The Canyon Ranch Institute Visiting Scholar Program recognizes leaders in the fields of prevention and wellness, and invites them to educate and collaborate with CRI through interactive workshops, lectures, and seminars. Through these interactions, the CRI Visiting Scholar Program provides an opportunity for thought leaders to help shape CRI’s partnerships and activities.
Visiting Scholars:
April 5-10, 2010 – Kavita K. Patel, M.D., M.S.H.S.
Just days after the passage of the historic U.S. health reform legislation that she helped to develop, Dr. Kavita Patel met with Canyon Ranch Institute (CRI) team members as our first CRI Visiting Scholar of the year. Dr. Patel’s timely visit reaffirmed CRI’s commitment to collaborating with all sectors of society to ensure that prevention of chronic disease is included in all aspects of our nation’s health care efforts.
Dr. Patel is a board-certified internal medicine physician who has dedicated her life to bringing the stories and lessons learned from her clinical experiences to policymakers and the people working on shaping the future of our health care system. Her expertise spans a number of sectors including delivery system reform and equipping clinical teams with the skills necessary to respond to our changing health care system.
Dr. Patel is director of policy for the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. Prior to that, she was the deputy staff director for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee under the leadership of Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
Dr. Patel helped to develop the health reform legislation that was signed into law in March 2010. CRI was also engaged in aspects of that health reform through our partnerships with the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) and The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services’ STOP Obesity Alliance. CRI President Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, 17th Surgeon General of the United States (2002-2006), helps lead PFCD and the STOP Obesity Alliance.
While at CRI, Dr. Patel participated in several group discussions and led a one-day workshop with the CRI team. Dr. Patel also met with Iman Hakim, MBBCh, Ph.D., M.P.H., dean of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman School of Public Health (MEZCOPH) at the University of Arizona. Dr. Patel then delivered a college-wide seminar, “Health Reform: Perspectives on Future Directions and Implications.” The seminar was sponsored by MEZCOPH for University of Arizona faculty, students, staff, and Tucson community members.
Dr. Patel’s visit to CRI concluded with a Peak Performance workshop attended by CRI and Canyon Ranch team members during which she led a discussion about how the recent health reforms can play a role in all people achieving peak performance.
Kavita K. Patel, M.D., M.S.H.S., speaks at Canyon Ranch Institute about the landmark health care reforms of 2010. (April 6, 2010; Tucson, Arizona, © Canyon Ranch Institute, Andrew Pleasant photographer)
December 14-17, 2009 – Frederico Peres, Ph.D., MSc.
Continuing to build an international dimension to Canyon Ranch Institute, Dr. Frederico Peres from Brazil’s Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) was the most recent CRI Visiting Scholar.
Dr. Peres participated in several group discussions and led a workshop with the Canyon Ranch Institute team. His work in Brazil, as part of the Ministry of Health of the Brazilian government, is particularly focused on identifying best practices of risk communication. Most of Dr. Peres’ research has focused on risk communication in the context of the use of pesticides in Brazilian agricultural practices.
Dr. Peres and CRI are exploring collaborating to combine the best practices of health literacy and an integrative approach to health and medicine with Dr. Peres’ expertise in risk communication. The shared goals are to collaborate on projects that improve the health and wellness of the Brazilian population, enhance the evidence base on health literacy and risk communication, and continue to forge good working relationships between CRI and FIOCRUZ, as well as with the public health system in Brazil.
FIOCRUZ was founded in Brazil in 1900 and today focuses on health systems, programs, and services and is responsible for a range of public health activities in Brazil from the production and dissemination of vaccines and diagnostic kits to public health education, quality control, and developing social programs around the country. Today, FIOCRUZ has over 7,500 employees around the nation, including about 2,000 active researchers. Those individuals produce over 1,000 scholarly articles each year and over 2,000 individuals have earned masters of science (MSc) or doctorates of philosophy (Ph.D.) at the educational arm of FIOCRUZ. Dr. Peres is the Vice Director of Center for Studies in Workers Health and Human Ecology at the National School of Public Health – The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.
