Community Spotlight With IEHP & AHA For National Children's Health Month

Join iHearRadio's Evelyn Erives as she chats with Dr. Edward Juhn from IEHP about the "Doctor, It's Been Too Long" campaign, IEHP's partnership with American Heart Association and National Children's Health Month.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the iHeartRadioInland Empire Community Spotlight. It's at this
time every week that we talk aboutvarious issues in our community and also allow
our local nonprofit organizations to discuss theservices they provide right here in the Inland
Empire. My name is Evelyn Erivez. I am your host today and my
guest today is doctor Edward Juhn atIEHP. Hi. Welcome, doctor,

(00:25):
Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely, we're so happy to have
you. Now, before we getinto the details of all the things that
you're working on and all the thingsthat IHP and the American Heart Association are
doing, please tell me a littlebit more about yourself and how you got
involved with the American Heart Association.Hi, Evelyn, thanks so much for
having me. It's a privilege tobe on. I'm an internal medicine physician

(00:45):
by background and now serve as achief quality officer at IHP. We've been
a partner with the American Heart Associationfor many years, and this year we're
collaborating on some joint health messaging toincrease our community reach. Yes, teamwork
makes the dream work, that's forsure. Tell me more about how you're
hoping to convey this message to peoplehere in the Inland Empire and beyond.

(01:07):
Well. As a dad and aphysician, I want parents to know how
important it is for their kids toget their well child visits, also known
as yearly or annual checkup. Ayearly checkup helps parents and children establish a
routine and a bond with their primarycare physician. It's also a time to
discover, treat, and prevent potentialhealth problems before they become more serious.

(01:30):
And admittedly it's tough to keep trackof everything without a yearly visit, like
your child's developmental milestones or required immunizations. That's so true. That's true.
And October is National Children's Health Month, so it's really important to get the
messaging out right now, right,that's right. Now. Tell me about
the Doctor It's Been Too Long campaignIEHP is doing with the American Heart Association.

(01:52):
Well since, between thirty to fiftypercent of well child visits are missed,
our goal is to cut that numbersubstantially through a partnership with groups like
the American Heart Association. The DoctorIt's Been Too Long campaign is meant to
encourage strong relationships between patients and theirproviders, and if we can get parents
to schedule appointments for their kids,we hope it will remind them to schedule

(02:14):
their own doctor's visits. Yes,isn't that true. Whenever I'm thinking about
getting my kid into the doctor,I think to myself, how long has
it been since I've been to thedoctor. I always forget it, and
then I go, Okay, ohmy gosh, it's almost the end of
the year. I better have myannual physical and I'm putting it off.
But it is nice to have thekids to help me be reminded of those

(02:37):
little things that I need to do. What are things to look for when
taking your younger children to the doctors? Well, While regular doctor's visits are
essential for all ages, data showsincants are taken to the doctor more often
than older kids. And when yourchild is old enough to understand, share
with them how important visits that thedoctor are to stay healthy and let them

(03:00):
know what to expect to visit.If your child is like Benny who fear
the doctor, reassure your child thatthe doctor is there to help them be
healthy, and ask your child ifthey have any questions or worries about the
visit. And gather information that doctorstaff may need to prepare for a visit,
including a vaccination record if it isa new doctor's office, list of

(03:20):
medications the child takes, any questionsyou have, and something to take notes
on. Yes, absolutely, youknow that's a great idea. You know,
I don't think about taking like alittle notepad with me sometimes because you
end up forgetting just the little things. Oh wait, what did the doctors
say? I think I have tostay on top of or those little tiny
things. Thank god, we allhave a little computers in our phone now

(03:42):
we can take notes on. Butit is important to make sure that you're
doing that for sure. Now,why are doctors visits important for older children
and like, let's say teens.Well, this is the beauty of our
campaign. Since our goal is toreally build a strong relationship kids and providers,
This would naturally grow into older kidsand teams feeling more comfortable talking about

(04:05):
their personal health issues and concerns withtheir doctor. The relationship we build whether
our family doctor can steer us awayfrom developing bad habits and keep us on
the path to better health. Yeah, that's so true, It really is.
It's important that is a relationship thatyour child needs to have in their
life. Why is it important fora team though, to trust, like

(04:28):
build that trust with their medical professional. Well, the ideal patients doctor relationship
comes with a level of trust thathelps teams to talk openly and freely about
any issues that they're facing, fromrelationship violence to reproductive and theo health questions.
Having access to someone that is notonly knowledgeable, but who won't judge
what is being asked is a tremendousbenefit. We want our teams to receive

(04:51):
excellent health care in a setting wherethey're getting accurate and personalized information rather than
relying on the Internet or what theyhear from their friend. Yeah, oh
my goodness. This is actually thatreminds me a lot of my children.
So I have a twelve year old, a fifteen year old, and now
I have a twenty year old,and through the course of their lives,

(05:14):
they have come to me with manyquestions, and I'm so glad I have
that relationship with them where they canask me a little bit more personal questions
because in a lot of cases theyare hearing things at school, and it's
not accurate when you hear from yourfriends. You know, in some cases
it might be, but in othercases it's a child telling another child what

(05:36):
their body should feel like. Andin some cases that's okay, and in
other cases, well, how aboutwe go to the doctor, right,
and how about we take this toa medical professional. You're listening to the
ill An Empire Community Spotlight. Myname is Evely Revez. I am talking
with doctor Edward Juhnn from IEHP.I am very excited to have you here

(05:57):
as we talk about all the wonderfulthings that are happening, especially getting this
information out in October because it isNational Children's Health Month, and we are
just reminding you of those little thingsthat you should be doing with your families
to grow that bond and grow thattrust with medical professionals. And very grateful
to IHP for having that, havingour backs with that. Now, what

(06:18):
are some of the barriers that somefamilies face in actually getting to the doctor.
Well, there are many reasons whyfamilies might miss their anual check up.
Some live in a remote area withlimited doctors' options, or maybe someone
has language barriers or unreliable transportation.The help address some of these barriers.
HP offers language interpreter services to allmembers at no cost of them, and

(06:43):
interpreters are sent directly to their doctor'soffice. We even have transportation options for
members who qualify. And if it'sokay for me to say, the number
to call for more information is oneeight hundred four four zero IEHP and one
of our member services represent and itis will be happy to help again.
That number is one eight hundred fourfour zero. I EhP. Yeah,

(07:08):
that's wonderful, wonderful information. Andalso I understand you can go to heart
dot org slash call your doctor andthe American Heart Association can help in that
capacity as well well. Doctor Jen, thank you so much for joining me
today. It's been very informative.I do appreciate your time. Again,
I appreciate all that IHP is doingin our community. I'm a big fan

(07:31):
of IEHP and all of the thingsthat they offer to our community and what
they offer for our children and remindersfor our own self. So thank you
so much for being here today.Thank you so much for having me appreciate
the time, doctor Jen. Isthere anything else that you would like to
add? At HP, we arecommitted in delivering the highest quality of care

(07:51):
to the members that we serve,absolutely and we appreciate it. Every one
of us here in the IE does. Thank you so much for joining me
today for another Inland Empire Community Spotlight. I do hope that you'll join us
every week as we shine a spotlighton important issues local organizations dedicated to make
in the world a better and morewell informed place. Until next time,

(08:13):
thank you for listening.