Continuing our coverage on housing and health, we speak with Rhonda Pfenning and Janet Wanek from the Coal Country Community Health Center in North Dakota. Coal Country is a federally qualified health center, providing services in four clinics throughout the state.
In this episode, we learn about Coal Country’s best practices around telehealth and patient education for diabetes prevention and self-management, as well as barriers patients might encounter around technology and transportation within a rural health care setting.
Rhonda Pfenning is a registered nurse and certified diabetes educator, and Janet Wanek is a licensed registered dietician nutritionist.
Rhonda Pfenning is a registered nurse and certified diabetes educator at the Coal Country Community Health Center.
Janet Wanek is a licensed registered dietician nutritionist at the Coal Country Community Health Center.
On December 7, 2021 the PA Action Coalition, National Nurse-Led Care Consortium, the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, and the National LGBT Cancer Network presented the LGBTQ+ Cancer Care: Welcoming Strategies webinar.
LGBTQ+ communities experience health disparities, including limited access to health care, increased risk for certain disease types, and an inherent bias in the health system. As frontline caregivers, oncology care providers are central to successful patient outcomes and are in an important position to advocate for, support and guide LGBTQ+ patients through their cancer journey. Nurses can make a difference in LGBTQ+ individuals' lives by making cancer care a safer and more welcoming place for LGBTQ+ cancer survivors and their families/support systems. This can be accomplished by obtaining training on providing LGBTQ+ quality care in a welcoming and non-judgmental way, ultimately improving health equity.
During this training we reviewed what is known about LGBTQ+ cancer health disparities and cancer screening guidelines for LGBTQ+ communities. We also shared results from Out: The National Cancer Survey including data and stories from LGBTQ cancer survivors as well as best practices and practitioner-level interventions to improve cancer care to LGBTQ+ communities. This webinar was supported by AARP of Lehigh Valley, PA.
*The National Nurse-Led Care Consortium and the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing collaborated to provide nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) contact hours for the educational activity entitled: LGBTQ+ Cancer Care – Welcoming Strategies. Nurses who completed this educational activity and completing the evaluation may receive a maximum of 1.5 contact hours of NCPD. The University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Executive Director, National LGBT Cancer Network
Scout is the Executive Director of the National LGBT Cancer Network and the principal investigator of both the CDC-funded LGBTQ tobacco-related cancer disparity network and Out: The National Cancer Survey. He spends much of his time providing technical assistance for tobacco and cancer focusing agencies expanding their reach and engagement with LGBTQ+ populations. Scout has a long history in health policy analysis and a particular interest in expanding LGBTQ+ surveillance and research. He has faculty appointments at both Brown University and Boston Universities’ Schools of Public Health. He is a member of the NIH Council of Councils, the Co-Chair of the NIH Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office Work Group, on the Advisory Panel for NIH’s All of Us initiative, and a U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention delegate. His work has won him recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives, two state governments, and many city governments. Scout is an openly transgender father of three, a vegetarian, an avid hiker and runner.
Project Specialist, National LGBT Cancer Network
Harold is a Project Specialist for the National LGBT Cancer Network. Based in New York City, he reviews and updates the online directory of provider resources. Harold, a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder is a two-time Emmy Award-winning television producer who has produced programming for VH1, MTV, PBS and CBS News. Much of his documentary work has spotlighted issues of urban youth including gun violence, foster care and legal rights. Harold is dedicated to storytelling that celebrates the complexities of people of color and the LGBTQ+ community. He’s currently writing a feature screenplay about a transgender man’s love story.
