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Our Mission To sustain a network of educators whose mission is to provide a learning community for professionals committed to enhancing healthcare through education of patients and families in a supportive environment.
Our Vision The premier organization for practitioners committed to developing and sustaining family resource centers for healthcare education.
Strategic Focus Best people, best resources, best value for the healthcare education professional.
Our History The movement toward family centered care in recent years and the proliferation of consumer health information has given rise to the establishment of hospital-based family resource centers. These Family Resource Centers provide families with a comfortable learning environment a welcoming place for them to gain knowledge about their disease or acquire the skills they will need at home. Family Resource Centers are stocked with a variety of publications, and are staffed by qualified professionals who can assist them with using computers and other technology in their quest for information.
In the fall of 2006, 36 practitioners from the United States and Canada came together at the Health Care Education Associationšs national conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and formed the Family Health Education Resource Network as a special interest group of HCEA.
Why use the fern as a symbol? Ferns have evolved to suit their environment. Some can tolerate extreme drought and heat; others only live in the deepest rainforest. Likewise, Family Resource Centers have also evolved to suit their own individual environments. Some Centers are intertwined with a Medical Library. Others have a Skills Lab for families. Each center has developed to meet the needs of the clients they serve.
Ferns are very successful niche plants: they are well adapted to particular environmental niches - soil moisture, humidity, light, etc. Family Resource Centers are also successful “niche plants.” Although each center is well adapted to a particular hospital or community environment, they respond to changes in the surroundings. Meeting the changing needs of the consumer remains a top priority for all Family Resource Centers.
Join FHERN today!
HCEA Address 2810 Crossroads Drive, Ste. 3800 Madison, WI 53718 Phone number: 1-608-443-2468, ext. 138 Fax number: 608-443-2474 Email HCEAadmin@hcea-info.org
For more information, contact Nancy Forsberg at Nancy.Forsberg@rwjuh.edu
Download FHERN pamphlet (PDF)
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