Self-Care Clubs™: Grow Your Spark!
This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: Self-Care Clubs™: Grow Your Spark!.
Self-Care Clubs™ is an organization that helps individuals leverage their own creative power to improve their health and healthcare.
About You
About You
First Name
Kristin
Last Name
Jerger
Twitter URL
https://twitter.com/#!/KristinJerger
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Self-Care Clubs™
Organization Website
Organization Country
United States, NC, Wake County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, NC, Wake County
Is your organization a
For‐profit
How long has your organization been operating?
Less than a year
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
The organization is very young.
However, its founder and partners have received awards and honors which may be helpful for establishing context for Self-Care Clubs™. These include:
Founder Awards and Honors
Latin American Cancer Research Coalition Advisory Board, 2004-2006
Healthcare Coverage Advisory Panel to Washington, D.C. Department of Health, 2004-2006
Co-organizer of International Epilepsy Collaborative Project, Bonn, Germany, 2002
Young Investigator Award, American Epilepsy Society, 2000
Nominated for The Association of Women Psychiatrists' Leah J. Dickstein, M.D. Award, 1996
Extended Neuroscience Research Award, American Academy of Neurology, 1995
Partner Award
Access Healthcare, Directed by Dr. Brian Forrest, M.D, has been named a Center of Excellence by the Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control (http://www.cosehc.org ) on the basis of clinical outcomes.
COSEHC is a nonprofit organization created in 1992 to improve the disproportionate hypertension-related morbidity and mortality throughout the region. The Consortium promotes scientifically based research and educational activities and offers an ideal translational research network through its CV Centers of Excellence.
Access Healthcare is a Physician Care Direct provider using the direct-pay model for the past two years.
References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each
Heather McClure, Ph.D.: heatherm@oslc.org, hmcclure@oregon.edu (as of January, 2012), 541.337.7074
Heather is a Research Associate with the Oregon Social Learning Center’s (OSLC) Latino Research Team (LRT) and with the Anthropology Department at the University of Oregon. Since 1996, she has been involved with community-based participatory research focused on health, human rights, social networks, and cultural assets in Guatemala and within Latino communities in the U.S.
Ben C. Franklin: bcfranklin@bellsouth.net, 919.663.3111
Ben is the Director of Education, as well as Senior Lead Instructor for Massage Therapy I and II at Body Therapy Institute in Siler City, NC. Retired from a 28-year career in the telecommunications industry, he is an electrical engineer and a US Navy veteran.
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Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Idea (you're poised to launch)
How long have you been in operation?
Operating for less than a year
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
People can't see doctors because insurance costs too much.
Doctors have to see so many patients to pay for their insurance overhead; they don't have time to treat the whole person.
Small businesses have to choose between offering their employees health insurance or staying in business.
These are symptoms of an underlying problem in the U.S. healthcare system which Self-Care Clubs™ addresses: blockages related to health insurance resulting in system dysfunction.
Like the human body, a healthcare system needs a smooth flow of resources like information, energy, and funds to stay healthy. The first blockage in the U.S. system occurs at the point of entry, at the level of primary care (Image 1: Healthcare Blockages). Our efforts focus on restoring flow at this level.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
To heal a dysfunctional system, the first step is to remove blockages. Then it's important to infuse the system with fresh energy.
Self-Care Clubs™ removes cost and information flow blockages in primary care by adopting a direct-pay model shown by one of our partners to decrease cost, increase access, and improve clinical outcome.
This puts the individual in the power seat, which is key because there is no system on Earth that is better equipped for self-monitoring and has more healing resources than a human being! US healthcare hasn't come close to maximizing the potential of this incredibly powerful instrument. This is the fresh energy.
Research shows meaningful activity, creative expression, and a strong social network are associated with decreased morbidity. Self-Care Clubs™ leverage this research by recognizing the healing power of individuals engaged in a shared interest and helping groups organize their health care and health awareness around it.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
30 women pack their bags after a tough dance class. This interest group has its own Self-Care Club, named after an especially generous classmate who has passed away. The instructor's voice rings out over the commotion:
“Don't forget to check Mariah's Self-Care Club webpage to make your Giving Tree Contribution for the month -- and for Saturday's dress rehearsal time!
“Also, this month Alicia Wise is coming to demonstrate massage therapy and acupuncture for arthritis. Ladies who loaded up on painkillers before this class, you know who you are – did you HEAR me?? Be there! You can make appointments with her after the class or through our webpage at our discounted group rate. OK see you Saturday – DON'T break a leg before this show!”
Low guffaws as the dancers shuffle out the door, chatting as they disperse into the evening.
What just happened?
Self-Care Clubs™ recognized the value power of creative expression to engage and leveraged that power to support health by supplying the participants with self-care tools, including:
1)health information via club webpage and monthly on-site education,
2)a network of primary care providers hand-picked to suit the group, including Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) modalities, if desired
3)tools to negotiate a discounted direct-pay group rate with this network,
and
3)guidance for setting up the group's giving portfolio.
Access to these tools empowers the innate intelligence and self-awareness of each member; using them in a mindful way can grow the power of those inner resources.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
We haven't found anyone organizing healthcare around interest groups. We would love to know if anyone else has!
However, as Self-Care Clubs™ grows, it is likely that health insurance companies will take notice. We see this as a good thing – an organic means of moving our health care system in the direction of greater efficiency with better outcomes.
A core activity of Self-Care Clubs™ is tracking its members' demographics, insurance companies, services utilized, and outcomes. This is how we know if we're doing a good job and how to improve.
