organizational project. Leaders of the fellows respective organizations and others will be invited to be present.
The inter-organizational projects will illustrate:
a) Application of the core competencies to the target populations
b) Applied leadership skills developed over the program
c) Applied collaborative leadership
Anticipated outcomes of session V:
a) Final presentations of five team projects impacting the health care of frail elders and children from communities of poverty
b) Presentation of increased knowledge and skill in the areas of leadership as applied to the delivery of health care in the designated regions of New York
c) Increased integration of the Institute of Medicines five core competencies within and among the participating organizations
d) Distribution of the six inter-organizational projects developed by the fellows
EVALUATION:
The evaluation process will look at the change and outcomes set forth at the beginning for the individual, the organization and the community.
POST-CHF HEALTH LEADERSHIP FELLOWS PROGRAM:
It is further anticipated that this group will form the core group of community leaders to create a truly person-centered system of health care in their respective organizations and communities. The three cohorts of CHF Fellows will form the 'Fellows Action Network' as each class completes its eighteen month program. The Fellows Action Network will have four components:
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An electronic communication component to include a website that will host a number of opportunities for ongoing dialogue and information sharing among the CHF Fellows.
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Retreat opportunities that will bring together the three classes of Fellows on various topics of health leadership and the development of a dynamic leadership learning community.
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An ad hoc component whereby the CHF Fellows will have opportunities to be engaged with the work of the Community Health Foundation through multiple initiatives that engage the communities.
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The expansion, replication and possible publication of the inter-organizational projects developed and implemented by CHF Fellows' teams.
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