Staff member uses personal experiences to help others

By Ashley Wiggin

Seattle native and longtime staff member Kendra Hayward, manager  of the Center for Women’s Health Research, loves any opportunity to be a mentor. A graduate of WSU’s Center for Distance and Professional Education program in 2005, she now is a preceptor  there, helping guide incoming students to the distance degree-learning program where she received her BA in social science. Kendra also works with the Cougar Admissions Support Team to get in touch with newly admitted students to help their transition into the university. “As a distance student, it can be very isolating and overwhelming,” Kendra said.

“I had a very good experience in the program, and I would like to be able to help other students have a similar experience.”

Kendra’s job in BNHS offers her a similar mentor role to faculty, staff and students, a position she has held since 1994. Working on grants that go to schools around the country, Kendra has enjoyed helping people understand the research process better. She joined the UW in 1975 before having her two sons, and then returned in 1987 to work on an IBS study with Margaret Heitkemper in the School of Nursing. “Working with faculty has been a very positive experience,” she said. “This has been a challenging and stimulating environment for me.”

In fact, BNHS faculty member Brenda Zierler encouraged Kendra to pursue another distance degree program, the Master’s in Science degree in the School’s Clinical Informatics in Patient Centered Technologies program (CIPCT), run by BNHS faculty member George Demiris. The program gives students the opportunity to work closely with technology and systems to improve delivery and communication. “I’m especially interested in patient decision-making and how these tools can make health care decisions easier,” she said.

This summer, Kendra will guide students on a UW Exploration seminar in Italy led by BNHS faculty member Janet Lenart, Health in the Context of Italian Culture.  She will travel with students on the 10-day seminar and stay with them as a staff assistant. “This is an exciting opportunity for me,” Kendra said. “I love to travel and I’m really looking forward to seeing a new place and learning about health care in a different culture.”

She also provides guidance in another way: as an interior designer. While she doesn’t have a full-fledged business, she and BNHS faculty member Joie Whitney consult with people in the school on designing their workspaces. She frequently donates time to BNHS’s annual auction and consults with people around the city. “Interior design is my passion,” she said. “I’ve always had an interest in design and was always changing my room around as a kid.”

Kendra loves to garden and landscape, travel, spend time with her family and play with her son’s eight-month-old boxer puppy, Braddock. She lives near Mill Creek with her three cats, one who was just adopted from Meow Rescue in Kirkland and an aquatic frog. Kendra has two adult sons, Kristopher and Kyle who also live in the area.

To learn more about the CIPCT program, http://www.son.washington.edu/portals/cipct/default.asp or UW’s Summer Exploration Seminars, http://depts.washington.edu/explore