Greenlight HELP in Practice

Over the course of two sessions, orientation components include:

• a description of the curriculum and materials and how they are used with parents.
• a video introduction to health literacy and how it affects parents ability to access important health information.
• an observation of an experienced HELP Educator (staff or volunteer) doing the activity with a parent. Potential volunteers are asked to share their reactions to what they watched.
• the initiation of the formal hospital volunteer application and clearance process.  Hospitals and clinics have strict guidelines for volunteers working in medical settings. They generally include a medical clearance, background check and a volunteer safety orientation.

This includes a detailed step-by-step description of each section of the activity the volunteers are being trained for, additional observations of an experienced educators working with parents, and a viewing of the training DVD,

Each volunteer practices the activity with a staff member pretending to be a parent. The other volunteers observe the role play. Initially, staff will stop after each page or section of the activity to offer feedback to the volunteer. As the volunteer becomes more comfortable with the activity, feedback may be limited or withheld until the end.  When they are more experienced, role playing is done individually and the amount needed varies depending on the particular skill of the volunteer.

Role playing is a critical part of training but is very time-intensive. We use experienced volunteer HELP Educators as peer trainers to work one on one with new volunteers. This way new volunteers can get a greater number of training hours without overburdening project staff.

Each volunteer works directly with a parent while a staff member (or peer trainer) observes. At the end of each page or section of the activity, the trainer adds or clarifies anything missing from the volunteer’s discussion.

After each activity, the trainer provides feedback about what worked well and any areas for improvement. Volunteers may need to overcome issues such as anxiety approaching parents, rushing through the activity, not being an active listener and not providing parents with opportunities to share stories.

Both the trainers and volunteers should feel confident in the volunteers’ ability to work independently with parents before sending them into the clinic alone.  For the first few sessions, volunteers are told to see the trainer after each activity to discuss what happened, ask any questions, and receive feedback.

As volunteers gain experience, they are encouraged to seek staff member input only when challenges arise or at the end of each volunteer session. This ensures that volunteers still receive support when less common or more complicated issues arise. Once they have mastered the activity in English, the volunteers can split their time between working with English speaking parents and being trained to conduct the activity in their second language. Specialized vocabulary and activity details mean that volunteers must undergo staff-supervised training in each language.

From time to time (ideally once a semester or twice year) volunteers and program staff alike benefit from bringing everyone together for group training. In addition to covering supplemental topics, trainings provide an opportunity for volunteers to meet and learn from one another’s experiences. Staff get important group feedback from volunteers.