Darnell B. - Facilitator

Good morning, Miss Darnell.

Good morning.

Can you please share your name and a little bit about yourself?

Okay. My name is Darnell Bowles. I'm a resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since 1953. I've been here all my life. Graduated from Rufus King. I now live in the Rufus King area. Went to Uwm Oshkosh, joined the military, did about 14 years total in the military, about 13 active duty in the United States army and a year in reserves. Worked for Social Security.

A member of Canaan Baptist Church for 30 plus years. Currently serving on the community engagement community there. And that's how I kind of got involved with a lot of community issues. The General Baptist State convention, which is our state convention, we have a health ministry called Hope Ministry that comes under the National Baptist Convention. And I'm one of their health ambassadors. So I've been a health ambassador ten plus years, and our duty is to bring health information to the religious based communities. We really pulled in during the COVID to encourage people to take the COVID vaccinations and just due diligence to be knowledgeable about what was happening during that time. We've done a number of things on high blood pressure, Alzheimer's, just, you know, diabetes, any health issues that the african american community.

Faith, faith, religion is faced with. We try to talk, tap into those topics and share information so they can be educated.

And do you think that, you know, the work that you've done as an ambassador has been relatively successful?

You know, it has been, because generally we get a good turnout, and we just did a living wellness facilitator group we just finished yesterday. We generally have about ten people in those groups. And, I mean, that group was dynamic. I mean, they asked questions, they shared their stories, they participated, and they even walked away feeling very positive about just gaining knowledge about what they could do about chronic health issues. So this last group has really inspired me to let me know that I'm on the right track. Good.

I want to take a step back and talk a little bit about your upbringing and kind of where you found your passion for health. So let's talk a little bit about kind of your growing up. I know you said you currently live in the Rufus King area. Is that where you grew up?

No, I grew up on Second and North Avenue, 2300 block. Lived in a household with my grandfather, my mother, and it was five of us, three boys and two girls. My mother worked at St. Anthony's Hospital. My grandfather worked for an organization. It was called the Laduca Brothers. They were a piano company. But my grandfather was a very compassionate man who cared about mankind.

And I just remember as a kid, someone was always coming to our house, and he helped them. You know, it was a long distance cousin, a lost cousin. He would feed anybody. He would clothe anybody. He would give anybody money. He did not like to see mankind hurt. A story that might have triggered where I am today. We were in the yard.

I. He had a garden, and he was getting his garden prepared, turning over the dirt, and he found an injured bird. Something was wrong with the wing, and the bird couldn't fly. My grandfather went in the house and found the popsicle stick and some string or something, and he bandaged that bird's wing with the popsicle stick, and he let the bird lay out in the back. I believe he took a little bowl of water or something like that. But he nursed that bird back to health. And when he noticed the bird getting up, jumping around, he took that popsicle stick off that bird. And I said, why'd you do that? He said, well, you know, he can't fly.

And if his wings healed, he'll be able to get up and fly again. So. Excuse me. So, eventually, one day we went out there, and the bird was gone. And that lay with me for a long time. How compassionate he was about a bird. I would have never thought about anything about it. That so I believe it's in the blood.

My mother was. People were always hanging around my mom's house. My mom was always feeding the neighborhood kids and patching up some jeans and passing them out the window to somebody in need. So I come from a family that has been compassionate about Mandev for a long time.

That's awesome. And you said your mom used to work at a hospital?

She worked at St. Anthony's hospital. She was a cook for St. Anthony's, and she worked there until they closed down. Then she went to St. Michael's, and she worked for the VA for a while.

Okay. How was it like in the military?

Oh, I enjoyed it. If I could do it again, I would. The travel, the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. I did two tours in Korea, got a chance to explore beyond the military base. It was a good experience, a very good experience. It helped me mature a lot. When I came home, I had a different attitude. Good.

