Thank you to all who completed evaluations for the 2021 BWIAH Provider Meeting! Here’s a snapshot of what CAPP, PREP, and SRAE folks thought about how it went overall, with some ACT for Youth perspective salted in here and there.
What are the best months for your group to attend the BWIAH provider meeting? (Check all that apply).
CAPP, PREP, and SRAE respondents indicated that the best months are May and July, closely followed by August.
- This result was a bit different from the other providers that participate in the event. For everyone else, May has little competition.
- In comments, a couple of people pointed out that it is difficult to have the event during the school year. Nevertheless, May continues to be the clear winner for the Provider Meeting. The ACT for Youth training team has taken note of the popularity of the summer months for professional development and may be able to shift some trainings to the summer next year.
Do you prefer a free virtual or an in-person meeting with a registration fee?
Interestingly, 40% of CAPP/PREP/SRAE respondents were neutral on this question, while 36% prefer a free virtual event and 25% prefer to gather in person. In comments, people were certainly torn, missing seeing everyone but appreciating the flexibility of the virtual event.
Overall organization and communication
While the Provider Meeting got high marks overall for its accessibility, clear instructions, advance notice, and registration, there were suggestions for improvements in structure and communication:
- Schedule: Having the meeting spread out over 4 days was not entirely popular. Some folks also commented that an hour between sessions was too long. Given the comments, people seemed to want a more concentrated event (fewer days, maybe more sessions per day, with less time between sessions.)
- Emails: There were a LOT! Many people felt they got too many emails. For some, emails went into junk folders. Lesson learned: have fewer reminder emails from the event service and be sure that a few key instructions come from ACT for Youth.
CAPP/PREP/SRAE provider group meeting with DOH program advisers
While 66% of participants found this meeting valuable, there were some suggestions for next time. Stating the purpose of the meeting up front would have been helpful. Some of you would have liked to hear more of an update from DOH on what is happening around the state, and some wanted more of a focus on program issues. In general the evaluations showed that people do want more contact with their DOH program advisers.
Overall Content
There were lots of nice comments about the content and presenters overall, such as “I loved the sessions that I attended and thought that the presenters were excellent.” Many people asked about recordings, and you can find everything that was recorded, along with slides, on the 2021 BWIAH Provider Meeting web page.
Of course, we can always improve!
- Lack of content warnings was problematic in a number of the presentations. Considering our theme was trauma, that was not very trauma-informed!
- A couple of commenters pointed out that we may have gone in too heavily on the theme—they would have appreciated a wider variety of topics.
Looking Ahead
Thank you again to everyone who completed the survey! Don’t see your opinion represented here? You can leave it in the comments—and remember to fill out the evaluation next year. We really do listen! Planning for next year is underway and we are using your feedback as a guide.
~ Karen