Addressing Barriers to Diabetes Management for Residents of Public Housing
Public housing residents have worse health than the general population including chronic diseases such as diabetes. Knowledge of which specific populations within public housing residents have chronic conditions is essential for health centers to implement efficient health promotion programs. In additions, adults living in communities with limited access to healthy foods or safe places to exercise can be at an increased risk for diabetes complications. This Facebook Live session reviewed behavioral interventions that incorporate promising practices for public housing residents to manage diabetes and its complications.
Addressing Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults Living in Public Housing
This webinar from the National Center for Health in Public Housing (NCHPH) and the National Center for Equitable Care for Elders (NCECE) reviewed the continued impact of social isolation and loneliness on the health and well-being of an aging population, particularly for those living in public housing.
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.
Building Value and Return On Investment in Housing and Health Partnerships
Building and maintaining effective community partnerships is a critical component of health center management and community involvement. Local partners help integrate important stakeholders into organizational processes and empower health centers to better understand and care for the communities they serve. But can health centers design and evaluate their partnerships? In this webinar, we reviewed tools and procedures for designing, evaluating, and strengthening community partnerships with a focus on pragmatic, practical and innovative solutions.
CHWs and Turning SDOH Screening into Action: Using Screening to Make a Difference
Community Health Workers (CHWs) are an indispensable tool in supporting community health, increasing diversity within health centers and improving satisfaction of both patients and providers. The manner in which CHW’s are used has deep influence on their impact. In this webinar, we reviewed the latest data and insights on the application of CHW’s into historically marginalized communities and insights into how CHW’s can be used to improve community health and increase provider satisfaction within your health center. We also examined validated screening tools that CHW’s can utilize and review challenging real-life situations where the application of CHW’s can improve efficiency, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes.
Coping with Stress and Compassion Fatigue in Health Center Settings Webinar Series
Although the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated stress symptoms in primary care settings, a healthcare professional may face stress on the job under usual conditions due to long shifts, competing responsibilities, and witnessing or hearing about difficult patient experiences. The National Center for Health in Public Housing hosted webinars that explained how compassion fatigue affects all health care workers, how to determine the signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue and provided management and self-help tools to help negate and avoid re-occurrence of severe fatigue.
In this webinar series, NCHPH also explored strategies and ideas to understand the importance of manifesting safety and self-compassion, learn how taking a resiliency and design thinking approach will allow us to navigate crisis and uncertainty, and practice the tools to develop wellness in ourselves and those we serve alongside throughout this challenging time.
Diabetes Continuum of Care: Emergency Preparedness for Diabetes Management
This webinar by NCHPH, MHP Salud, and NCECE focused on the impact of natural disasters and other emergencies on diabetes management. Participants also discussed how health centers can support priority patient populations with diabetes before, during, and after these events.
Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) and COVID-19
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 ENDS, 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.
Environmental Determinants of Health: Fostering Environmental Health Programs in Public Housing Primary Care
A healthy environment is vital to ensure healthy communities and promote well-being for all at all ages. Environmental threats can occur naturally or because of social conditions and ways people live. Addressing Environmental Determinants of Health directly improves the health of populations. Indirectly, it also improves productivity and increases the enjoyment of consumption of goods and services unrelated to health. This webinar will show how chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD are exacerbated by environmental factors in low-income communities and will provide promising practices and discuss the first national, place-based tool designed to measure cumulative impacts of environmental burden through the lens of environmental justice & health equity.
Healthy Together: A Toolkit for Health Center Collaborations with HUD-Assisted Housing and Community-Based Organizations
This webinar by NCHPH and NNCC walked through an updated resource toolkit for partnerships with organizations, e.g., Public Housing Agencies, managing current HUD-Assisted housing programs, including Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher, Multifamily, and resident services programs, including FSS, ROSS, Jobs Plus and Connect Home; as well as partnerships with other community-based organizations. It illustrated how health center staff can (a) identify housing partners, (b) create common language and goals to ensure partnership success, and (c) sustain partnerships over time.
Improving Health of Public Housing Residents Through Intentional Health Center and Housing Authority Partnerships
In collaboration with the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium, the National Center for Health in Public Housing conducted a webinar that highlighted the health center and housing authority partnerships that have led to improved health for public housing residents. The webinar described promising practices on improving health education and outreach, access to care, and distribution of COVID-19 related supplies. The webinar featured speakers from North End Waterfront Health Center (NEW Health) and the Boston Housing Authority.
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.
Screening for Broadband Access and Digital Health Literacy in Public Housing Patients
In the 21st century, broadband internet is vitally important for education, employment, health, and connection to others. During the COVID-19 pandemic, its critical role in helping Americans conduct transactions of daily life has become even more apparent. Yet many low-income Americans, especially those served by HUD’s public housing program, have less access to broadband internet, devices, and the training to use them. NCHPH hosted a webinar describing the importance of screening digital health literacy and broadband access; listed potential screening tools; and highlighted a health center that is screening for these issues and can provide promising practices for other health centers.
SDOH Academy Innovations Showcase Kickoff Webinar
In this webinar, health centers were provided the opportunity to demonstrate the work that they have been doing to address Social Determinants of Health.
Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Screening Tools 101 for Health Center Staff Serving Public Housing Residents
NCHPH convened a webinar that discussed the importance of screening for social determinants of health (SDOH), the major domains of SDOH that are particularly important to consider for public housing residents and introduce the main steps of identifying appropriate screening tools and implementing a screening process.
The Challenges in the Development of Diabetes Prevention in Public Housing Settings
Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Approximately 96 million American adults—more than 1 in 3—have prediabetes. Of those with prediabetes, more than 80% don’t know they have it. Prediabetes puts people at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Patients with prediabetes living in public housing communities face unique challenges related to lack of awareness, difficulty in accessing health care systems and medications, and consequently failure in achieving optimal diabetes management and preventing complications. This webinar explored the challenges in the development of diabetes prevention in public housing settings and interventions to address these challenges.
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.
The Role of Family Caregivers in Older Adult Nutrition
Many older adults rely on family or informal caregivers to help manage their health conditions and activities of daily living, including meal choices and preparation. This National Center for Health in Public Housing (NCHPH) and National Center for Equitable Care for Elders (NCECE) webinar shared approaches to working with caregivers to address barriers to healthy eating and provide nutrition education that meets the diverse needs of older adults.
Using SDOH Data to Screen for Social Vulnerability
NCHPH, JSI, and HITEQ hosted a webinar that discussed how health centers can access and use available SDOH data sources to determine and screen the social vulnerability of their patients and link them to appropriate care and services.