Good. Okay, so we talked about your background a little bit. Let's get into some of these questions regarding you being a facilitator. Okay. Can you share your journey into facilitating health programs for older adults and kind of what motivates you in that role?

Well, it goes back to, again, being a part of the General Baptist State convention. I was asked to be a health ambassador, like I said, ten, maybe twelve years ago. And what we were doing at that time was just sharing information to the faith, faith community about whatever issues were a hot topic at that time, if it was Alzheimer's, if it was diabetes, if it was heart attack or stroke, and we would just go from church to church and have little sessions about african american health, okay? And doctor Desi Levy, who was over our program and over the facilitators, just always kept me in the loop. Anytime there was an opportunity to go facilitate, you know, she would call me and say, can you do a group? And I said, you know, quite naturally I was a Sunday school teacher, so I wasn't a afraid of talking to people, you know, standing up. So it made it easier. And just every opportunity she called me, she'd give me the material I study and go and present and, you know, people showed up when they heard my name because I guess I was a good facilitator. So. And we really picked up during the pandemic, sharing information, trying to encourage people to get out, you know, and take the Covid-19 immunizations, just trying to calm people fears about stereotypes and myths that they had heard.

And, you know, it was very prosperous for me because I was able to convince my daughters they're eighties babies and they believe, oh, he's gonna give us Alzheimer's and you're gonna have mental problems and all of that. And eventually I was able to get them and to take their kids to get the Covid-19 immunization. So I just have a passion for people, you know, to knowledge is power, you know, whatever it is, it's knowledge about economic situations, communities, health, banking, education. People perish because of lack of knowledge, you know. So I believe in sharing whatever I know and every opportunity that I can get involved to go seek knowledge and bring it back to my community, to my village, so my village can be, you know, aware of what's going on and what avenues they need to take to get to where they're going. It's my duty, you know, I consider myself a gatekeeper, you know, when the information come in, I'm running with it.

You know, going back to Covid because you had brought it up when you were kind of going around and talking to people about it, was it well received kind of information that you were given or how was everyone's response?

Well, you know, it was a mixed response you know, you know, some of the older population, they had their myths and beliefs, and they would bring up the Tuskegee incident, the simplest thing. And the younger people, you know, they didn't believe in the herd population, where if you got more people in the population, immunized people have a better chance of not getting contracted, contracting the disease. The more people that are protected from it, the less it can spread to. So it was mixed, but I didn't let it bother me, you know? You know, people were the ones that generation was talking about, you know, it causing not one of the, one of the illnesses the kids have back in the day. I can't think of it right now. But anyway, they were concerned about it causing type of mental illnesses. And I said, you know, studies have not proven that, you know, and if you want your kid to grow up and be safe and protected, you know, I recommend this, but of course, it's your choice, right? You know, some run into people with religious beliefs that didn't believe it. You know, I didn't press the issue.

I said, well, there's the information here, read it. If you ever have a change of heart, you know, feel free to reach out to me. You know, you're gonna have people who oppose just about anything, so you just have to be prepared for it and not to take it personal. You win some, you lose some.

Going back to motivation, you and I kinda talked offline about your mother. Can you tell me a little bit about, you know, how she motivates you to work with older adults? Like, how, how did that transpire?

Well, again, it goes back to her father, my grandfather that we lived with. He lived to be 96 years old. My mother took care of him. When his health began to fail, my mother went to work every day at St. Michael's. She got off to St. Michael's. She went directly to my grandfather's house on Second street and took care of him.

The day he died of. She walked him into the emergency room. She said she took his hat off his head, and when the doctor came back out, she said she knew my grandfather was gone. So I watched my mother take care of my grandfather. I watched my mother take care of her older brother, who also lived in the duplex on Second street. And then I watched her take care of his wife. So, you know, I guess just being in an environment of taking care of family, my grandfather really believed in family, and my grandfather every year went to see a family member, especially if he got work, they were sick, he would go to Detroit, Mississippi, Chicago, quite frequently. So I guess I grew up in the environment of seeing my mother and grandfather taking care of family, you know? And so it just happened to kind of pass down to me and my sister.

