Addressing Violence in Public Housing Communities: Genesee Health Systems, Flint, MI
Violence is a significant social determinant of health for public housing residents. Exposure to violence is higher in communities where there are limited economic opportunities, high concentrations of poverty and unemployed people, and limited access to health and social services. And experiencing violence of any type-physical, sexual, or psychological- is associated with increased risks of physical, mental health and behavioral health disorders. Therefore, effective violence prevention and intervention programs at Health Centers that are located in or immediately accessible to public housing developments are critical to improving health.
Addressing Violence in Public Housing Communities: OIC Medical, Rocky Mount, NC
Violence is a significant social determinant of health for public housing residents. Exposure to violence is higher in communities where there are limited economic opportunities, high concentrations of poverty and unemployed people, and limited access to health and social services. And experiencing violence of any type-physical, sexual, or psychological- is associated with increased risks of physical, mental health and behavioral health disorders. Therefore, effective violence prevention and intervention programs at Health Centers that are located in or immediately accessible to public housing developments are critical to improving health.
Forging Community Collaborations
During this informative conference call, NCHPH and PHPC Health Centers discuss the most recent topics regarding public housing and public housing primary care, including Envision Centers, Smoke Free Public Housing, Chronic Disease Management and Integrated Care, and PHPC trends. PHPC leaders offer new perspectives and solutions to improve the health status of public housing residents.
FQHCs and PHAs – Opportunities for Collaboration to Improve Resident Health
During this presentation, NCHPH provided an insight on the background of health centers and public housing residents. NCHPH also discussed the impact of public housing and health along with opportunities for collaboration between health centers and public housing authorities. Case examples of resident health improvement were presented related to health insurance coverage, senior health programs and community safety.
HUD’s Smoke Free Rule: What Health Centers and Public Housing Agencies Need to Know
The HUD’s rule banning smoking in public housing is an excellent opportunity for Health Centers and PHAS to forge collaborations and address the health care needs of those living in public housing. During this session, we will be exploring best practices and challenges PHAs faced to implement the rule as well as smoking cessation services provided by Health Center programs, and the opportunities to collaborate across agencies.
Improving Public Housing Health Center Service Delivery Through Cultural Competence and Health Literacy Learning Collaborative
Research on health literacy from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) states that over 90 million U.S. adults do not have needed literary skills to access and navigate U.S. health systems (Rudd & Anderson, 2006). As a result, patients disengage from the health system until they have no choice, thus ignoring their care and seeking alternative remedies or ways of coping.
Patient Engagement Strategies for the Collaborative Care Team: Group-Visits
Pre-visit planning includes scheduling patients for future appointments at the conclusion of each visit, arranging for pre-visit lab testing, gathering the necessary information for upcoming visits and spending a few minutes to huddle and handoff patients. This can be particularly challenging for vulnerable populations such as agricultural workers, the homeless and residents of public housing. This session will explored strategies and tools for diabetes pre-visit planning that can be successful for vulnerable populations. Participants and faculty brought case studies and real life scenarios to the discussion in order to facilitate problem-solving conversations about how to address challenging scenarios. The session also addressed how to best incorporate pre-visit planning into a team-based setting that includes CHWs.
Public Housing and Partnerships: A Resource Toolkit
Community partnerships and collaborations are integral to providing the security, stability and support that facilitate successful health center management and performance. When appropriately utilized, community partnerships can facilitate inter-agency sharing of resources, knowledge and workload in a manner which eases administrative burden, improves staff retention/satisfaction and maximizes the quality of services provided to our patients and the communities we serve. In this learning collaborative with NCHPH and NNCC, we utilized Healthy Together: A Toolkit for Health Center Collaborations with HUD-Assisted Housing and Community-Based Organizations to take a pragmatic approach to forming, maintaining and evaluating successful community partnerships.
Smoking Cessation
Public housing residents are more likely to smoke and suffer from health conditions that are exacerbated by smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, such as asthma, diabetes, and COPD, compared to the general adult population. The National Center for Health in Public Housing (NCHPH) hosted a call as part of its learning collaborative on improving access to smoking cessation services for public housing residents. Participants discussed needs, challenges faced by PHAs during the implementation process and HCs shared smoking cessation services and best practices.
Social Determinants of Health Screening Tools for Public Housing Residents
In this learning collaborative, NCHPH guided participants through the practical aspects of identifying and implementing an SDOH screening process at their health center. The series went beyond the basics by covering issues such as:
• building trust while assessing social risks;
• integrating data to improve patient engagement;
• evaluating impact on patient outcomes and health center procedures;
• understanding the variability and utilization of specific screening tools that are dependent on the context of health issues;
• reimbursement and funding strategies to pay for SDOH screening and referrals.
Each session included insight and promising practices from an expert in the health care field.
The Use of CHWs in the Prevention of Teen Pregnancy and HPV Vaccine Promotion in Hispanic Adolescent Girls Living in Public Housing
Teen pregnancy and HPV vaccination continue to be a pressing issue for low-income populations. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection which is the cause of several cancers, including cervical cancer, and genital warts. Although cervical cancer can be prevented through screening, this cancer persists in the US. More recently, HPV vaccination has the potential to decrease the burden of HPV-related disease among young HPV-unexposed adolescents. This learning collaborative will explore the role of community health workers in teen pregnancy prevention and HPV vaccine promotion in teenage girls living in public housing.
Violence and Opioid Abuse in Public Housing Communities
During this presentation, NCHPH highlighted the problems, solutions and opioid overdose training related to public housing residents. An overview of the likelihood of opioid abuse and the long-term effects on children due to violent experiences was provided in addition to a detailed description of the methodology behind NCHPH’s case study on Addressing Violence in Public Housing Communities. NCHPH also presented on case examples on what health centers are doing to mitigate the effects of violence and opioid abuse in public housing communities.