Georgia County Internship Spotlight

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Joan Garner Health and Human Services Internship Recipient , Hannah Pham, Interns with Jones County   

Hannah Pham, a public health major at Georgia Southern University, is the first recipient of the Joan Garner Health and Human Services Internship grant. The Joan Garner Health and Human Services Internship/Fellowship Program was established by the ACCG Civic Affairs Foundation to honor the work of late Fulton County Commissioner Joan Garner. Commissioner Garner was well known as an advocate for health and human services issues throughout her public service career. She served on numerous committees and advocacy boards championing health and human services initiatives and brought awareness and significant changes to these issues through her actions.

Pham interned with Jones County where she was tasked with enhancing and bringing awareness to Live Healthy Jones, a program designed to help the community live a healthy life. During her internship, Pham enhanced the Live Healthy Jones website by adding health statistics, providing information on healthy eating and physical fitness, providing health resources, and created a mental health section. She further created and wrote monthly newsletters, provided information about events and health tips on social media, and developed a weekly health tips automated feature for the website.

During her internship, the wellness program in Jones County was featured as part of the American Communities Project series on how health and place intersect in America.  Pham was interviewed along with Jones County Commissioner Jonathan Pitts on how their wellness initiatives had progressed over the past year to address the county’s most pressing health challenges. Pham had an opportunity to discuss her work to promote and enhance the resources available to the public through Live Healthy Jones.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the internship for Pham was researching and developing hard-to-find health resources for low-income and uninsured residents. During her research, she found free services for teen care that residents may have not been able to find but for Pham’s efforts. She also worked on planning a health fair for low income residents, which will include oral health screening.

In terms of her favorite part of the internship, Pham enjoyed working with community partners to plan events and promote the program. She worked with the health department to plan a blood pressure screening for the senior center and to schedule mobile screenings for blood pressure and diabetes within the community.

Pham noted the growth that she developed during the internship as the most significant skill that she gained. While she had staff support and guidance, she felt that the internship gave her the independence needed to develop and complete her assigned projects.  Pham was given the freedom to contact community partners, attend meetings and develop content as needed. After graduation, Pham plans on attending nursing school then pursuing a career in public health.

For more information on the GCIP, please visit the ACCG Civic Affairs Foundation website at http://www.civicaffairs.org.