I mean, my sister, who's older than I am, always had a house full of boys. She had four boys herself. But everybody in the neighborhood flocked to my sister's house. If a kid was having problems with the parent and the parent put the kid out, my sister would open the door, and they would stay with her until they could get on their feet or go back home. So I think it just was instilled in us, in the environment that we were brought up to take care of one another. So I believe that has a lot to do with where I am today.

Okay, cool. Is there a personal story or experience that inspired you to focus on health and wellness in older adulthood, or is there a personal, something really personal that you can think of?

Well, you know what? It goes back to my grandfather. My grandfather was 96 when he passed, and he used to always tell us, if I ever get sick, don't send me to a nursing home. So my grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was 96. There was not much they could do but keep him comfortable. So he told him, I want to go back home. I was in the military at the time, but again, I told you, my mother was working full time at St. Michael's, and she lived on six and Abraham, and my grandfather was still in the house on second indoor.

My mother would get off of work and go straight there and take care of him every day. My sister, she worked for the VA in the medical field, so my sister and my mom took care of my grandfather. Then we had a couple of uncles who would come in. So it became a family thing because he told us, don't send me to no nursing home. And as a result of that, we believed he lived longer by being at home because his health took a turn for worse in January. And I was stationed in Korea at the time. My time was wind down, and my mother called me, and I said, well, I can't get home, but I'll be home by June. And the doctors had told him, you have six weeks or six months to live.

That was in January. He lived six months.

Wow.

He went back home, and he lived six months. I was able to see him before he passed. I made it home in time, but the entire family took care of him. You know, we didn't even have to have a nurse to really come in. Cause my sister worked for the VA, and she could do vitals. She could give him baths, you know, she know how to turn him to prevent bedsores, give us medicine. She know how to take his vitals. So we really didn't have to have anybody to come in and take care of him.

So I believe that was the beginning of me being indoctrinated and caring for somebody elderly because he was 96 at the time. So I would say that would be the most prevalent experience that I had with dealing with taking care of someone, you know, elderly, chronically sick.

Okay, from your experience, what are the most significant benefits participants gain from these programs? So now we're ahead switching our hats, and we're talking about the people who you facilitate the programs for. What are some of the biggest benefits that they get out of the programs?

That the people get out the program?

Yeah.

Finding resources, you know, learning different techniques on how to live with chronic illnesses, that life doesn't have to be full of woes. Even though you get notice from the doctor that you have a chronic illness, the education of information that could help you, how to empower you. In my last class, I was explaining to the class, I taught them journaling. A lot of times we are afraid to ask those who we see empowered questions. But I tell everybody, you have a right to ask a healthcare physician or person that's taking care of you, questions that may be unsettling to you, and you have a right to get an answer. So those programs have really helped me open up to be able to encourage people. Don't be afraid just because it's a doctor or a nurse. They're not above you and you're not below them, and your insurance is paying their bill.

Exactly. So you have a right to say, this medicine doesn't work, or I want a second opinion, or, well, I'm not having that symptom. I'm having this symptom, and I've had this symptom since I've been taking this medication. I see. So those programs that I've been involved with have helped me to help empower people to take control of their healthcare and let them know, you don't have to be afraid. You know, this is your body, this is what you're dealing with. Your insurance is paying these individuals, and you need to get the right information so you can live a better life with a chronic condition.

Have you noticed within your participation base that there is a lot of fear or hesitation with them kind of approaching their doctors or healthcare workers about kind of their health needs or their medications?

The older, the older, the older population most definitely. And I usually tell them, if you have family members who are aware of what's going on, take them with you. If you feel you don't know what to say or how to say it, ask your granddaughter or ask a nephew or somebody or a church member, would they go with you to help you get the message across so you can get the right information, so you can live a better life? So. But yes, in the older population, and I see that in my mother. I see that in my mother. And I go to every doctor's appointment, you know, and she. The doctor may say, well, how you feel, misses Bowles, I'm okay. But she's been walking around all day, you know, well, mama, tell them what's wrong with your foot.

