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 Health, 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.
Building an Effective Collaborative Care Team to Address Diabetes in Special and Vulnerable Populations: Tailoring Care for Social Context
This session focused on the necessary elements to develop a high functioning patient-centered team for diabetes prevention, management, and treatment in primary care. The session addressed the roles of all members of the team including the critical role of leadership and clinical champions to building an effective collaborative team. This session laid the groundwork for the full series by engaging participants in a discussion of how to tailor diabetes care for social context. The conversation focused on the key elements needed for treating diabetes in the primary care and community setting with an emphasis on team-based approaches to wellness.
Building Value and Return on Investment in Housing and Health Partnerships
This learning collaborative from NCHPH and National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC) will guide health center staff through practical steps to help build value and return on investment in their current health center and housing authority partnerships. The learning collaborative consists of four modules that discuss strategies, case studies, and promising practices to increase the impact of partnership activities, ultimately improving the health and social outcomes for residents of public housing. The modules will discuss how to optimize the health center workforce and resources, evaluate existing and developing partnerships, and measure and improve their impact.
Community Partnerships to Address the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Residents of Public Housing
The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated mitigation strategies are expected to have significant psychosocial, behavioral, socioeconomic, and health impacts, which are exacerbated in populations that experience health disparities and other vulnerable groups. Those experiencing health disparities prior to the COVID-19 pandemic are at increased risk of infection and other COVID-19 related consequences, such as job loss, unpaid leave, and lost wages. Given the urgent need for prevention and mitigation strategies (i.e., physical distancing, wearing face coverings, frequent handwashing, disinfecting surfaces, shelter-in-place, self-isolation upon suspected exposure, leaving home only for essential activities, etc.), there is also a need to leverage and scale existing partnerships, resources and platforms and ongoing mitigation efforts within communities to attenuate adverse outcomes. This learning collaborative explored existing or developing partnership strategies to address the negative health impacts of COVID-19 in vulnerable populations.
COVID-19 Pandemic: Interventions and Challenges in Public Housing Primary Care
During this call, NCHPH and PHPC Health Centers discussed some of the most pressing needs for PHPCs in response to COVID-19. Health Centers shared their best practices to prevent COVID-19 infections among health center staff and their current patient management mechanisms. Other topics of discussion also included HUD guidance, community collaborations, challenges and training and technical assistance needs.
Culturally Competent Care Learning Collaborative
To assist Health Centers in the adoption of the CLAS Standards and to equip providers with the competencies that will enable them to better treat the increasingly diverse population, NCHPH will be offering a 4-part learning collaborative. The interactive sessions will cover the fundamentals of cultural competency, language access, and building community partnerships through a combination of case studies and didactic learning.
Developing the Role of Community Health Workers and other Support Staff in Diabetes Prevention, Treatment, and Follow-Up
Community Health Workers (CHW) have been shown to be especially successful reaching hard to access populations such as agricultural workers and their families as well as the homeless and residents of public housing. In this session, participants and faculty explored the role of CHWs in the diabetes care team. Case studies and real-world discussion provided examples of both effective and ineffective integration of CHWs into the clinical care team. Participants discussed the scope of practice and most effective roles for CHWs within the diabetes care team as well as the role of clinical champions and leaders in effectively mobilizing the skills of CHWs and other team members.
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.
HUD’s Smoke Free Rule: What Health Centers and Public Housing Agencies Need to Know
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.
Kids, E-Cigarettes, Vaping, and New Tobacco Products
E-cigarettes and vaping devices have become an almost ubiquitous – and dangerous – trend among youth that has reached epidemic proportions. Over the past several years, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product by youth. In fact, more than 2 million middle and high school students were current users of e-cigarettes in 2017. Health Centers and community organizations will have to develop campaigns and put resources to educate youth that using e-cigarettes, just like cigarettes, puts them at risk for addiction and other health consequences because nicotine can rewire the brain to crave more nicotine, particularly because adolescent brains are still developing. In addition, e-cigarettes, among other things, can contain dangerous chemicals such as: acrolein, a chemical that can cause irreversible lung damage; formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical; and toxic metal particles, like chromium, lead and nickel, which can be inhaled into the lungs.
Partnerships and Collaborations in PHPC Settings
On this call, PHPC Health Centers discuss the changing face of public housing, strategies to increase access to care in public housing primary care, and current and emerging issues affecting Health Centers located in and/or immediately accessible to public housing developments.
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.