At some point, with members' permission, this data could be used to help insurance companies realize it is in their best interest to support Self-Care Clubs™ – that it can save them money AND improve public relations at the same time.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.
I was driving home from massage school down a long, country road. For the previous month, crisis after crisis beset members of our small, diverse class: fire, tornado, divorce, lost jobs, cancer, miscarriage, and today the loss of our sweetest classmate from a massive heart attack. As I struggled to make sense of this, a voice in me said, “Don't miss this, Kristin. It's right in front of you.” So I started an internal dialogue to figure out what “it” was.
In my training as a physician, I always felt something was missing. Not only did I find “it” in massage school, I practiced accessing it in myself and others every day.
Some call it innate intelligence. To me, it is a physical, palpable energy -- a spark!
As I drove, I thought, “We all have problems and sickness. Many of us cannot afford health insurance. But we each have access to this incredible healing power, this innate intelligence. We can take care of ourselves.”
And that's how Self-Care Clubs™ started.
Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve
My work is to stay connected with my own spark while providing for my family through service to others. This is also the Self-Care Clubs™ model: a way of living that starts from one's core and radiates outward. The goal is for more people to be more healthy.
The target population for this work is individuals who either do not have health insurance or are dissatisfied with their current coverage, starting in the United States, but extending internationally.
Self-Care Clubs™ goal is to positively impact on this population's:
1) Ability to access healthcare, and
2) Overall health, measured both subjectively and objectively.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Project has just begun operation.
What is your projected impact over the next five years?
We aim to improve healthcare access and impact positively on the overall health of more than 6000 people over the next 5 years. This number was estimated by extending the 12-month milestone outlined below with a growth factor of two for each subsequent year.
Outcome measures used to track our progress toward our goal include:
1)Three key biological markers: LDL, Hemoglobin A1C, and blood pressure, and
2)Self-report responses to survey questions taken from the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2011 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) pertaining to healthcare access and health assessment.
Progress of these indicators will be tracked for each individual and compared to local, national, and international averages.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Achieve smooth operation of three local Self-Care Clubs (complete Self-Care Clubs™ Pilot Program)
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
Increase sponsorship level by $10,000
Task 2
Achieve functionality and refine Self-Care Clubs™ website and software platform
Task 3
Establish fee structure with local healthcare providers
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Achieve smooth operation of ten Self-Care Clubs with at least one club outside the United States
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
Establish relationship with Chamber of Commerce of two local towns
Task 2
Establish international relationship to serve as foundation for a club
Task 3
Host media event to launch Self-Care Clubs™
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
Self-Care Clubs™ is always developing new relationships with interest groups, including employers, and healthcare providers. Our current partners include:
Skin Sense: a local day spa with 100 employees (skinsense.com)
Physician Care Direct: a local, innovative business empowering primary care practices with their direct-pay model (physiciancaredirect.com)
Body Therapy Institute: a local massage school and referral center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) providers (www.massage.net)
Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?
At this time, we are concentrating on working out the details of running Self-Care Clubs™ locally (the Self-Care Clubs™ Pilot Program), but plan to develop our first international club in 2012 (see Social Impact: 12-month milestone).
We are targeting Central America for our first international club because as former Health Policy Director of the Council of Latino Agencies in Washington, D.C., and as a former resident of Central America, I have some familiarity with this region, and because there is great need.
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
At this stage, Self-Care Clubs™ small size is an asset, keeping operating costs at a bare minimum and allowing the organization to adapt organically to its dynamic environment. There is a lot of room for flexibility, which encourages creativity.
Although the organization is small, there are already two levels of operation: activities directly related to building and maintaining individual clubs, and activities related to oversight, coordination, and promotion of all of the clubs.
Ideally, this structure would be maintained as the number of clubs grow – simply replicating the structure of one staff member overseeing 10 clubs, for instance.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
Our Triplicity Self-Care Club's interest is creating and producing music. The club is offering their services for selected projects, pro-bono.
To learn more and to see a video of Triplicity Self-Care Club growing their spark, go to: http://youtu.be/aPlx_1V8sjE
Leave a comment, and be sure to mention that you learned about them through the changemakers® Innovations in Health competition!
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 | 10 weeks agoNatalie Zuniga Gogny said: o.k. so we've been talking a lot about money and logistics, but what about the Spark! the heart of Self-Care Clubs is that they are ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 10 weeks agoKristin Jerger said: I was asked today for my opinion about the future of U.S. Healthcare. Here's what I said (and what I think): It's going to move toward ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 10 weeks agoKristin Jerger said: I apologize for posting the results of emails and conversations myself, but my colleagues have told me it takes too much time to ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 10 weeks agoKristin Jerger said: I also received another email pertaining to improved patient outcomes as a result of adopting the Direct-Pay Model which demonstrates ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 10 weeks agoKristin Jerger said: Just wanted to share an email exchange I had today with Eric Kessell pertaining to The National Commission on Physician Payment Reform, ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 11 weeks agoKristin Jerger said: Hey Paco, Thank you for your question! Yes, there is a software product currently in development called "SPARK: Self-Care Club ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 12 weeks agoFrank Alexander said: Interesting ideas. What if I'm interested in starting a Self-Care Club for members of my church? Is there a product or something that ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 19 weeks agoKristin Jerger said: Hola Mangus, y gracias por sus comentarios y su visión! Your comments get right to the heart of a core, widespread issue: a longing for ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 19 weeks agoKristin Jerger updated this Competition Entry. |
| 19 weeks agoMangus Arene said: I was just listening to an ad for joining the YMCA that says it's a community feeling, not just a place to exercise that attracts their ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
