NVAHEC

Students in Health-Related Programs are Encouraged to Apply for the 2023 AHEC Scholar Program and Join a National Cohort of Over 4,000 AHEC Scholars Across the Country

John Brandon Cantrell — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 18:22:07 +0000

Students in Health-Related Programs are Encouraged to Apply for the 2023 AHEC Scholar Program and Join a National Cohort of Over 4,000 AHEC Scholars Across the Country John Brandon C… Mon, 06/28/2021 - 14:22

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In This Story

Karen Brown

Applications for the 2023 AHEC Scholar Program are being accepted. Apply by August 15 for full consideration.

Students who are currently enrolled in a health-related program, who are two years away from graduating, and plan to work in a rural, underserved area after graduating are encouraged to apply for the 2023 Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Scholar Program.

Students who are interested in learning more about the program and the application process can attend a virtual session on July 9 or July 14 at 12 pm. Click here to Register for the Virtual Session.

With the mission of increasing the number of skilled and culturally competent health professionals to practice in rural, underserved areas, the AHEC Scholar Program gives students in health-related programs an opportunity to develop new skills and be introduced to an interprofessional framework that will be pivotal to improving health and health care.

The two-year educational program provides students with 40 hours of didactic activities and 40 hours of clinical activities each year. Scholars can gain experience in interprofessional education, behavioral health integration, social determinants of health, cultural competency, practice transformation, current and emerging issues including substance use disorders, and regional topics.

“The AHEC Scholar Program is a valuable and unique way for students to gain real-world experience in their chosen fields by advancing their future careers through networking and training opportunities with health care professionals from across the state,” said Karen Brown, center director of Northern Virginia AHEC. “Scholars who are selected may be eligible for a stipend of up to $1,000 throughout the two-year commitment for completing program milestones.”

Click here to Apply for the 2023 AHEC Scholar Program.

“Tell Me Your Story”: How to Provide Health Care in a Culturally Diverse Environment

dhawkin — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 19:20:24 +0000

“Tell Me Your Story”: How to Provide Health Care in a Culturally Diverse Environment dhawkin Mon, 11/18/2019 - 14:20

The Washington, DC metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing and most diverse regions in the United States, and increasing evidence points to significant and preventable health care disparities within the region and the country.

As part of the mission to become a leading source of workforce development in the region, the Northern Virginia Area Health Education Center (NVAHEC) offered the first module in its Cultural Competency Training Series November 8. NVAHEC is based in George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services in the newly opened Population Health Center. NVAHEC works to increase diversity among health professions and support interdisciplinary training for practicing professionals and students in health career academic programs.

Culture can include a range of factors such as ethnicity, language, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or peer group, geography, and other sociological characteristics. Cultural competence involves being conscious of one’s own biases and how that may affect how you interact with or provide care to others and understanding where differences may arise in the health care system related to culture so that those can be addressed during the provision of care for better patient experiences and health outcomes.

“The training is called ‘Tell Me Your Story,’ because each patient has a different story,” explained NVAHEC Director Karen Brown. “You have your own culture as a provider as well, and culture can affect how patients respond and access the care they need.”

Brown kicked off the first module—Navigating the Healthcare System—by working with the participants to set ground rules for the experience. The participants were broken into small groups and asked to share personal examples of cultural experiences. They went on to view videos and discuss how care providers can improve the patient experience when cultural competency is incorporated into their care. Some of the solutions the participants discussed included asking patients about their full histories (not just their medical histories or looking at one point on a chart), which can give providers additional clues about their illnesses and their familiarity (or unfamiliarity) with the U.S. health care system.

The participants discussed the importance of considering the whole patient experience—from beginning to end—starting from the time they set up the appointment. Underserved patients often report being mistreated throughout the health care experience, and this prevents them from seeking care in the future. Additionally, the U.S. health care system is more complex and more expensive than in other countries, which can be a particular challenge for new immigrants.

One solution offered was to prepare registration personnel with a script or form to help identify those patients who may need additional explanation of how the process works or how many bills they can expect to receive.

“It’s about each person being treated as an individual and with dignity and respect, and how far that goes on top of everything else,” explained Rachel Lynch, director of the Community Health Improvement at Inova Health System, who helped develop the training.

Dr. Caroline Sutter, director of professional and workforce development at the Population Health Center and co-director of the Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinics, explained, “It’s important that we make sure that patients understand their diagnosis, and the next steps for treatment to help them to actively navigate to health. We tend to be focused on treating the disease but need to remember that is not always the direct provision of care that makes the biggest difference but rather taking the time to listen to any barriers that may prevent them from being successful in becoming healthy. Maybe it takes more time to listen, but maybe that’s the most important part.”

