University of New Mexico School of Pediatric Medicine

It takes a village

How does a worried teen get help out on tribal land in New Mexico? How does a young mother in Albuquerque get help with regular screening for her baby?

Envision New Mexico—a department of Pediatric Care at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine—exists to ensure the quality of healthcare throughout the state, for kids age 0–18. These people are passionate medical professionals dedicated to seeking out and training pediatric healthcare staff throughout this sparsely-populated state.

Communication was needed between healthcare professionals in facilities all over the state. I worked with the doctors at Envision New Mexico on materials to connect and raise awareness about preventative care, developmental screening, and help for troubled teens at school-based health centers.
I began by working with them on a poster series to teach kids about healthy eating.

I took initial designs into elementary and middle school classrooms for feedback, which resulted in a set aimed at young kids and a set for tweens and teens. This expanded to a second poster series and print collateral about developmental screening, through the Developmental Screening Initiative. Using focus groups with teens, we crafted messaging and did a third poster series for school-based health centers, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

We also created a comprehensive website to handle all their telehealth training, and materials for numerous other healthcare communication initiatives.

Success was measure by increased connection between healthcare professionals, attendance at school-based health centers, and the number of babies registered for developmental screening.

photographs by Zoë Zimmerman

photographs by Zoë Zimmerman