Project Manager, National LGBT Cancer Network
Knoll Larkin joined the team in October 2021 as the Networking2Save Project Manager at the National LGBT Cancer Network. For the past 18 years, Knoll has worked as a project director, manager, and research associate on research studies and community-based initiatives focused on cancer health disparities, cancer survivorship, cancer prevention and screening, and trans and queer health. Most recently, Knoll served as the Director of the Office of Cancer Health Equity and Community Engagement at Karmanos Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center based in Detroit, Michigan. Knoll is passionate about community and stakeholder engagement to reduce the cancer health burden in LGBTQ+ communities. Knoll also teaches LGBT health as a part-time faculty member at Wayne State University School of Public Health in Detroit. Knoll obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Oakland University and a Master's of Public Health from the University of Michigan. Knoll is transgender, queer, and a seahorse dad to three young children.
Project Associate, National LGBT Cancer Network
Clarke began as an intern and is now a Project Associate at the National LGBT Cancer Network. She is based in Providence, Rhode Island, and received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Forensic Studies from Loyola University Maryland while playing Division 1 volleyball. She also works as a Teaching Artist at ¡City Arts! during the summer. In her spare time, she sells her art on Etsy and pursues screenwriting as well as modeling. She is a Black American and identifies as bisexual.
Slide deck: LGBTQ+ Cancer Care - Welcoming Strategies
For more LGBTQ+ Health Resources, visit our Resource Library
In this episode, we focus on community-based hepatitis interventions for the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and learn more about one of Philadelphia’s efforts where nurses and patient navigators collaborate to test and treat HCV.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, injection drug use accounts for up to 70% of new HCV cases in the United States. If treated, however, most HCV cases clear up in eight to twelve weeks through medication and primary care provider oversight. Prior to 2011, that was not the case. HCV treatment was managed by an infectious disease or liver specialist and required 24 to 48 weeks for a combination of weekly injections and oral medication with severe side effects.
To dive into this topic, we’re joined by Bibbi Stokes, an Infectious Diseases Nurse Manager and experienced Population Health Manager at Public Health Management Corporation. Our conversation touches on the game changers within HCV treatment, including the switch to an all-oral antiviral treatment allowing for more community-based HCV treatment.
Bibbi Stokes is an Infectious Diseases Nurse Manager and Population Health Manager at Public Health Management Corporation.
In this episode, we speak with registered nurses, JoAnne Ivory and Dora Loya from TCA Health. They share how they set up and have run COVID-19 vaccination clinics at various public housing community sites in Chicago. They also discuss how they are adapting to the growing demand for COVID-19 testing.
JoAnne Ivory is TCA Health’s Clinical Manager and Dora Loya is the Director of Clinical Services. They both specialize in community health work with public housing residents in Chicago.
TCA Health started as a private clinic in 1970, within one of Chicago’s public housing developments, and later became a non-profit health care center and a Section 330 Community Health Center and Public Housing Primary Care grantee.
JoAnne Ivory TCA Health’s Clinical Manager.
Dora Loya is the Director of Clinical Services.
Read the Transcript
As part of our Access to Care series, our coverage continues with a special focus on housing and health.
In this episode, we speak with Zara Marselian and Javier Rodriguez from La Maestra Community Health Centers in San Diego. Zara Marselian is La Maestra’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and Javier Rodriguez is the Chief Medical Officer.
La Maestra is a Public Housing and Special Populations Federally Qualified Health Center that has 18 primary care sites operated by more than 600 staff and many volunteers. Each year, La Maestra provides services to more than 45,000 people, specializing in care for mainly immigrants, refugees, low-income individuals and the homeless.
Throughout this episode, Zara and Javier highlight how La Maestra supports various housing needs ranging from programs for people living in public housing, experiencing homelessness, and human trafficking to counseling for renters and residents receiving public assistance.
Zara Marselian is La Maestra’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
Javier Rodriguez is the Chief Medical Officer.
The Pennsylvania Action Coalition (PA-AC) is among six nurse-led organizations that will receive a Nursing Innovations Fund award of up to $25,000 each for new or ongoing work that addresses nursing’s role in building health equity, well-being, and promoting a Culture of Health. The award was announced by the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The Campaign’s Nursing Innovations Fund was created in 2018 to support work of its state Action Coalitions in advancing health equity.
