COVID-19 Webinars

A New Normal: Learning to Live with COVID
COVID-19 will not so much disappear, as fade into the background. It will become like the many other common pathogens that sicken people, but also can be controlled with vaccines and drugs. Without the eradication of infection in the long term, COVID will be another disease that affects humans, especially the most vulnerable. In this Facebook live session, we discussed what a health center is doing to adapt to an endemic COVID-19 era. This session included infection control approaches, outreach, on-site and virtual visits, and strategies to improve primary health services.

Addressing Tobacco Dependency to Reduce COVID-19 Risks and Complications Webinar Series
Smoking is a major risk factor for most respiratory related infections. The early evidence in this area found that compared with non-smokers, smokers are more likely to develop serious COVID-19 disease. Recent studies also show that current smokers have been more likely to access various forms of smoking cessation assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. This offers an opportunity for Health Centers to offer smoking cessation services, referrals, and in-house psychological and pharmacological interventions. These two webinars provided examples of cessation plans and resources that can be shared with patients trying to stop smoking.

“Are We Prepared for the Next Emergency?” Webinar Series
Health centers are likely to be the first point of contact for those seeking care for injuries, infectious diseases, and other emergency-related illnesses. As first-line responders, health centers are responsible for dealing with health emergency case management. The purpose of this webinar series is to increase awareness and understanding of the need for preparing for new emergencies beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The webinar series provides an overview of best practices and challenges health centers face during emergencies and the role of primary care associations to lead the health centers’ emergency response. 

Building Resilience in the Midst of a Pandemic: What Health Care Workers and Leaders Can Do During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 crisis has required health centers to focus on the challenges of achieving effective healthcare delivery during shortages of staff, equipment and funding. A lot of energy has been devoted to the urgent and critical need for personal protective equipment, the impending lack of respirators and tests, and the pressure on health centers to help “flatten the curve.” This crisis has left little time to address the impact of workplace and personal stressors on providers and other staff as they try to balance the fear of contracting the virus while carrying a heavy, complex workload. There is a real risk of a mental health crisis facing health care workers on the front lines of this pandemic. This webinar provided tips and recommendations for leadership, clinical and non-clinical staff working at health center clinical sites on how to create a healthy environment and cope with anxiety, depression and other behavioral disorders caused by COVID-19 (SARS-CoV2).

COVID-19 Look Back/Forward: ​Health and Public Housing ​Listening Session
This listening session allowed participants to share their experiences, thoughts, and reflections on the pandemic response, including challenges, promising practices, and suggestions. Discussions also focused on the needs of their organizations and communities and explored ways HRSA, HUD, health centers, PHAs, and National Training and Technical Assistance Partners (NTTAPs) could collaborate to support their efforts. The goal was to continue addressing COVID-19 while pivoting to other significant health issues affecting HUD-assisted households, such as maternal and child health, mental health, diabetes, COPD, obesity, cancer, lead, and asthma.

Debunk the Myths and Know the Facts: The COVID-19 Vaccine
This conference presentation by NCHPH and NNCC answers commonly asked questions in reference to the COVID-19 vaccines and its effects.

Partnership Opportunities for Health Centers, EnVision Centers, and Public Housing Agencies
The recent COVID-19 crisis his highlighted the magnitude of health inequities faced by public housing residents and the need for a coordinated approach in providing health prevention and treatment, as well as the basic goods and services needed to survive, e.g., food, medicine and shelter. This webinar focused on the importance of collaboration between Health Centers, Public Housing Agencies, and EnVision to improve the overall health and well-being of public housing residents.

Preparing the Health Center Workforce for the Post COVID-19 Era
The first priority during the COVID-19 pandemic was crisis response and emphasizing health, safety, and essential services. Now is the time for health centers to turn their attention toward concerns over staffing shortages in primary care, which is a public health crisis. This webinar was intended for health centers to discuss strategies to address the evolving staffing shortage challenges after COVID-19.

