If you missed out on this year’s RI CHW Sustainability Symposium, don’t worry, we have the entire symposium available for viewing on our Youtube channel!
Just click the link below and enjoy the voices of our amazing panelists!
https://youtu.be/GvkYvbDCFRc
Read this article discussing CHWs in the pandemic.
Community health workers (CHWs) leverage their trusting relationships with underresourced populations to promote health equity and social justice in their communities. Little is known about CHWs roles in addressing COVID-19 or how the pandemic may have affected CHWs’ ability to interact with and support communities experiencing disparities. A focus group with CHW leaders from 7 states revealed 8 major themes: CHW identity, CHW resiliency, self-care, unintended positives outcomes of COVID-19, technology, resources, stressors, and consequences of COVID-19. Understanding the pandemic’s impact on CHWs has implications for workforce development, training, and health policies.
“We have had to distance ourselves from our clients, which is not what we are used to. We are used to being face to face, one on one with them, to being remotely…. Normally you can comfort someone, hug them, and say it is going to be okay. We can’t do that now.”
| Public Comment Opportunities Discussion Draft of the Preliminary Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine Public Listening Session Sept. 2 | 12 to 5 pm ET Register Now >>Written Comment Period Sept. 1 – Sept. 4 More Information >> Starting September 1, the National Academies will invite public comments on a Discussion Draft of the Preliminary Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine, part of a study commissioned by NIH and CDC. The study will recommend priorities to inform allocation of a limited initial supply of COVID-19 vaccine, taking into account factors such as racial/ethnic inequities and groups at higher risk due to health status, occupation, or living conditions. Input from the public, especially communities highly impacted by COVID-19, is essential to produce a final report that is objective, balanced, and inclusive.A discussion draft of the preliminary framework will be available September 1. Prepare your comments now to help shape the final report.Register Now! Public Listening Session Wednesday, September 2 | 12:00 to 5:00 pm EDT Please join us for an open session in which members of the public will be invited to address the study committee (as individuals or on behalf of an organization). You can sign up now to make a comment. However, because time at the session will be limited, we cannot guarantee that everyone will have the opportunity to make an oral comment. Please consider submitting a written comment between September 1 and September 4 (more information below).Register Written Comment Period: September 1 – 4 Members of the public are encouraged to submit written comments for consideration by the study committee (as individuals or on behalf of an organization). The public comment period will be open for 4 days, from 12:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 1, until 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, September 4. Members of the public will be able to download and review the discussion draft before submitting a comment through a form (uploaded documents accepted). All materials comments received will be placed in the committee’s Public Access File, and may be provided to the public upon request. More Information To learn more about the National Academies’ study process, see Frequently Asked Questions on the project webpage.Questions? Email COVIDVaccineFramework@NAS.edu |
NAMI Connection is a free recovery support group for people living with any mental illness. NAMI Connection provides a place that offers respect, understanding, encouragement, and hope. You don’t need to register to attend. For more information about Connections, please call us at 401-331-3060 or email us at info@namirhodeisland.org.
NAMI Connection is a recovery support group program that offers respect, understanding, encouragement and hope. NAMI Connection groups are:
Currently NAMI Connections is being held over Zoom. Click here for the latest schedule (updated September 2020).
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, June 23, 2020 |
HHS Announces Partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine to Fight COVID-19 in Racial and Ethnic Minority and Vulnerable Communities $40 Million Initiative Will Help Communities Hardest Hit by the Pandemic |
| The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced the selection of the Morehouse School of Medicine as the awardee for a new $40 million initiative to fight COVID-19 in racial and ethnic minority, rural and socially vulnerable communities. The Morehouse School of Medicine will enter into a cooperative agreement with OMH to lead the initiative to coordinate a strategic network of national, state, territorial, tribal and local organizations to deliver COVID-19-related information to communities hardest hit by the pandemic. “The Trump Administration has made it a priority to support and empower Americans who have been most impacted by COVID-19, including minority, rural, and socially vulnerable communities,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “This new partnership between the Morehouse School of Medicine and our Office of Minority Health will work with trusted community organizations to bring information on COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, and other services to the Americans who need it.” The initiative – the National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 within Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities (NIMIC) – is a three-year project designed to work with community-based organizations across the nation to deliver education and information on resources to help fight the pandemic. The information network will strengthen efforts to link communities to COVID-19 testing, healthcare and social services and to best share and implement effective response, recovery and resilience strategies. “Underlying social determinants of health and disparate burdens of chronic medical conditions are contributing to worse COVID-19-related outcomes in minority and socially vulnerable communities, and this partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine is essential to improving our overall response,” said Assistant Secretary for Health ADM Brett P. Giroir, M.D. “We’ve made important strides over the past few months in fighting the pandemic, and with Morehouse School of Medicine as our partner, we are ready to advance our efforts to support our most affected communities.” These social determinants of health are the conditions in which we live, work, grow and age, that can include working conditions; unemployment; underemployment; access to essential goods and services such as water, sanitation and food; housing; and access to quality healthcare. Such conditions may reflect inequities experienced by disadvantaged communities, leading to poor health status and adverse health outcomes and requiring community- and systems-level responses. “We know the power of partnerships to help us solve our most pressing public health challenges,” said U.S. Surgeon General VADM Jerome M. Adams, M.D., M.P.H. “This initiative has at its core the community-based organizations who know their people best and who are committed to working collaboratively to reduce health-inequities and make them healthy and safe.” OMH announced the initiative through a funding announcement on May 1. The NIMIC initiative is expected to begin in July and the first award is for $14.6 million. “Communities throughout the country have already done a lot of hard work to adapt and respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on racial and ethnic minority, rural and vulnerable populations,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health RADM Felicia Collins, M.D. “OMH and the Morehouse School of Medicine look forward to continue working with our communities to link them to the information, resources, healthcare and services needed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.” The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides public health and science advice to the Secretary, and oversees the Department’s broad-ranging public health offices, whose missions include minority health, HIV policy, women’s health, disease prevention, human research protections and others. OASH also includes the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. The Office of Minority Health (OMH) is dedicated to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities. For more information about the Office of Minority Health, visit: www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/. |
###Connect with HHS and sign up for HHS email updates   |
Keeping our bodies healthy, minds sharp and spirits high.
The Age-Friendly RI Virtual Community Center is the place to go to connect, learn, and play online when in-person
community experiences are not possible.
Take part in a wide array of online activities – fitness and wellness, cooking and gardening, tech help, information and how-to sessions, classes, entertainment, games, social and cultural events, trips and tours – wherever you may be.
Brought to you through a grant from the Tufts Health Plan and support from our many coalition partners.
The Department of Health has created a website that is updated regularly with the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), including COVID-19 fact Sheets available in six languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese.
Reminder – Call for Presenters for the 11th Annual CHW Conference on Thursday, May 7, 2020
Deadline for submitting proposals: Friday, 12/13/2019
11th Annual Community Health Worker Conference
Explore ways to pursue professional development and career enhancement
opportunities to gain success and happiness at work!
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Four Points by Sheraton, Norwood, MA
Interested in presenting at a breakout session?
Please download and complete one of the documents below:
Call for Presenters CHW 2020 Conference MS Word
Or
Call for Presenters CHW 2020 Conference PDF
Please email your completed proposal to: CHWInfo@state.ma.us
Deadline for proposal submission is Friday, December 13, 2019
We look forward to hearing from you.
| Presented by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers |
