Author: DinaWasmer

On October 9th, the Rural Healthcare Development Network (RHDN) of Southern Virginia, an initiative coordinated by the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center’s (SVHEC) Center of Nursing Excellence, took another step forward in learning about the role of Community Health Workers in rural healthcare. Michael Rhein, President and CEO of the Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI), spoke with the group of healthcare educators, administrators, and policymakers on the work the Institute has done with Community Health Workers or CHWs.

For the full article, please visit http://www.svhec.org/nursing/cne-news

IPHI Recognizes 22 HEAL Cities and Towns in Maryland and Virginia

HEAL Cities & Towns have publicly recognized, through adoption of a resolution or policy that municipalities have a role to play in creating a community where residents and municipal employees can make healthy decisions about nutrition and physical activity.

To date, 22 cities and towns from across Maryland and Virginia have joined the Campaign, including:  Bel Air (MD), Bladensburg (MD), Colmar Manor (MD), College Park (MD), Cottage City (MD), Charlottesville (VA), Crewe (VA), Dumfries (VA), Edmonston (MD), Forest Heights (MD), Gaithersburg (MD), Greenbelt (MD), Haymarket (VA), Leesburg (VA), Lovettsville (VA), Middleburg (VA), Petersburg (VA), Salisbury (MD), Somerset (MD), Staunton (VA), Sykesville (MD) Williamsburg (VA). (See map of HEAL Cities & Towns below.)

These municipalities have taken advantage of resources made available to them through the HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign, including: quarterly webinars, technical workshops, and staff assistance with policy development and implementation.

June was a big month for the HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign. On June 10, 2014, IPHI’s Marisa Jones had the opportunity to speak before Maryland’s local elected officials to present plaques recognizing the Inaugural Class of HEAL Cities & Towns in Maryland at the Maryland Municipal League Annual Convention.

Also at the Maryland Municipal League Convention, the HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign led two workshops. The first was a mobile session on walking meetings, answering: what are they? How can they promote the fiscal and physical health of municipalities? The second workshop highlighted the Economic and Health Benefits of Walkable, Bikeable Communities, and featured Maryland examples provided by Mayor Randy McClement, Frederick, MD, Councilwoman Nicole Wagoner, Cumberland, MD, and Matt Drew, Bike Salisbury. To view each presenter’s slides, please click on their name.

IPHI’s Marisa Jones had the opportunity to speak before Maryland’s local elected officials to present plaques recognizing the Inaugural Class of HEAL Cities & Towns in Maryland at the Maryland Municipal League Annual Convention. As of June, there were a total of 22 cities and towns in the regional campaign.

The Inaugural Class of HEAL Cities & Towns have publicly recognized that, through adoption of a resolution or policy, municipalities have a role to play in creating a community where residents and municipal employees can make healthy decisions about nutrition and physical activity. These municipalities have taken advantage of resources made available to them through the HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign, including quarterly webinars, workshops, and one-on-one staff assistance with policy development and implementation.

Also at the Maryland Municipal League Convention, the HEAL Cities & Towns Campaign led a mobile session on walking meetings: what they are and how they promote the fiscal and physical health of municipalities, as well as a workshop on the economic and health benefits of walkable, bikeable communities, featuring Mayor Randy McClement from Frederick, MD; Councilwoman Nicole Wagoner, Cumberland, MD; and Matt Drew, Bike Salisbury.

On June 4, 2014, IPHI and Washington AIDS Partnership convened Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and HIV service providers serving the District of Columbia. Key objectives of the session were:

• to give HIV organizations an opportunity to learn what it takes to contract with an MCO and corresponding expectations;
• for MCOs to learn more about the system of HIV providers in DC and the opportunities they see; and
• to provide an opportunity for HIV organizations and MCOs to build direct relationships and explore different ways of working together.