She emphasizes, “It’s important for us to have accountability at every touch point in the health care system if patients are to successfully navigate this complicated health care system.” She recommended, as is routine at the MAP Clinics, when sending patients to the hospital or other care providers, to provide them with written details to share with that next place of care. They encourage their patients to be advocates for themselves and give their patients tools to do so.

The participants in this first training module included nursing faculty and students at all levels and representatives from Inova and Fairfax County Health Department. The training is geared toward an interprofessional audience, and NVAHEC hopes to offer the module to other professionals working in the medical field, such as social workers, receptionists, technicians, financial services, and anyone who might have contact with a patient.

Lynch helped develop the modules because as she explains, “Everyone has biases—implicit or otherwise—and we need to better understand what these are in ourselves and in our health care system. Recognizing that and understanding how it affects patient care, raising the awareness of how it impacts outcomes, and just again the importance of the whole patient and patient-centered care, that’s what the heart of this really is.”

The curriculum for the Cultural Competency Training Series is grounded in the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health. It aims to prepare an interprofessional workforce for working in a culturally diverse health care environment—often working with individuals from backgrounds quite different from their own. Brown delivered the training, which NVAHEC developed with Inova, Partnership for a Healthier Fairfax, Fairfax County Health Department, and George Mason University.

Additional Tell Me Your Story modules include Social Determinants of Health and Behavioral Health. For more information about the trainings, contact Karen Brown at kbrown62@gmu.edu.

Creating a Shared Vision for the Mason Population Health Center and Improving Health in Northern Virginia

dhawkin — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 21:05:15 +0000

Creating a Shared Vision for the Mason Population Health Center and Improving Health in Northern Virginia dhawkin Thu, 09/19/2019 - 17:05

About the Population Health Center and the Kaiser Permanente Community Wellness Hub

The Population Health Center represents the intersection of academics and practice with the goal to improve the public’s health and ensure practitioners are career-ready and lifelong learners. Community engagement and participation are vital to Center’s tri-part mission to deliver professional and workforce development, interprofessional clinical care, and population health research.

The Center will house the Kaiser Permanente Community Wellness Hub, where partners will coordinate delivery of resources to address social determinants of health such as access to housing, food, and medication for clinical patients.

Community partners co-located in the Hub will include: NOVA ScripsCentral, Northern Virginia Family Service, and Partnership for Healthier Kids.

The Kaiser Permanente Community Wellness Hub is made possible, in part, by a grant from Kaiser Permanente.

“As a part of our approach to care and our deep belief that good health requires more than clinical care, we are committed to creating opportunities and connections to health where the community needs it—in traditional, as well as unexpected settings,” says Celeste James, executive director, Community Health for Kaiser Permanente. “[The Kaiser Permanente Community Wellness Hub] allows us to deliver on that promise in the heart of Northern Virginia where we are proud to care for our members and the many communities we serve.”

Participants in the visioning session shared ideas for improving health in the region. From left to right: Joy Reyes NOVA Scripts Central), Bridget Jennison (Mason), Carrie Sutter (Mason), Karen Brown (NVAHEC), Becki Sutter (Mason), Rachel Lynch (Partnership for Healthier Kids), Donney John (NOVA Scripts Central), Silvia Nakasone (Partnership for Healthier Kids), Ondrea McIntyre-Hall (Northern Virginia Family Service).

Community partners hold community visioning retreat to share inspiration and ideas

Faced with new missions and expanding mandates, community health providers, hospitals, and educators are seeking bold new ways to meet changing requirements related to delivering community-based healthcare.

“From streamlining access to specialists to helping uninsured patients afford medications, community health organizations are seeking innovative partnerships to improve care and maximize resources,” explains Rebecca Sutter, Associate Professor and Co-Director of the MAP Clinics and Population Health Center.

With community stakeholders’ evolving needs such as these in mind, the George Mason College of Health and Human Services held an initial community visioning retreat in the Kaiser Permanente Community Wellness Hub at the Population Health Center on September 6 to build strong bridges between academia and the local community.

“Our community partners – the employers, service providers, agencies—are welcome at the table, to bring their unique lens into community. That’s where the problem-solving begins,” says Sutter, “How might we collaborate to improve coordination and hand-offs across organizations and or to ensure diverse perspectives in population health research for example?”

Participants in this preliminary visioning session included representatives from Mason, NOVA Scripts Central, Northern Virginia Family Service, and Partnership for Healthier Kids.

“It was great to have a discussion with all the community partners at the table to discuss how we can provide real world learning opportunities for students to get first-hand experience in improving the lives of NoVa residents in need of assistance,” said Donney John, Executive Director of NOVA Scripts Central.

"By having a diversity of voices at the table that helps to inform this vision, it begins the work it takes to breakdown our silos and the fragmentation that occurs as we often are serving the same populations of people. Understanding how together we can achieve a comprehensive approach to meeting people's needs that addresses the social determinates of health through this visioning is what leads to meaningful change in the population's health. I am truly excited that NVFS has been invited to lend a perspective to this critical nexus of health and social services as we embrace a shared commitment to learning and establishing best practices together," says Ondrea McIntyre-Hall, Director, Health & Nutrition Services at Northern Virginia Family Service.

