bethel neighborhood center staff

Meet Melinda Krautmann

Melinda Krautmann, MS, RN
Faith Community Nurse, Health Educator
E-mail: mkrautman@bethelcenter.org

“There’s great satisfaction seeing people at Bethel empowered to take better care of themselves and their families,” says Melinda Krautmann, MS, RN, Faith Community Nurse and Health Educator at Bethel Neighborhood Center in Kansas City, KS. “Faith Community Nursing and health education at Bethel incorporates wholistic health practices for the body, mind, and spirit.”

Through generous support from the Wyandotte Health Foundation, Melinda came to Bethel 3 years ago through a contract with KU HealthPartners, Inc.. She implemented a nutrition and health promotion class in English and Spanish to 8 enrollees. The program, called Healthy Lifestyles, is now offered weekly to over 30 adult participants. The goal is to prevent diabetes, obesity and other chronic diseases. Weekly presentations to adults include information on health promotion or a disease- related topic, nutrition information, and weekly exercise. Each participant receives fresh produce and whole grain bread from Harvesters.

People are encouraged to practice healthy habits with the support of others in a caring community setting. Bethel provides a health behavioral component, which makes all the difference. Participants learn how to prevent or self-manage chronic diseases and how to advocate for themselves and their families regarding health or illness. In this way Bethel offers a complement to the health care provided in the Wyandotte County safety net clinics.

Healthy Lifestyles is enhanced through many collaborative relationships such as the KU Family Practice resident physicians and nursing students, Arthritis Foundation, K-State Extension, Kansas City Chronic Disease Coalition, and many others.

Melinda works closely with Bethel program staff to integrate healthy practices into the childrens’ activities as well. Past events have included vision health screening and health fair and health topic presentations from time to time. Annually, Bethel families are offered access to free dental, vision, and hearing screenings. Melinda also meets privately with clients.

There’s a unique sense of being part of a bigger family here at Bethel with people reaching out to one another and to their neighbors,” says Melinda. “That has a positive impact on the health of the larger community.”

Education:
Bachelor of Science in Nursing, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Master of Science in Health Education, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Current RN licenses in Kansas and Missouri
Faith Community Nurse training completed November 20, 2004
Certified by Arthritis Foundation to teach Arthritis Exercise and Tai Chi for Arthritis

Experience:
In addition to working at Bethel Neighborhood Center, Melinda is Outreach Coordinator for the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County. She owns Options for Health, LLC, a private business of health advocacy and personal health coaching. She serves on the Long-term Care committee for the Center for Practical Bioethics and is a board member of the Greater Kansas City Health Ministry Association.

Prior to working at Bethel Neighborhood Center, Melinda was director of nurses for a family practice residency clinic, a case manager and program director for an outpatient rehabilitation center, a hospital admissions nurse, and staff nurse in hospital and clinic settings. She has volunteered for Boy Scouts of America, Faith in Practice medical mission to Guatemala, and taught Baptism and RCIA classes for her parish.

Important Dates:
Bethel Neighborhood Center employment
began February 3, 2003

Birthday: January 9