The Pennsylvania Action Coalition Cohort of Exchanged Learning (PA-ACCEL) Mentorship Program is a mentorship program created by the Pennsylvania Action Coalition’s Nurse Diversity Council (PA-NDC) in partnership with Lincoln University's Department of Nursing. A mentee cohort of junior and senior nursing students from Lincoln University are matched with one (1) professional mentor from various nursing fields for one (1) academic year. Throughout this program mentors and mentees will meet virtually or in-person. The program objective it to bolster the nursing students’ capacity to be successful both in nursing school and in their transition to professional nursing practice. Mentoring provides lifelong learning and professional resilience to students and is proven to increase student retention, the success rate on NCLEX, an increased sense of socialization into the nursing profession, enhanced self-esteem, and decreased anxiety and stress.
"An investment in future professional nurses is an investment in health equity, health care equity, and optimal health outcomes for individuals, families, populations, and communities," said Monica Harmon, Pennsylvania Action Coalition Nurse Diversity Council Co-Chair.
Five other winning projects this year are from Delaware, Kentucky, Montana, Utah and West Virginia. All were selected based on offering replicable strategies that help nurses build a Culture of Health and promote health equity and well-being, while highlighting the importance of collaboration with diverse stakeholders. In fact, each of the 2021 Nursing Innovations Fund projects secured dollar-to-dollar matching funds from local and state partners as a condition of the award, which prioritizes coalition building to achieve sustainable change. As of 2020, state coalitions have raised more than $93 million in matches.
“This award’s focus on health equity has never felt more urgent,” said Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior adviser for nursing at RWJF and director of the Campaign for Action. “This pandemic has put a spotlight on the inequities in our healthcare system. People of color, with lower incomes and those living in remote communities have gotten sick and died in the greatest numbers. Nurses remain on the front lines as trusted providers of care, and they are stepping up to innovate ways to build more equity into the system.”
“It is remarkable to me that despite the unprecedented pressure nurses are under during this pandemic, they are prioritizing the critical work that is needed to create structures to make health care more equitable in every way,” said Susan C. Reinhard, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior vice president and director of the AARP Public Policy Institute, and chief strategist at the Center to Champion Nursing in America, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and RWJF, which coordinates the Campaign for Action. “We received impressive proposals from all over the country, including some places hardest hit by COVID. I feel so much pride in our profession right now.”
“In my work, I see first-hand the powerful effects of social determinants on health,” said Scharmaine Lawson, DNP, FNP, FAAN, CEO of Housecall Nation® and Nola The Nurse® and co-chair of the Campaign’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee (EDISC). “I love to see nurses actively engaging with their communities to connect more people to health care.”
“When nurses reflect the communities they serve, you see significant improvements in health and health equity,” said Eric J. Williams, DNP, RN, FAAN, interim associate dean of health sciences, nursing program director at Santa Monica College and co-chair of the EDISC. “No one is better positioned than nurses to innovate ways to make their profession more inclusive and diverse.”
Learn more about the project at this link: PA-ACCEL Mentorship Program
Read about the other awardees here.
About the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action
The Pennsylvania Action Coalition is part of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, a national initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and RWJF, working to implement the National Academy of Medicine’s evidence-based recommendations on the future of nursing. The Campaign includes Action Coalitions in every state and the District of Columbia and a wide range of health care professionals, consumer advocates, policy-makers, and the business, academic, and philanthropic communities. The Center to Champion Nursing in America, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and RWJF, serves as the coordinating entity for the Campaign. Learn more at www.campaignforaction.org.
In this episode, we delve into a range of issues related to clients from the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium’s (NNCC) nursing initiatives, Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) and Nursing Legal Partnership (NLP), including pregnancy work discrimination, the absence of paid parental leave, challenges with accessing COVID-era unemployment assistance, and the impacts of these factors on maternal and child health. We hear from Rachel Mark and Susanna Greenberg, two legal aid attorneys, and public health nurse, Erin Blair about the complicated lives of the growing families they directly serve during the pandemic.
