The Center for Health, Media and Policy at Hunter College is an interdisciplinary initiative for advancing the health of the public and healthy public policies through effective interactions with new and traditional media. The Center will be a catalyst for shaping professional and public conversations about health and health care by focusing on the intersection between policy and media. The Center will work with public health advocates and health care professionals to raise their voices to influence policies that will create a more equitable, cost-effective health care system through research and strategic use of media. The CHMP seeks to be a catalyst for engaging the public and health professionals in fostering discussion of the important public health issues of our day. We understand the power of operating in a connected world through social technologies. We launched our blog http://www.mediahealth.wordpress.com, Facebook page and Twitter account to extend our mission, engage the public, and harness our communities to drive change. In its first year of operation, CHMP’s accomplishments have included:

• CHMP was commissioned by the Institute of Medicine to conduct interviews and write 20 case studies for its report, [www.iom.edu.nursing The Future of Nursing]. The case studies illustrate innovative models of care developed by nurses to better serve underserved populations in affordable ways.

• With a grant from the Open Society Foundations and the support of Hunter College and the New York Academy of Medicine, CHMP convened several events to promote public and professional dialogue about the harm reduction model used by the British Columbia Street Nursing Program, These events brought together journalists, policy makers, clinicians, recovering addicts and other stakeholders to discuss how what policies and programs could improve health outcomes for substance-using populations. Attendees and panelists were so inspired by the dialogue that they asked CHMP to convene a permanent group to discuss harm reduction using our framework–a great success for the center.

• The American Academy of Nursing asked CHMP to train a select group of nurses in effective use of traditional and new media. The training focused on attendees developing clear, strong media messages that articulate to public audiences the role of advance practice nurses under the ACA and health care reform. The trainees scored numerous national media interviews and credit our training as essential.

• In collaboration with the New York Academy of Medicine and with a grant from the City University of New York, Dr. Mason is studying health professionals’ leadership in health policy advisement and governance of health care organizations in New York City.

• A subgroup of the CHMP Senior Fellows has committed to developing a Film and New Media Series and a television program for CUNY-TV. The film series was launched in October with the screening of and conversation about “Bevel Up,” an award-winning documentary about the Street Nursing Program.

The location of CHMP at Hunter College adds to City University of New York’s (CUNY) leading role as a public institution committed to advancing evidence-based public policies, most recently exemplified in the work of the Hunter College Roosevelt House for Public Policy. Hunter College (HC), the largest college in the CUNY system, is a comprehensive teaching, research, and service institution, long committed to excellence and access of undergraduate and graduate students in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional fields, education, health sciences, nursing, and social work. HC is one of the oldest public colleges in the country, dedicated from its earliest days of serving a student body that reflects the diversity of NYC. Committed to a pluralistic society, HC serves a population of over 20,000 students from 147 countries on six continents; 89% are NYC residents and 63% of its undergraduates are ethnic minorities.

Diana Mason, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Barbara Glickstein, MPH, MS, RN, are founders and co-directors of the Center. Dr. Mason is the Rudin Professor at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing at Hunter College, City University of New York. Ms. Glickstein is a health journalist and consultant. Both are recognized as experts in media, nursing, health, and health policy. They have a longstanding relationship as producers and moderators of Healthstyles, a live, award-winning radio program of 25 years on WBAI. They are bloggers for Disruptive Women in Health Care and for the American Journal of Nursing (AJN).

Dr. Mason served for over ten years as editor-in-chief of the AJN, where she continues in an emeritus position. Under her leadership, AJN markedly improved its impact factor, became the nursing journal most frequently cited in the public media, won numerous awards, and was selected in 2009 by the Specialized Libraries Association as one of the 100 Most Influential Journals of the Century in Biology and Medicine—the only nursing journal to be be so honored. She serves on the National Advisory Committee of the Kaiser Health News organization. She has consulted with schools of nursing on developing strategic plans for disseminating their work, and is a published researcher and skilled grant writer.

Ms. Glickstein was a co-founder of the Continuum Center for Health and Healing. She has produced programming for Martha Stewart Radio and completed a fellowship with the Women’s Media Center in 2009. She is also recognized as a community leader who works with individuals and organizations on strategic development.

Diana and Barbara wrote and led two grants from the Benton and Robert Wood Johnson Foundations for teaching NYC youth about producing radio programming on teen substance abuse. Both are members of the Association of Health Care Journalists and served on the Media Committee for the Jonas Center for Excellence in Nursing in N

CHMP Co-Directors Dr. Diana Mason, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Barbara Glickstein, RN, MPH, MS, bring decades of experience in public health nursing, policy, and media to the project. Mason and Glickstein are journalists who for the past 25 years have co-hosted and co-produced the award-winning radio program, “HeathStyles,” for WBAI-FM in NYC. Mason was the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Nursing, the largest and most influential nursing journal in the country, and remains Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. Under her leadership, the journal received numerous awards for editorial excellence and dissemination, including being the only nursing journal selected by the Specialized Libraries Association as one of the 100 Most Influential Journals of the Century in Biology and Medicine. She serves on the National Advisory Committee of the Kaiser Health News organization, as well as other national advisory councils for academic and health-related organizations. Glickstein has served as a media spokesperson on public health issues in such diverse outlets as Martha Stewart Radio, Entertainment Weekly and public television. She is a Progressive Women’s Voices Fellow at The Women’s Media Center and is a sought-after leader for local and national non-profit initiatives. Both are fellows in the New York Academy of Medicine. We have convened a National Advisory Council (NAC) of thought leaders in journalism, policy, and the health professions. The interdisciplinary nature of the CHMP’s mission and work is reflected in the 12 Senior Fellows who are working on various projects related to the center’s aims.