The meeting was a productive first step, and participants unanimously agreed that a follow-up meeting should be planned to continue networking and exploring partnership opportunities. The second session will be scheduled for September 2014. Participating MCOs included AmeriHealth DC, MedStar Family Choice, and Trusted Health Plan, joined by over a dozen HIV service providers.  The meeting was part of the Capacity for Change series of forums and trainings, designed to help HIV service providers navigate changes in the health care system and position themselves for more effective and sustainable services. Capacity for Change is coordinated by IPHI, in collaboration with Washington AIDS Partnership and with support from the DC Department of Health and MAC AIDS Fund. For more information about the Capacity for Change series or the second meeting for MCOs and HIV service providers to take place in September, contact Christine Stewart, cstewart@institutephi.org.

In May 2014, IPHI and organizational partners from the DC, MD and VA regions participated in UNITY 2014, the only national CHW conference designed for and about community health workers. Aptly themed “Community Health Workers – Innovative Solution to Addressing the Triple Aim (Access to Care, Reducing Costs, and Promoting Healthy Communities),”  UNITY 2014 provided opportunities for community health workers, policy makers, and other public health professionals to share knowledge, information, and expertise about the role of CHWs in transforming the health of the nation.

By all accounts from IPHI staff, Unity 2014 was a success. “It seemed to me that at least 85% of the participants were new attendees who had never heard of the conference before this year. This is a significant success. There have been major policy changes affecting CHWs in the US and globally, and it’s clear that there are new people interested and involved in this CHW movement,” said Dwyan Monroe, CHW Program Coordinator at IPHI.

CHWs shared that they were impressed that there was a conference of this nature, which brought together policy makers, clinicians, public health leaders and other supporters to strategize about the CHW profession. Some CHWs said that although they knew their role was important, they felt further validated after participating in this conference that highlighted their valuable role in the overall health system.

Ms. Monroe highlighted that the DC, MD and VA region was well represented at UNITY. While, IPHI had one of the largest representations at the conference, there were CHWs and staff in attendance from many partner organizations and groups including Healthy Howard Inc., the Health Enterprise Zone projects in West Baltimore and St. Mary’s County, DC Primary Care Association, The CHW Professional Association of DC, and the Virginia CHW Task Force, among many others.

IPHI facilitated four presentations at the conference – three sessions were led by CHWs and one roundtable on the Center for the Community Health Workforce was led by Ms. Monroe. More details on these workshops can be found here.

For Ms. Monroe, A key highlight of the conference was the recognition of Zee Turner, a dedicated IPHI CHW who died on December 29, 2013. Ms. Turner was awarded the first ever Special Recognition Award by the Esther M. Holderby Dedicated CHW Award Selection Committee at a touching evening reception at the conference. The award was accepted by two of Ms. Turner’s family members, with support from IPHI staff and Zee’s peers.

Another highlight was a special session to garner interest in revitalizing the Maryland CHW Association. Facilitated by Ms. Monroe, the session attracted 43 interested participants from across the state. More information about next steps with the MD CHW Association will be disseminated in the coming months.

From Ms. Monroe’s perspective, UNITY 2014 was beneficial to all in attendance. She shared, “specifically for IPHI, we were able to highlight our programs that feature CHWs, connect with partners, meet new potential partners, and garner interest in some of our programs such as CHW competency training. UNITY also provided us an opportunity to assess how our regional CHW work aligns with national efforts to advance CHW policy and facilitate effective health system integration.”

Coming out of UNITY 2014, Ms. Monroe said that some CHWs recommended that future conferences provide more opportunities for CHW training and skills development. They also hope to see more CHWs included in plenaries and high-level presentations at the conference in the future. Ms. Monroe said that she is proud, excited and energized to move forward to advance CHW policy in the DC, MD and VA region. “We have a lot of work to do, but we’re ready.”

IPHI sends sincere thanks to The CHW Professional Association of DC for providing scholarships for four IPHI-affiliated CHWs to attend and present at UNITY. We also congratulate the organizers, the Center for Sustainable Health Outreach (CSHO), Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care, Central Massachusetts AHEC, Inc., and Community Resources, LLC., on a successful conference.

For more information, please contact the IPHI CHW Program Team at  info@institutephi.org or 202-747-3512.