- Click here to read an example of Dr. Peres’ scholarly publications
Pictured right to left: Canyon Ranch Institute Visiting Scholar Frederico Peres, Ph.D., MSc., speaks with CRI Executive Director Jennifer Cabe, M.A., and CRI Program Manager for Planning and Evaluation Rainy Warf, M.P.H., CHES, at CRI during a workshop focused on risk perception and identifying best practices in health literacy and risk communication related to the use of pesticides in agricultural practices. (December 16, 2009, Tucson, Arizona, © Canyon Ranch Institute, Jennifer Cosenza photographer)
April 17, 2009 – Val Jones, M.D., and Kerri Morrone-Sparling
As part of the Canyon Ranch Institute Visiting Scholars Program, Val Jones, M.D., president and CEO of Better Health LLC, and Kerri Morrone-Sparling, founder of www.sixuntilme.com, led a blogging workshop where they each talked about their experience with blogs, and how people are starting to use social networking tools to better manage their health.
During the workshop, Dr. Jones and Kerri described the exponential popularity growth of blogs – which are personal or corporate websites in the form of an online journal entry – and ways to build a blog community. Some key tips include:
- Be passionate, knowledgeable, and able to communicate in a natural, friendly voice that engages readers and draws comments;
- Link your blog with other websites by listing them on your Blog Roll (a list of compiled favorites);
- Create your blog as a daily habit. Post Monday through Friday around the same time;
- Allow for negative as well as positive responses for credibility's sake, though all comments from your blog's readers should be reviewed for unacceptable content.
Dr. Jones and Kerri also talked about Twitter as the latest popular iteration of e-communication. Twitter is a website that allows you to voluntarily link to friends, colleagues, or celebrities and read their "tweets" of 140 characters or less. Although the primary function of Twitter is a social tool, it can also be used in health communications.
The session concluded with discussing potential creative strategies for engaging people in health- and wellness-focused blogs.
- Read more about Dr. Val Jones' visit to CRI on her blog post at Better Health
- Read CRI President Dr. Richard Carmona’s blog on the STOP Obesity Alliance website.
January 12-13, 2009 – Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D.
Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., who joined Canyon Ranch Institute in May 2009 as Health Literacy and Research Director, was the first CRI Visiting Scholar. He continues communicating professionally through practice and research in the areas of health literacy, science, health, environmental communication, and social marketing. Dr. Pleasant received his doctoral degree from Cornell University.
During his visit to CRI, Dr. Pleasant led numerous workshops to facilitate discussions and understanding about health literacy, cultural competency, and community and individual empowerment. Three of the workshops were with CRI staff and focused on how improving health literacy can support the ongoing effectiveness of CRI’s programs to help educate, inspire, and empower all people to prevent disease and embrace a life of wellness. Dr. Pleasant also met with Iman Hakim, MBBCh, Ph.D., M.P.H., dean of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman School of Public Health (MEZCOPH) at the University of Arizona, and CRI Executive Director Jennifer Cabe, M.A. Dr. Pleasant then delivered a keynote as part of the MEZCOPH Public Health Seminar Series. The seminar was sponsored by CRI for University of Arizona faculty, students, staff, and Tucson community members and was attended by more than 100 people who work in health literacy; public health; and library science; as well as health and wellness professions, including medicine, pharmacy, and nursing. Following the MEZCOPH seminar, Dr. Pleasant met with members of the Pima County Community Health Task Force about their collaborations to establish community-based public health literacy activities that are responsive to health priorities in economically marginalized sectors of the Tucson metropolitan area.
Dr. Pleasant’s visit to CRI concluded on January 13 with a Peak Performance workshop attended by more than 70 CRI and Canyon Ranch staff during which Dr. Pleasant led a discussion about how health literacy can play a role in supporting and achieving peak performance.
Dr. Pleasant’s perspectives about health literacy are described in his book “Advancing Health Literacy: A Framework for Understanding and Action” (Zarcadoolas, Pleasant, and Greer; 2006, John Wiley & Sons).
Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., speaks at Canyon Ranch Institute about “Advancing Health Literacy: A Framework for Understanding and Action” at an event hosted by CRI and the Canyon Ranch Peak Performance team. (January 13, 2009; Tucson, Arizona)