Preventing Relapse in the COVID Era
Misinformation and disinformation related to COVID-19 and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are increasing.  Some of this may stem from early reports suggesting a lower risk of severe COVID-19 in nicotine users.  During this webinar, participants reviewed the variety of electronic nicotine device systems, revised the current science on ENDS and their role on cessation, and learned about how vaping can increase the likelihood of severe COVID-19 symptoms, and clearly counsel patients on the efficacy and safety of using vaping for tobacco cessation.

Ready to Respond: Behavioral Health and Addiction Management Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the frequency of addiction and behavioral health conditions observed by FQHC’s and PHPC’s. Moreover, many aspects of the COVID-19 response and recovery complicated the treatment of existing patients and increased the number of individuals seeking care.

In the webinar, the National Center for Health in Public Housing team looked at the models and practices used by health centers to manage patients and organizations in that complex environment. The content focused on promising practices, workflow management, and recent industry advancements. Additionally, from the perspective of the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), the patient experience was examined by reviewing case studies and real-world examples with a focus on demographic disparities and the experience of Residents of Public Housing.

Secondary Traumatic Stress Identification, Mitigation and Improving Work Satisfaction for HC Staff During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This webinar educates staff on the concept of traumatic stress. It identifies terms, risk factors, and symptoms associated with compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress and burnout. The concept of self-care is introduced, and participants learn about building skills that can mitigate traumatic stress responses and improve work satisfaction and resilience.

Special and Vulnerable Populations COVID-19 Forums
In this series of forums on COVID-19, NCHPH collaborated with HUD, BPHC, HRSA and training and technical assistance partners to discuss routine updates on COVID-19 such as vaccines.

Strategies to Improve Staff Retention in Health Center Settings
The rate of staff turnover at health center facilities is staggering and was exacerbated by the complexities and stressful circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Given the important implications of staff turnover, health centers have made significant attempts to understand its underlying reasons and devise solutions to decrease it.  This webinar explored many strategies to improve staff retention in health center settings.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Health Center Workforce: Challenges and Solutions
More than 2 years after the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the U.S., the pandemic continues to affect communities across the country and has pushed our health centers to the brink. Throughout the pandemic, health centers and their workforces have remained on the front lines mobilizing resources to ensure access to care for the patients and communities they serve. Despite increasing demand for health care services, health centers indicate a critical shortage of staff necessary to meet that demand. Burnout, stress, depression, etc. have eroded our healthy workforce. This Facebook Live session discussed workforce challenges and how to navigate these challenges. 

Partnering for the COVID Vaccine: Lessons from the Flu-LEAD Project
The National Nurse-Led Care Consortium, the National Center for Health in Public Housing, and subject matter experts from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development hosted a webinar about leveraging health center and housing authority partnerships for COVID vaccine distribution. Speakers discussed lessons learned from the HUD/HRSA Flu-LEAD (Linkages to End Access Disparities) project.

Integrating Behavioral Health During a Pandemic
Mental Health is an important topic for patients living in public housing, particularly during the crisis of a pandemic. In this webinar NCHPH discussed findings from research on the mental health of public housing residents and the medical director from La Maestra Community Health Center will discuss their innovative integrated behavioral health program.

Panel Discussion on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing: Promising Practices, Lessons Learned and Challenges
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing rapidly and requires different strategies to maintain clinical preventive services including immunization and testing. During this panel discussion NCHPH, La Maestra Community Health Centers, Mile Square Health Center and Zufall Health Center addressed COVID-19 vaccination, testing promising practices, lessons learned and challenges.

Hot Shots: What’s the Deal with Delta?
In conjunction with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), NCHPH co-hosted a webinar on how to collaborate with public housing agencies and other community organizations to support safe COVID-19 vaccination, masking, and social distancing practices in your community to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

Winter 2022-23 Update: Respiratory Disease Prevention- Addressing COVID-19, Flu, RSV, and Preparation for Future Outbreaks
The National Center for Health in Public Housing (NCHPH) in collaboration with HUD, conducted a webinar on COVID-19, Flu and RSV and how they can be addressed through treatment, prevention and partnerships between Health Centers, Public Housing Agencies and other CBOs. Challenges, resources and promising practices for addressing current outbreaks and preparing for the next emergency were identified by speakers from CDC, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), HUD, a health center and a public housing agency.