Rural Health Association's 30th Annual Conference

• Gain a better understanding of rural hospital financial and operational performance drivers
•  Instill a set of rural hospital relevant benchmarks to guide financial and quality improvement
•  Review and ascertain industry updates and how those could potentially impact critical access hospitals

• Expand knowledge of CSH and the effective approach of connecting health and learning
•  Identify how CSH supports the Tennessee Department of Education’s Student Readiness strategic priority through aligned support and resources targeted to reduce barriers to learning and success.
•  Identify tools and resources for addressing student health and wellness and increasing the commitment of all partners in ensuring positive education and health outcomes

• Discuss the health risks associated with vaping & electronic delivery devices, including the pervasive public health crisis in the pediatric population
•  Identify the unique, and often disguised, delivery methods for various chemical substances being marketed to the public, with an emphasis on youthful consumers
•  Describe strategies that can be used to identify & mitigate the use of these agents

• Discuss ways to reduce food insecurities during non-school times
• Identify ways to expand current partnerships
• Discuss ways to set up a Giving Center in your school district

• How organizations like Amerigroup and find help are addressing rural needs through targeted interventions in rural areas
•  How Community Organizations can build trusted community networks and partnerships
•  We will also review the role of community organizations as pillars within the social care ecosystem
•  The positive impact of bringing together healthcare and social care via digital, interoperable tools

• Identify and explain the intertwined health and economic challenges in Appalachia, including the impacts of substance use disorder, HIV, and viral hepatitis on rural communities
• Evaluate the Community Health and Mobilization Prevention Services (CHAMPS)program’s model, assessing how the training of Community Health Workers (CHWs)facilitates the integration of healthcare services with workforce development to address substance use and infectious disease outbreak
• Develop actionable strategies for fostering collaboration between healthcare providers, community organizations, and economic development initiatives, aimed at improving health outcomes and economic resilience in Appalachia

• Name common barriers faced by BIPOC families in rural areas
• Gain new strategies to use when interacting with BIPOC families in rural communities
• Learn through firsthand storytelling how being BIPOC impacts health in rural communities

• Layout the details of the cross-section study and its geographical importance
•  Estimate the amount of syringe service programs in the United States and examine them by rurality
•  Determine community characteristics that predict the odds of having a syringe service program in any given county

• Learn about the most commonly seen deficiencies found in RHC surveys
•  Dive into tips to prevent the common deficiencies
•  Discover methods to stay compliant

• Understanding the importance and procedure of data collection
•  Exploring the basics of RHC reimbursement and billing
•  Navigating telehealth and care management billing

• Understanding Emergency Preparedness for Rural Health Clinics
•  Navigating CMS Core Elements of Emergency Preparedness
•  Risk assessment, planning, and testing components of after-action reports

• Teach providers about the current programmatic updates surrounding statewide prevention and treatment
•  Inform individuals about how to coordinate care between different provider types
•  Provide a space for learning and open dialogue through peer-to-peer conversations.

• What is the health status of Tennesseans compared to people in other states?
•  How does the health status of Tennesseans differ between rural and urban counties?
•  What steps should I take, and who can I collaborate with, to improve health and well-being in my district?

• Describe the disparities impacting prescription medication access for older adults
•  Outline the core components of a prescription delivery program for older adults
•  Describe 3 lessons learned and 1 area for further development

• Awareness of Value-Based Programs and Opportunity to Participate
• Ability to Design Value-Based Programs for Addressing Your Community Needs
•  Understanding the Financial Provider Incentive Opportunities

• Gain insights into the prevalence of SMM and mortality among both rural and urban populations in Tennessee, as well as understand geographic and demographic disparities in maternal health outcomes and access to care
• Identify potential interventions and strategies for reducing the incidence of maternal morbidity and mortality rates while improving overall maternal health outcomes
• Explore opportunities for collaboration to address or reduce maternal health disparities

• Identify barriers to accessing essential maternal healthcare services in rural Tennessee
•  Discuss ways in which identified barriers might be addressed
•  Identify and discuss resources for addressing identified barriers

• Discuss disparities in access to behavioral health care in rural communities.
•  Review requirements to utilize rural hospital space for those added services
• Identify strategies to develop and implement a rural coalition utilizing the critical access hospital as a hub for total community healthcare

• Summarize opioid settlement fund spending guidelines, strategies, and resources to develop a foundation for decision-making
•  Explain strategies to utilize relevant local and programmatic data to effectively set spending priorities and monitor project effectiveness
•  Discuss considerations and actions that rural communities are pursuing to ensure that opioid funds are being spent effectively

• Identify the importance of screening dental patients for social determinants of health and connecting
  the patient to a Community Health Worker if the patient screens to have high unmet
  needs
• Analyze the opportunity dental clinics have to bring comprehensive health care to their patients
• Discuss the “magic” of improving health outcomes when a Community Health Worker is
  connected to a patient