NNCC consists of various nursing initiatives including the Philadelphia Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) and Nursing Legal Partnership (NLP), which reach between 600-800 families impacted by economic and other social barriers. NFP links first-time low-income mothers with a nurse home visitor during pregnancy and until the baby turns two. Staff attorneys for the NLP are from HELP: MLP, the legal aid partner in our Nursing Legal Partnership. They are fully integrated into NNCC’s programs and services to help clients and nurses.
Both programs shifted services to telehealth through most of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our speakers highlight the critical gap in relief for clients who were pregnant but unemployed before the pandemic and who were not eligible for any of the pandemic-era unemployment expansions. At the same time, they highlight many other families who were able to receive assistance that ultimately helped them save money and take care of their new babies during the pandemic.
Rachel Mark is a staff attorney for the Nursing Legal Partnership (NLP).
Erin Blair is the Nurse Liasion for policy, advocacy, and complex case navigation with HELP: MLP (Health, Education and Legal assistance Project: A Medical-Legal Partnership) Nursing Legal Partnership (NLP).
Susanna Greenberg is the Managing Attorney for HELP: MLP Nursing Legal Partnership (NLP).
*This episode contains content that may be alarming to some listeners including descriptions of sexual assault and traumatic events. Listener discretion is advised
Continuing our special series highlighting access to care, this episode features conversations with sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) across the country about new national standards under development to improve care for victims. This summer the National Institute for Standards and Technology launched the effort with support from the Department of Justice and the International Association of Forensic Nurses. We will learn from nurses how important this initiative is to advance and sustain care for victims of sexual assault.
This episode builds from a previous episode where we highlighted Penn-State’s SAFE-T Center’s innovative program to close a gap in services offering telehealth support medical practices in rural and underserved areas. We encourage you to learn more about their work on our feature here: https://www.paactioncoalition.org/about/podcast/item/524-episode-1.html
We start with Vikki Vodosia, a SANE at Children's Hospital Intervention and Prevention Services in Birmingham, Alabama. Vikki explains how rape kits can be different from state to state and what that means for survivor care, evidence collection, and more.
Later, we'll hear from SANE Kayce Ward, a Forensic Nurse Program Manager at the Center of Excellence in Forensic Nursing College of Nursing at Texas A&M University and of the Texas Teleforensic Remote Assistance Center (Tex-TRAC). Kayce shares how rape kits have been standardized across Texas in recent years and how this has improved care for survivors.
Caitlin Yerkes is a Forensic Nurse Examiner in Virginia and a telecine expert consultant at Penn State’s SAFE-T Center. SAFE-T stands for Sexual Assault Forensic Examination - Telehealth. This initiative pairs more experienced SANEs with less experienced providers to team up on exams using telehealth, including across state lines. Caitlin virtually supports Pennsylvania-based providers from her home outside Washington, D.C.
This is the second episode of our special coverage about equitable access to healthcare, specifically LGTBQ+ inclusive care. Part 2 features an in-depth conversation with Dr. Rachel Levine, United States Assistant Secretary for Health and Adrian Shanker, Founder and Executive Director of the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center.
As part of their conversation Dr. Levine and Adrian Shanker address common disparities that exist for racial, ethnic and gender minorities. They also discuss how our healthcare system could be better designed to promote equitable access to care and well-being. This includes what happens when providers adopt cultural competency and humility in their practice and the roles that health education and research can play.
Dr. Levine is the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health for the United States Department of Health and Human Services or HHS. Prior to serving in this position, Dr. Levine was Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health.
Adrian Shanker is the Founder and Executive Director of the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He is the editor of the book, Bodies and Barriers: Queer Activists on Health.