And sometimes she won't speak up. It just hurt a little bit. I said, well, my mother suffers from gout. Would you please, you know, take a minute to look to see, you know, so in my mother, which is 101 years old, most definitely, she's a little bit reluctant to talk, but I'm not, you know, and I make sure when I leave the doctor's office or the hospital or the emergency room, I have every bit of information I need to know or what steps I need to follow through to make sure that she's comfortable and that she's getting the right treatment so she can maybe not get better, but be comfortable. You know what I'm saying? But, yeah, in the older population, I see that a lot.

What challenges have you encountered in engaging older adults, particularly within the african american communities?

Oh, the myths. Dealing with the myths, the stuff that they heard, you know, something somebody said, you know, not necessarily have experienced, but, oh, I remember my big mama telling me so and so. And ever since then, you know, okay, well, this is a new day. You know, Miss Brown, technology, great advancements have been made in medical studies. You know, technology has really opened up the way for improvement for healthcare. You know, I don't believe in all of that stuff, you know? Cause big mama said, you know, they're still hanging on the beliefs of what they were taught in their environment. So it can be sometimes challenging, you know, breaking, you know, that barrier and exposing them. You know, you got to treat them a little gentler and say, well, you know, well, I had the same thing, and I took the medicine and it made me feel better, you know, and, you know, this.

You talk about big mama that was back in 19 and something. Now this is 2020, and it made me feel better. And back then, they didn't have this procedure or this medication. So you have to try to find your way to kind of break the barriers based on what they believe in and have believed in for quite some time, you know, and there's a lot of trust issues in the african american community, not with just healthcare, but with everything. So that's a very deep challenge that you have dealing with some of these issues. They're going by what they heard, you know, and what they heard back in 1920, but because you have the compassion to want them to feel better, you know, you kind of try to walk around that and find ways to share with them that, well, it ain't all that bad, you know, I had that symptom or I have that symptom and I'm taking the medication and it has helped me, you know. But then there are some who, you can't break the wall and you just have to walk away and say, I tried and move on to the next one. There's an old saying that goes where there one that won't.

There's one that will. So save your energy for the next one. But it is a challenge with the older population.

Have you noticed any environmental or physical barriers that kind of keep participants from being engaged specifically in the african american community?

I haven't paid much attention to the environment, physical, you know, other than healthy, and people not being able to get around or not have the support system to help them, you know, maneuver where they need to go. And it seems since the pandemic, everything is just. It's hard for, you know, to get appointments and hard for you to. That's the only thing that I've noticed. Things have slowed down quite tremendously since the pandemic because it seems that there is just a lack of everything, you know, but other than that, not in very. I haven't paid much attention to that.

Okay. How do you approach overcoming these challenges to enhance participant engagement? So you talked about myths and trust issues. What specifically do you do to try to kind of.

Well, I read up whatever topic that we're approaching to address. I try to read up on whatever we're going into, you know, have some facts, you know, some brochures, you know, talk to the healthcare profession or somebody in that area. That's expertise to get some information, have some stats, you know, on how this has impacted african american communities, how this impact Latinos community. You know, just educate myself. So when I go, I have at least the basics of, and then have some contact information. You know, somebody hit me with something and I really can't answer it. I said, well, here's a number, you know, reach out to these people, or I'll say, well, I'll check that information out for and get back with you and follow up on it. But just try to be educated myself.

So when I go into that arena, you know, I'm prepared. You know, people tend to believe you a little bit more if you can answer their questions, you know, so. And all the times you can't fake it till you make it. Sometimes you just got to say, I really don't have the answer to that, but I'll do some research on it and get back and follow up, you know, with that information.

