The C-Ingredients of Engagement Journalism: Collaboration, Cohesion + Coaction
Realizing the power of empowering people who care for others to care for themselves through a mindfulness practice called meditation has been the greatest discovery of my final semester in the Social Journalism program at The Newmark’s J-School at CUNY.
In mid-October, I connected with a group of parent caregivers and a self-advocate during a Bronx Family Advisory Support Group meeting in the Bronx and introduced myself and my mission for people like them. First I told them that I am also a caregiver and understand the challengings of providing consistent, round-the-clock support for another human being. Then I began to highlight the themes that have arisen in my work as a social journalist and the pains experienced by people in the community such as stigma, social isolation, and burnout and how this workshop would be a form of respite for caregivers themselves. Oh, I also dropped the name of an older caregiver, my practicum partner Dropadi Ramdin, who would be leading the workshop with me. Within seconds the caregivers had these questions, “When do you plan on having this workshop?” and “What’s a bot?”
From having connected with several people in the community over a year of listening to them I discovered that people like Dru Ramdin, Yvette Parish, Jasmine Ferrer, Adhanet Zereabruk and so many others are often curious about my connection to them. I usually start with something to the effect of “My name is Ariam and I have a brother on the autism spectrum. But I don’t know everything about this community.” Unknowingly, I’ve been channeling this unfair advantage (a term I learned in Jeremy Caplan’s Startup Spring) in nearly every conversation with members of the community. It also helps that I’m a millennial, black, a woman, and live in the Bronx too.
Initially, before reaching this group of caregivers that meet in the Bronx every month, Dru and I had wanted caregivers to come to our workshop like we did this summer in the Community Room at the Parkchester Library in Central Bronx which resulted in only one person (a friend of Dru’s) showing up. Knowing that we hadn’t promoted our summer workshop as much as I would have liked and that people who said they’d be there didn’t show up, we decided to eliminate barriers of entry to our workshop by meeting people were they were and choosing a date and time that would work for many of the caregivers we know for our upcoming November 18 workshop. We also decided to make the workshop open to all caregivers, regardless of whether they are connected to this particular support group, at no cost. Another smart strategy.
At this meeting in October, I was also able to get feedback from the paper survey that I passed to nine caregivers to develop a resource bot for this community. This low-tech product assists caregivers by pooling information about various agencies in the Bronx and Manhattan that are offering services based on a topic. It will exist online and on the phone for caregivers to access at any time.
Of the ten caregivers who had filled out the survey, eight of them said they want information about free and low-cost resources and are most interested in learning about recreational, transportation, and respite services. I went to the meeting with a few links embedded into the bot to get a sense of how people interacted with the system. “I don’t want to be lost in clicking here and there,” said one caregiver.
With details of the November 18 workshop secured, I had invited the chair of the support group to email me throughout that week to email an updated version of our workshop flyer to her group’s listserve. In order to do that, I made sure our workshop had a web page for people to access which also included an updated value proposition (a pitch I cultivated in Jeremy’s class) for the workshop and bot: Our 60-minute meditation workshop is the only free stress management class in the Bronx that benefits caregivers of people with autism and other developmental disabilities. Here, you’ll also get to meet and interact with our assistant — a bot named Elizabeth that will help you access additional verified resources for your loved one.
I also want to revisit an important brief conversation among myself, Tina Veale and other caregivers when they first heard about my bot. I have shortened the conversation for brevity.
Me: I am developing a bot to help everyone here access services for their family members.
Caregiver 1: What’s a bot — like short for a robot?
*Other caregivers laugh together*
Me: You’re right actually. A bot is a program designed for humans to interact with. When you type messages to this bot you’ll learn about services.
Tina: Now, hold on. Where does everyone here get their information [about services]?
Caregiver 2: I google everything.
Me: That’s a great question.
Tina: I get a lot of information from agencies and I bring these pamphlets and brochures here with me for the group.
Me: But, what about the people who don’t always come to your support group?
Tina: The DD Council [Bronx Developmental Disabilities Council] has information on their site.
Me: Is it updated, how often?
Tina: They released a family guide every year.
In reflecting on this conversation, I realize that information about services is exist but I don’t think everyone knows about it or references the resource regularly. The 2018 family guide that Tina referenced is broken down by sections that list services from agencies based on a topic that is similar to how I envision my bot will function. On the bot a user is able to seek more than one service by saying “hi” to the bot again, to return to the main menu (or greeting message) and look up resources for a different type of service. Caregivers who interact with the bot on their phones can press “1” to see a drop-down of resources. As I continue to develop the bot, I think about how sustainable and useful it will be to various stakeholders.
- How can this bot be useful to a caregiver who doesn’t speak English as a first or second language?
- How often will the bot be updated with information about existing and new services?
- How can I get this bot in the hands of care coordinators? NOTE: These are the people who connect care recipients with services based on the needs expressed by them and/or their caregivers.
These simple interactions over the semester have greatly impacted how I approach my engagement work with caregivers. Aside from working with Dru on the flyer and agenda for our 60-minute workshop, I am also leveraging our partnership to screen a 360 video that centers on how Dru uses meditation to release stress. The video is produced, shot and edited by me. With support from Matt MacVey, Academic Program Specialist of Newmark’s Emerging Tech Lab, who has helped me produce this project, caregivers will be able to watch this video in hopes that they see their struggles reflected in Dru’s story. I also get to use experimental content as another means of engaging with caregivers which is important for journalists (working and students) to do.
My final takeaway from the semester is this — I had no idea what it took to produce an event prior to this semester.
It takes brainpower, time and a collaborative spirit to produce a product with your community. And there are many elements that factor in creating an event where people can show up and not be distracted and/or inhibited in any way from participating such as (1) space [Will the event be held at a convenient location? It is accessible via public transit for people who don’t drive — what about people in wheelchairs, will they feel comfortable navigating the space given their mobility issues?] (2) Time of day + day of the week [Will participants be offered water, food, and/or refreshments? How will we, as event organizers, set the space for a hearty and healthy time together? Do we have good lighting? What about the air conditioner?] and an important question that I think should be on everyone’s mind when producing events.
Will people show up?
For the next week, I’ll be tackling these key steps.
- Get the word out about our workshop and post these flyers in Community boards [Starbucks, cafes], Email, Word of mouth, Text messages and so forth
- Continue to seek free and low costs services with the community
- Using value prop pitch our workshop to other support groups and organizations [two upcoming events will allow me to do this on Nov. 15 and Nov. 12]
- Design a user feedback survey for community members who have used the bot and ask questions such as “Would you recommend this bot to a friend? Would you use this again?, How many times did you use the bot?
