Say Ah! Launches Youth Health LIteracy Initiative
Leads Free Workshop on Managing Your Health Care for Parents, Teens and College Students at Clarkstown High School North PTSA
March 26, 2012 – On Tuesday, April 3rd at 7:45pm, the Clarkstown High School North PTSA will host a free presentation — Say Ah!’s Patient 101™ Workshop: Getting Better, Safer Health Care in a Complex Health Care System…For High School Teens, College-Age Kids and Their Parents. Say Ah!’s Patient 101 workshop provides parents and teens the skills needed to manage your health in today’s complex health care system. Presented by Helene Eisman Fisher and Anna Allen, co-founders of Say Ah!, a national health literacy and patient empowerment organization. The workshop will be held in the Clarkstown North library, 151 Congers Road, New City, New York.
“This fun and interactive workshop will get parents and students thinking about new and better ways to be a well-informed patient and caregiver, and we’re delighted to be bringing this important discussion to the Clarkstown school community, “ Clarkstown North PTSA President Rhea Vogel said.
The presentation includes:
- Info about Say Ah!, a nonprofit organization, and its founders
- An overview of health literacy and patient empowerment and why these things are vital (because they allow us to access, understand and use the health care system, which is so complex today!)
- Things parents and their children (who are old enough to go into the exam room alone) can do to help ensure that they have safer and more effective visits to the doctor.
- Tips on advocating for yourself as a patient and/or caregiver including: What to bring with You to a Visit; Giving and Getting Good Information (Improving Communication Between You and Your doctor); Online Research; Making Sure You Understand What the Doctor Said and What to Do Next; Texting is Not R/Xing; and more.
Say Ah! is dedicated to helping people understand health and medical information, and to improving communication between patients and health care providers, and patient empowerment. Say Ah! — as in “Open your mouth and say ‘Ah'” and “Ah, I understand now” — was founded in 2007 to help the more than 90 million Americans who suffer from low health literacy. Co-Founders Helene Eisman Fisher and Anna J. Allen have presented at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Regional Conference, the New York City Health Literacy Conference, and at the Institute for Healthcare Advancement’s 10th Annual Health Literacy Conference, and were recent guests on Sirius/XM’s Dr. Radio show. They have also conducted numerous seminars and professional trainings for physicians and health care providers.
The PTSA is an active advocacy organization for education and youth on a local, state and national level. They ensure that the voice of educators, parents and students are represented on school-based committees, as well as school board meetings and budget workshops. It also provides students with the opportunity to volunteer and develop leadership skills by empowering them to be participants in decisions that affect their school. The CHSN PTSA also funds student scholarships, teacher grants, other student programs and campus beautification projects.
For more information about the Clarkstown High School North PTSA or the Say Ah! workshop, visit www.northptsa.com or contact Rhea Vogel at rheav@optonline.net. For more information about Say Ah! workshops and initiatives, visit http://www.justsayah.org/, or contact Say Ah! at info@justsayah.org.