Upcoming Events
A Discussion about Homelessness, Food Insecurity, and Health Disparities with the Upper Valley Haven
Monday, October 18 (12:30 to 1:30 pm)
Location: Live via Zoom
Guest: Jennifer Fontaine, Director of Operations, The Upper Valley Haven, White River Junction, VT. Jennifer Fontaine joined the Haven in 2008 and holds a BA in Social Work, an MS in Human Services, a certificate from Common Good Vermont in Nonprofit Management, and is a graduate of Leadership Upper Valley. She serves as Co-Chair of the Hunger Council of the Upper Valley, a steering committee member of Upper Valley Strong, and many other community workgroups focused on food justice. She recently attended Food Solutions New England’s Network Leadership Institute. She will share from her experience working with homeless and food insecure individuals at the Haven, and will answer our questions.
Humanitarian Immigration: What Rural Healthcare Providers Should Know
Southern NH Area Health Education Center
Tuesday, October 19 (12:00-12:45 pm)
Location: Live via Zoom
Presenter: Kate Semple Barta, JD, Attorney, Welcoming all Nationalities Network of the Upper Valley @ WISE and Deputy Director, NH AHEC.
Presented in conjunction with Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center of Windsor, Vt.
Overview of humanitarian immigration categories for victims of crimes and persecution, and the related red flags that rural health care providers should know.
Weight Stigma in Healthcare
Thursday, October 26 (12:30–1:30pm)
Location: Live via Zoom.
Presenter: Ashley Wentworth, MS, RD, LD, is a Health At Every Size(R) aligned Registered Dietitian providing weight neutral, non-diet nutrition therapy with a focus on intuitive eating. Ashley has over 10 years of experience in many different areas of nutrition, including clinical and public health and wellness. She is currently the owner of Ashley Wentworth Nutrition, a nutrition private practice in northern New Hampshire. She challenges us to ask we we are battling “obesity” in the medical field, and what if our fight is actually making our patients’ overall health worse? Ms. Wentworth will guide us through the research on health, weight, how weight stigma affects physical and mental health, and how to provide weight inclusive care.
Behavioral Health Integration, and the Impact of SUDs and Mental Illness on Health in Northern NH
Thursday, October 28 (12:30–1:30pm)
Location: Live via Zoom.
Presenter: Lili Cargill, APRN, PMHNP, Behavioral Health Director, Ammonoosuc Community Health Services, Woodsville, NH. Ms. Cargill will share from her experience as director of behavioral health integration at ACHS, in regards to barriers to treatment for patients with SUDs and mental illness.
Volunteer Opportunities
Community Opportunities
Tutor a Manchester, NH, Elementary, Middle, or High School student. The MCAC Community Tutoring Program offers free academic support to K-12 students and their families from BIPOC, Immigrant, Disability and other historically marginalized communities in Manchester. Tutoring sessions held by zoom, take place in the evening, for 1 or 2 hours per week. This program started last year in response to challenges students faced learning virtually. The NH AHEC Scholars who participated found it to be a rewarding way to support this community. Sign up or read more here: https://mcacnh.org/current-work/
Serve on a Panel for Health Careers Quest. The Southern NH AHEC runs an afterschool program for high schoolers in Manchester, NH, called Health Careers Quest. They have invited Scholars to speaks on a panel for one of their sessions. Scholars would share their journey into a health profession, including the ups and downs and any tips that can help the younger students understand what is achievable. Dates that have been offered are: November 17, December 15, February 09, and February 23. The sessions run from 5-7pm, via Zoom. If you would like to participate, please indicate which dates would work for you! We will just choose one.
Serve as a Mentor for Health Careers Quest. NH AHEC Scholars are invited to meet virtually with a high school student once a week, checking in with them and offering support and encouragement. This coaching/mentorship is a regular a component of the program, which begins in October and runs until early May, 2021. The students enrolled are chosen for the program because they face disproportionate hurdles to entering health careers. If you are interested, please let me know and I will share more details.
Participation Tracking: What, How Why?
NH AHEC HS Scholars is funded by HRSA, the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HRSA is the primary federal agency for improving health care to people who are geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable. This means, of course, that with the funding comes the need to report on your activities. We aim to make this easy. Here’s how it works:
- Apply to the NH AHEC Scholars program here. Give us a few sentences that describe your interest in doing so. Answer a few questions. Approx time needed: 5 min.
- Once we review and accept your application, we will email you a baseline survey to gather information about you as you begin the program. Approx time needed: 7-10 min.
- You check out our website, with recorded sessions and other didactic resources.
- We will email you regular newsletters about upcoming opportunities that we organize or that we think are of interest and relevant.
- Attended a session organized or advertised by the AHEC? Great! We want to know. There are two ways to report it:
- Go to the link of the event on our calendar, and in the description of the event, click on the Activity Log. Give us a brief response to our questions. Approx eval time needed: 5 min. -OR-
- Keep track of it on your own, and report your attendance in the December or June Participation Tracker Survey, which will be emailed to you.
- If you report some activities via the Activity Log and some via the Participation Tracker Survey, that’s good too!
- Attended a non-AHEC session pertaining to one of the following topics? Also great! Report it via the Activity Log, as well as the emailed Participation Tracker Survey, as above.
- Rural health care
- Care for medically underserved populations, including those in urban areas
- Primary care
- Telehealth
- Substance use disorders and treatment
- Social determinants of health
- COVID-19
- Addressing health disparities and inequities in NH
- Interprofessional education and health care delivery
- Did you do community volunteering? You rock! Seriously. Tell us via the Activity Log or the Participation Tracker Survey—no matter what the activity. Let us decide if we will be able to report it for AHEC purposes.
- Tell us about your clinical work, including volunteering, shadowing and interning, even that which is required by your academic program. Report it via the Activity Log or the Participation Tracker Survey.
Questions? Let me know!
Log Reminder
Remember, log any Scholars-related activities online, either in the link under the calendar announcement of the event, or as an independent activity. If you have been able to do independent clinical work or community service, please make sure to enter it in the Independent Activity Log.
Scholars’ Bios
Add your bio to our Scholars’ page! Please forward a photo (png, jpeg fine; as high a resolution as possible) and a brief introduction to yourself (150–250 words). You are welcome to re-use something you’ve already used elsewhere!