Participants brainstormed future opportunities to collaborate in the areas of professional development, research, and clinical care—including ways to increase cultural competencies in practice; help practitioners close skill gaps to achieve career objectives; integrate telehealth across diverse populations, and streamline specialist referrals.

Act Locally, Especially When it Comes to Recruiting and Training Health Care Professionals

dhawkin — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 14:27:56 +0000

Act Locally, Especially When it Comes to Recruiting and Training Health Care Professionals dhawkin Mon, 06/24/2019 - 10:27

NVAHEC Delivers Training to Address Northern Virginia’s Unique Health Care Needs
When it comes to health, the old saying “think globally, act locally” has never been more apropos. The need to act locally is what makes Karen Brown’s role as director at the Northern Virginia Area Health Education Center (NVAHEC) so important. “My role is to help build community and academic partnerships that will effectively identify and address the health education needs of our region,” explains Brown who brings extensive experience in recruiting and preparing students for health careers to the NVAHEC. The region includes Loudon, Fairfax, Arlington, and Prince William counties – some of the fastest growing and most diverse counties in Virginia.

With a projected shortage in the number of health care workers needed in the region and a notable gap in the diversity of health professionals, the NVAHEC is charged with building a health care workforce pipeline that reflects the communities they will be called on to serve.

Brown and the AHEC serve as a bridge between the community and the academic environment. She collaborates with community partners to identify the region’s most pressing training and education requirements and works with educators to develop curricula that reflect the unique needs of the counties. Resilience, cultural competencies, and working with immigrant populations are currently among the most pressing training needs in the NVAHEC.

NVAHEC plays a variety of roles in making training happen– depending on what’s needed. “Sometimes our role is to provide a location or to bring people together—like for the TB training we’re helping coordinate with the Virginia Department of Health—and other times we will coordinate the event and operationalize the services-- as we are doing for the Telehealth Certificate Training this summer,” says Brown.

Building a Hub for Northern Virginia Health Professionals
Brown explains that “Our goal is to become the hub for Northern Virginia health professionals—whether that means providing continuing education for current providers, educating undergraduates, or working with high schools to early-identify students interested in health professions. We want to develop workers at all levels who are ready to serve in the quickly changing health care environment.”

The NVAHEC is moving toward becoming the clearinghouse for continuing education of all health professionals in Northern Virginia, with the goal of connecting professionals with the best, most in-demand training available, whether offered by George Mason or a community partner best-suited to deliver that training. As an example, NVAHEC recently partnered with the Inova Health System to develop and deliver a cultural competency curriculum.

The College of Health and Human Services at George Mason – The Go-To Partner for Health Education and Training
The decision to house the regional AHEC at the College of Health and Human Services at George Mason University reflects the College’s capacity to train, certify, and graduate thousands of the most highly qualified health professionals as well as the highly diverse student population at the College—with more than 40% of students identifying as African American or Hispanic and a significant number of first-generation college students.

CHHS is the go-to partner for training initiatives across the state. The College has received a 2-year $4 million U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to further develop a pipeline of providers in rural and underserved populations and a 5-year $8.3 million Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant to provide training in substance use interventions and referrals (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment- SBIRT). To further advance training in the region, CHHS will open the first-ever Population Health Center on the Mason Fairfax Campus where students and professionals will get hands-on training in telehealth and interprofessional care delivery.

Karen Brown

tguingab — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 15:48:58 +0000

Karen Brown tguingab Mon, 06/17/2019 - 11:48

Director, Area Health Education Center at Mason, Nursing

Contact Information

Email: kbrown62@gmu.edu

Phone: 703-993-5967
Building: Peterson Hall
Room 3004

Biography

Ms. Karen Brown is the Director for the Northern Virginia Area Health Education Center (AHEC) at George Mason. Prior to her role at George Mason, Ms. Brown worked for the Texas AHEC East – Waco Regional Center for nearly five years; three of them as Center Director. Ms. Brown has over a decade experience in community and public health, working for regional teen tobacco prevention programs in eastern North Carolina, in addition to her years as a program coordinator and director with Texas AHEC. She has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Texas Rural Health Association, Texas Society for Public Health Education, and has worked with community driven initiates with a focus on access to care.

Community Service

National AHEC Organization Member
Board of Directors, Texas Rural Health Association, 2015 to 2018
Board of Director, Texas Society of Public Health Educators, 2016 to 2018

Degrees

MEd, Health Education & Promotion, East Carolina University
BA, Physical Education, K-12 Teaching Certificate, University of North Carolina Wilmington