Yeah. Based on your experiences, what improvements or changes would you recommend for these evidence based programs to better serve older adults, specifically address the needs of african american communities?

Well, right now, what I've seen an improvement. The evidence based programs are getting more coming into the community, into the african community. And reaching a faith base is a good start because you have a multitude of people that sit in that church on those benches on Sunday, from educated to uneducated to lawyers to school teachers to your average big mamas, they're sitting on the pews. That's a good start. I believe hitting the faith based community, because you have a complex of people that's sitting on those pews, and you will hit everybody in that community. I mean, if you go to a church, a church is a community within a community. You got school teachers, doctors, lawyers, city workers, government workers, fed workers. Just your average people who live in the community make up a church.

So that's a good start. The faith base, because you can touch, you can hit everybody, you know, from the front door to the back door.

Right?

Yeah.

So getting more into the faith based communities would be a change that evidence based programs should make.

Exactly. Yep. Yep.

For someone you're trying to encourage to become a facilitator, what would you tell them about your role and why they should consider it?

Well, for me personally, I like helping people, and I walk away feeling really good when I know that I've helped somebody. For me, I would tell a person, you gotta be compassionate.

Yeah.

You got to be compassionate in dealing with this type of stuff, because people are going through so much. You know what I'm saying? Because you can get in a class and you can be talking about a subject and you notice something else is going on with that person. So you got to be. Not to say you're going to go in and say, well, I see this and you need to do this, but you have to be cognitive of the population you're serving because there are so many needs out there. So you got to be willing to go that extra mile when you notice something to try to make a referral. So you got to be compassionate and caring in this field. You know, not to say that you got to step out of your bounds and try to address the issue and get them to help, but at least if you see that there's a need, try to meet it, you know, to the best of your ability. So I would just tell anybody, it's educating, it's rewarding.

You're gaining knowledge about stuff you may not ordinarily just sit down and read about. You know, it exposes you to what's happening in the community. It expose you what the federal government is doing. It expose you to where the money is being spent, how the money is being spent, how much money is being spent in your community. It's great exposure, you know, and it leads to other things. Cause one thing impacts. Impacts another thing. So to me, I would tell somebody it's an opportunity for growth, you know, if you're really interested in something like this, it's an opportunity for growth and to gain knowledge of what's happening in the world and how it's impacting your world.

You know what I'm saying? So I would tell anybody, you know, it's not about the pay or the stipend. It's about you gaining knowledge and information and taking it back to somebody to help somebody. Yeah, right.

So I kind of want to ask a closing question. So out of all the participants that you've had, is there one that particularly comes to mind, and if there is, is there something about the work that you've done that really impacted them?

Yeah. This last facilitating session I just had for six weeks at my church, we started off with ten, we ended up with nine. And that they were all seniors, 60 and above, maybe 70 and above or close to it. But they were so enthused, and just the basic information that we shared, they were like light bulbs were going on. Well, I didn't know that. And, you know, yeah, I used to be afraid to talk up, but, you know, that makes sense. This last group of nine women really let me know what I was doing was the right thing. You know, they came every day.

They didn't come on time. They came ahead of time. I mean, even through lunch break, we were talking, you know, we didn't stop to take a break. We just kept talking and talking and, you know, some shared some personal things, and we were able to give information on how to maneuver around that. I taught them journaling. I gave each participant a journal and told them how to write stuff down. You know, we have a tendency for get, go to the doctor. You know, this medicine makes me feel like this.

Take your journal with you. They were all enthused about it. So over the ten years of doing this kind of stuff, this group has been the best group to let me know that I'm on the right track of sharing information.

Excellent. Excellent.

All right.

Well, Miss Darnell, I appreciate you coming through. I really enjoyed myself in hearing about your story and your experiences. And. Yeah, we're going to wrap it up.

All right. It's been a joy being here. And call me anytime. Yes, ma'am.

All right.

I'm.