• Identify the benefits of animal-assisted activities in health and educational settings
• Evaluate an example of the implementation of animal-assisted activities in a public school setting
• Evaluate readiness to implement animal-assisted activities in their specific setting

• Review of the inception and history of Drums Alive
• Identify the benefits of Drums Alive for all ages and abilities
• Experience a Drums Alive routine

• Identify the unique barriers to healthy food access in rural communities for low-income families
•  Discuss how retail interventions both increase health food stocked at small grocery stores and the purchase of those foods by consumers
•  Recognize how the SNAP-Ed program for low-income families works to prevent chronic disease and reduce health disparities

• Describe the potential benefits of piloting and evaluating programs in rural communities
•  Describe potential challenges to piloting and evaluating programs in rural communities
•  Identify strategies to enhance the feasibility of piloting and evaluating programs in rural communities

• Identify the 3 keys to cross-sector age-friendly collaborative care
•  Analyze the opportunities academic partnerships present to support and enhance public health
•  Demonstrate how age-friendly, rural, and public health collaboration will impact successful aging for older adults and caregivers in Tennessee

• Recognize what is SOS
•  Identify how SOS supports the Members to meet their life goals fully integrated in the community

• Identify the social drivers of health (SDOH), such as housing, food security, and education access, which drive health outcomes - particularly those unique circumstances faced by rural populations when it comes to assessing and addressing the SDOH
•  Discuss the resources available from the Tennessee Department of Health
• Recognize the potential impact of local, cross-sector collabo-ration – such as County Health Councils – which can improve the social drivers of health in rural communities

Jessica Wilkerson PhD; Author of To Live Here, You Have to Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice

 This session uses the stories of prominent women organizers in the Appalachian South to consider the history of care labor in the twentieth century. Care labor refers to the many forms of work, paid and unpaid, that go into sustaining people, society, and the environment. In many Appalachian communities, women have long prompted conversations about how our society does and does not value care, and they have argued for the right to care and be cared for.

• Define care labor and consider how it has changed in the 20th century
•  Discuss the various ways women have contributed to the care economy
•  Analyze the connections between struggles around care in the past and present

• Explain the key elements of effective communication strategies that help reduce social stigma and enhance support for community treatment
•  Comprehend the differences in stigma and community treatment support across various rural areas
•  Recognize the variations in communication strategies needed for different settings

Healthcare data is valuable to criminals which is why there have been so many high-profile cybersecurity events in 2024. Arm yourself with practical knowledge and best practices to lower your hospital or clinic’s profile for cybersecurity attacks.

• Recognize that healthcare cybersecurity attacks are on the rise
• Identify practical advice to lower your risk profile
•  Prepare to recover quickly when bad things happen

• Incorporate evidence-based, best, and promising practices to meet the needs of healthcare professionals, colleagues, and patients
•  Identify how a cultural shift from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” supports long-term health outcomes
•  Address turnover, retention, compassion fatigue, and burnout through trauma-informed practices

• Assess the need for older adult care in rural healthcare settings
• Identify the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement and the 4Ms (What Matters, Mentation, Medication, and Mobility) framework
•  Review challenges and successes in implementing age-friendly care and learn how to be involved

• Identify best practices for collaborating with rural communities to address food insecurity in maternal child health
•  Describe lessons learned when gathering stakeholders in rural communities to address food insecurity in maternal child health
•  Discuss ways to build trust when collaborating with the community to address food insecurity in maternal child health

• Identify the benefits of providing treatment to mothers with substance use disorders alongside their children
•  Identify the impact of stigma and preconceived notions regarding pregnancy and parenting while using substances and how this impacts treatment enrollment
•  Describe ways in which the state economic system is affected by providing treatment to mothers with their children

• Identify the key components of successful lactation consultation in clinical settings
•  Analyze case studies to understand common challenges and effective solutions in lactation support
•  Implement best practices to improve breastfeeding outcomes and patient satisfaction in clinical environments

• Discuss trends in fatal and nonfatal overdoses in rural TN with a focus on geographic variation, demographic characteristics, and the circumstances surrounding the overdoses(such as bystander reactions, active prescriptions, and mental health history)
• Review publicly available drug overdose data, both from the Tennessee Department of Health and other sources
• Identify ways to utilize data sources in prevention efforts, and how the TN Department of Health can assist in finding, using, and translating data for action

• State successes, challenges, and lessons learned throughout the project’s lifecycle
•  Recognize the changes in community perception towards drug use and stigma over three consecutive years, highlighting the impact of public health efforts
•  Articulate an example of personal impact and its value as a project outcome

• Learn the elements that make up a successful grant proposal, including problem statements, objectives, methods, and budgets
•  Gain insights into how to create a compelling story that highlights the significance of your project and demonstrates its alignment with the funder’s priorities
•  Explore strategies for tailoring your proposal to meet specific requirements and preferences of different funders, increasing chances of approval