Tag Archives: Frank Strona

Movember gets a move on in Health Science

Frank Strona

San Jose State University Health Science Professor Frank Strona is trying to raise awareness of men’s health issues through the “Movember Campaign,” a movement that was launched to focus on such illnesses as prostate and testicular cancer as well as men’s mental health issues.

Strona and other Movember participants seek out pledges to raise money for the movement. They each draw attention to the effort by growing a mustache for the month of November.

Strona, who is an SJSU alum who teaches a Health Science course on new media technology for public health, shaved off his trademark beard on Nov. 1. He is working with 10 of his friends on the team effort to raise awareness.

“In this country men’s health issues such as testicular and prostate cancers and mental health needs take a back seat to more trendy health issues that are more comfortable to talk about in public,” Strona said. “Our team, called Stachekrieg, went from full beards to clean shaven and are now in the process of growing the mustaches in. Each of us participates for different reasons. Some are survivors – others have friends and family who would have benefited from early detection, awareness or more research.”

The team includes public health leaders, barbers, artists, body workers, technology specialists and more, according to Strona. The team was ranked sixth in the country this week for fundraising, with several more weeks to go.

To find out more about Movember and the StacheKrieg team, visit http://stachekrieg.com/ or http://www.MoBro.co/FrankStrona. To donate to the team, visit http://us.movember.com/team/1015181.

Health Science 158 Class Integrates 21st Century Tech for 21st Century Care

In the past year, we have had some excellent examples of CASA professors using edu-tech in classrooms to transform the way students learn, collaborate, and share. One standout example can be seen in the work being done in HS 158 Health Communications & Technology, led by edu-tech innovator Frank Strona and TA Rebecca Krueger. The students develop health communication projects using 21st century web-media and other online technologies, which are then presented by students to community hosts and partners at the end of the semester. This is an excellent example of using technology to connect students, community partners, and solid pedagogical practices. Student groups dedicate an entire semester to creating a digital, interactive technology-based project or educational interventions. The most recent event was held Tuesday December 4th, 2012 in rooms 225/229 of the Dr. MLK Jr. Library from 3:00pm to 5:45pm.

Reflecting on last semester event, Krueger noted, “It was such a delight to see students from HS158 proudly present their semester-long projects during the annual Sampler Event and Celebration on December 4, 2012. As a Teaching Associate (TA) for the course, it was both a joy and a treat to watch these young professionals display their hard work and accomplishments, ultimately donating a semester’s worth of their good services to various health-related community efforts around the Bay Area. Frank Strona’s dedication to the utilization of 21st century technology in the classroom arms students with real-world skills and experiences that will prepare them to function in today’s diverse and interconnected workforce. I have no doubt that students in HS158 will be well prepared not only to meet the needs of the modern workplace, but they will excel in it!”

Dave Spath, from California Public Health Association-North (CPHA-N) one of Community Hosts for the end-of-semester event, noted on last semester’s event, “I was impressed by the creativity of the three groups particularly the design of the short videos. I thought that the use of their fellow students in the short videos was an excellent way to convey a very strong message to their peers on the subject matter i.e., the important health issue of STDs and why they should become involved in an organization that supports public health activities.  I was frankly amazed that these students who prior to taking the class had little experience in health communication and available technologies were able to produce such polished products in the time that they had available.  I look forward to my organization sponsoring additional projects in the future.”

HS158 attempts to engage its students in an active experience that explores the evolving roles of the Health Science graduate in the workplace today. Core elements of the course allow students to build on group skills, new digital technologies and the Internet as tools for health promotion, disease prevention, and health care. HS158 is founded on a belief that a health professional’s relationship in the team process is as integral to the professional today as is a thorough understanding and integration of how technology can act as a partner to improve local community health communication, increase access to programs and improve community health outcomes.

Upon successfully completing this course, students are able to:

  1. Understand the history, use, and potential of technology and new social media in Health Communication.
  2. Assess the scientific merit (evaluate) of information posted on the web, as well as other uses of non-scientific information for understanding community health and education/communication opportunities.
  3. Complete a comprehensive team project that will be used to explore and address health communication and technology.
  4. Assess and identify appropriate local and national Social Media Resources.
  5. Develop and present material in a professional manner, using current technology- based tools.
  6. Develop a digital, interactive technology-based project or educational intervention.

Look for a follow-up on this blog for info on future events for HS158.

Health Communication Sampler Celebration & Presentation Workshop Showcases Edu-Tech Innovation in the Classroom & Community

by Frank Strona & Daniel Murphy

Health Science faculty members (and edu-tech innovators) Frank Strona and Rebecca Krueger, with their students in SJSU’s Health Communication and Technology (aka HS158), held the Health Communication Sampler Celebration & Presentation Workshop this past Tuesday December 4th, 2012 at MLK Library. Click here for a video overview: Group 11 Sampler.

The event featured 12 students teams who presented original material they developed using 21st century tools – including iPads, Tablets, social media technologies, digital

Project posters at 2012 event showcase edu-tech innovations

and audio software – resulting in short digital media content. They also introduced for the first time an entire cloud based series of presentations based on the Prezi.com platform. Student groups dedicated an entire semester to creating a digital, interactive technology-based project or educational intervention. The results were fantastic.

HS158 attempts to engage its students in an active experience that explores the evolving roles of the Health Science graduate in the workplace today. The core elements of the course allow students to build on group skills, new digital technologies, and the Internet as tools for health promotion, disease prevention, and health care.

Strona noted, “What is especially exciting is that the students enrolled in HS158 are not students who would‘ve generally looked at technology and digital media as a routine response towards improving the health of communities. As Health Science undergraduates, participation in this course required the students to actively engage accessible and self-paced content, low-cost tools, and self-initiated learning above and beyond standard curriculums in an attempt to replicate the real-time work environment these young professionals will eventually find themselves in.”

HS158 leads the way in edu-tech tools in the classroom

The innovative projects shared during the Sampler were developed in   collaboration with the community-based partners and organizations  that applied for free partnership support over the summer as a way to promote and widen the health opportunities of the communities they serve locally in San Jose, in the larger Bay Area, as well as nationally. Each student group addressed various health-related issues; assessed the impact the tools could achieve; and designed, filmed, and edited a custom digital project suitable for use by their host.

Student Jessica Huckabay noted, “Our group poster was on sexual education marketing to gay men in SF for the S.F. Dept. of Public Health. We also did a series of interviews with gay men to find out what they thought/knew about the FC2. It sparked my interest in working with LGBTQ people. I plan on working with a health educator at the Billy De Frank Center on the Alameda, to understand the population and do health education work.”

The event highlighted the transformative edu-tech work being done by faculty and students in the Health Science, notably driven by Frank Strona, whose commitment to cutting-edge techniques benefits SJSU students and community partners.

For more information about this event and about technology innovation in the classroom, contact Frank Strona at Frank.Strona@sjsu.edu; follow the class twitter feed at @HealthCommTech or follow hashtag #HS158.