Wye River Group Overview
Wye River Group is a nonpartisan, not for profit entity, which serves as catalyst to raise awareness and broaden perspectives to enable cross stakeholder engagement. The organization tackles challenging public policy issues such as water and health and health care.
Based in Washington DC WRG and its sister organization GKEN.org (Global Knowledge Exchange Network) create an intellectual exchange of fresh ideas in a neutral environment, employing a dynamic process that works to stay ahead of emerging trends. We identify and advance approaches that build on the value of consensus and public private partnerships.
The strength of this work rests on the active engagement of a cross-section of stakeholders committed to advancing common goals. The unique, inclusive process employed in reaching agreement on issues helps ensure its long term viability in the public policy arena and in the marketplace.
Our success depends on maintaining our position as neutral catalyst skilled at creating an environment of trust and in setting the stage for dialogue involving diverse interests within an ‘apolitical’ philosophical framework.
For more information, please visit wrgh.org.
Texas Alliance on Health Internship
The Texas Alliance for Health Care was created as a resource to lawmakers in anticipation of changes in the Affordable Care Act. We are a diversified group of stakeholders from private and public sectors representing hospitals, health plans, philanthropy, community clinics, providers, business, and public health. Our goal is to provide well thought out research that will inform and offer guidance as to the impact of proposed changes in the finance and delivery of health care in Texas.
We are seeking an intern to support our current project Texas Advisory on Public Health Infrastructure. The intern(s) will support our roll out of op eds and monitoring legislative committee and chamber discussions on three topics; interoperability of health-related data, use of Universal Patient Identifiers, and E-Passports during the upcoming 2021 legislative session.
Texas Advisory on Public Health Infrastructure is using the process described below to manage the creation of a set of consensus recommendations and principles initially delivered to lawmakers in November 2020.
Our objective is to provide Texas leadership with thoughtful recommendations for addressing unexpected public health crisis. We want to ensure our state policies and practices are optimally informed and that we have in place the necessary tools for addressing the three R’s: our readiness to respond, our response itself and our recovery tools.
We have selected three areas within public health to focus on: workforce, surveillance, and public health infrastructure. These are suggested areas and we welcome your ideas.
The project is currently underway and will be ongoing through June 2021. You will report directly to Jon Comola, Founder of WRG. Communication will be remote through conference calls and internet. This is a non-paid position.
Supporting front line workers with real time peer to peer facilitated coaching Internship
We propose to vet and pilot the creation of an app to support front line workers. Interns would experience how to build public policy support and how to test the application of sourcing front lines to real time digital support. The internship will run through the summer of 2021.
We see too many front-line workers from health care workers, to fire and police, suffering in silence. They have some of the highest suicide rates, they burnout and live with poor mental health as a result of their stress.
We propose to support these populations with real time peer to peer support with a professional facilitator to address their emotional and psychological needs.
Many front-line workers are not comfortable using their organizations Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for fear of retribution or stigma. This leaves them very few options to receive the support they need.
We propose the creation of a wide array of tools that are delivered through a digital platform (an app). While this idea is not new, existing platforms are associated with employers or payers and have not successfully engaged the target audience. improve lives.
The app would be available to anyone who wants to use it. It will be anonymous using avatars, completely independent from the employer an insurance company The app will be funded independent of the employer insurance companies, be available 24/7, scalable, and accessible anywhere anytime via your telephone.
We have conducted hours of due diligence research and interviewed dozens of experts in order to harness their experience and help us successfully construct a digital platform delivered through an app.
We propose to initially pilot the use of the app with Kaiser Permanente. We will target a cohort of their population and tailor the apps services to their level of sophistication. We will offer participants peer to peer facilitated discussions with options from online group chat rooms, individual messaging or referrals for those that need a higher order of intervention. They will have access to a wide array of proven tips, tools delivered digitally.
This app will provide a robust platform accessible to individual front line workers from health care to law enforcement. Individuals would access the app when they need a mechanism to de-stress, interrupt anxious thoughts or outright panic, make sense of their situation or calm their fears. (Picture your trusted friend in your pocket, ready to listen without judgment and available to advise when you want advice)
The conversations on this app will be anonymous, so the design should be one that communicates a calming, compassionate, and trusted feeling. This could be reassuring the user about the anonymity of the platform on loading screens or using templated hand drawn avatars for profiles.
We are all too familiar with burnout, suicide and the mental stress that confronts front line workers and it’s time to create something that meets them where they are and gets the care they badly need.
The project is currently underway and will be ongoing through August 2021. You will report directly to Jon Comola, Founder of WRG. Communication will be remote through conference calls and internet.
If interested in any of the positions listed above, please contact Jon Comola, Founder of WRG, by email at jrcomola@wrgh.org.