Happy Spring AHEC Health Equity Scholars!
I hope you have time to get outside and enjoy what it has to offer. Take care of yourselves and thank you for all of your hard work.
Best wishes,
Kate
In a couple of weeks, you’ll be receiving a survey asking about your participation in specific events throughout the semester. PLEASE complete these!! They allow us to report on what you’ve done to advance your learning about health equity, whether or not it was an AHEC event. We appreciate your hard work, and want it to count! After the surveys, second years will be receiving a certificate of participation in the program.
In the meantime, take a look at this article, which outlines a new Geisel study finding stunning racial inequities in treatment for opioid use disorder—a treatment which is life saving for many.
At DHMC, the NH AHEC has been collaborating with the Moms in Recovery Program (https://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/moms-recovery) to create community-focused outreach that fosters better understanding of the impact of substance use disorders on families—and turns the focus to the strengths that are developed through recovery. We’ve been engaging with local EMS, early childhood educators, and staff throughout the DH system to support a compassionate, trauma-informed, and recovery-friendly network for individuals seeking care. This 6-minute video shares the perspective of an individual with lived experience parenting in recovery as she sought care for her child—as well as some tools for service providers. We hope you take a few minutes to check it out!
Find other tools and info related to this project here: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/nhahec/rcorp/
Other trainings/opportunities that might be of interest:
Funding Opportunity from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Health Equity Scholars for Action
Application Deadline: May 31, 2023
Research is stronger, more accurate, actionable, and equitable if diverse groups of researchers who encompass varied perspectives and lived experiences are designing and conducting it.
Yet, structural racism and discrimination often stand in the way of the career trajectory for many underrepresented researchers. They are often compelled to take on duties to support efforts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion rather than attending to their own career development and impact. Biased methods of assessment and evaluation for tenure, promotion, and other forms of disparate treatment, also lead to disparities in advancement and promotion.
RWJF’s Health Equity Scholars for Action (HES4A) program exists to challenge biases and outdated conventions in research and academia by supporting early-career researchers from historically underrepresented backgrounds. Through funding, mentorship, coaching—and access to a broad community of people who understand their lived experiences—scholars will create a body of actionable evidence that mitigates the root causes of health inequities in the United States, recognizing that those inequities are strongly linked with structural and systemic racism and other forms of oppression.
Harvard Chan School Symposium on Climate Action
We’re pleased to share a series of videos from a recent Harvard Chan School symposium on climate action. On this playlist, you’ll find a conversation with Melissa Hoffer, the first cabinet-level climate czar in any U.S. state, who is working to integrate sustainability into every policy decision in Massachusetts. You’ll hear about federal efforts to achieve environmental justice from EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. You’ll listen to moving stories of resilience from around the globe—and a stirring keynote from environmental activist Heather McTeer Toney.
You’ll also have an opportunity to drop in on robust discussions among our faculty experts about the toll climate change is taking on food security and infectious disease outbreaks.
And if the focus on action and solutions appeals to you, please consider subscribing to The Climate Optimist, a monthly newsletter from the Harvard Chan School’s Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment.
We use the summer months to plan for the upcoming academic year, so our programming will slow down through August. We look forward to a full slate of programs in the fall. As always, we welcome suggestions for topics or speakers at studio@hsph.harvard.edu.
Simple Steps to Help Save Lives: Practical Suicide Prevention in Primary Care for Students and Newly Practicing Clinicians
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 (2:00-3:00 p.m.)
Register
Medical students and other clinicians in training who will be entering the primary care space are likely to encounter patients at risk for suicide. Nearly half of individuals who end their lives by suicide visit a primary care provider in the month before their passing, making primary care visits crucial opportunities to intervene. However, all too many clinicians receive minimal, if any, training in suicide prevention during their education.
Join ACU and the American Association of Teaching Health Centers for a webinar to explore quick, evidence-based strategies from ACU’s “Quick Tips” guide to help prepare students—or refresh practicing clinicians—in identifying, assessing, and intervening with patients at risk for suicide.
Presenters:
- Dr. Virna Little, PSyD, LCSW-r, SAP, CCM, Chief Clinical Officer and Co-Founder of Concert Health, Co-Founder of Zero Overdose
- Dr. Julian Mitton, MD, MPH, System Director at CommonSpirit Health and Clinical Assistant Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine
Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) 2023 Conference
Washington DC July 23-26
Working tirelessly to establish a robust and diverse workforce to help transform communities to achieve health equity for all.
ACU is a uniquely transdisciplinary membership network uniting clinicians, advocates, and organizations to lead advocacy, clinical, operational and equity excellence to develop and support clinicians and the healthcare workforce caring for America’s underserved communities. We support thousands of clinicians and organizations each year with technical assistance, programs, advocacy, and more.