- Students From Across the State Emphasized the Need for Mental Health Resources in Rural Alaska During a Conference
- The South Was the Center of Rural Population Growth Last Year
- How HHS SUD Confidentiality Regulations Will Impact Rural Providers
- VA Announces Expansion of "Close to Me" Cancer Program as Part of the Cancer Moonshot, Bringing Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Closer to Thousands of Veterans
- Navajo Psychiatrist Bridges Gaps Between Native American Culture and Behavioral Health Care
- Biden-Harris Administration Releases National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and First-Ever Federal Action Plan
- Rural Communities Face Primary Care Physician Shortage
- Rural Jails Turn to Community Health Workers To Help the Newly Released Succeed
- Biden-Harris Administration Takes Historic Action to Increase Access to Quality Care, and Support to Families and Care Workers
- Biden Administration Sets Higher Staffing Mandates. Most Nursing Homes Don't Meet Them.
- Miles for Milk: How Student-Run Grocery Store Reshaped Rural Community's Food Access
- Native Americans Have Shorter Life Spans, and It's Not Just Due to Lack of Health Care
- Using Medicaid to Address Young People's Mental Health Needs in School Settings
- Across the Country, Amish Populations Are on the Rise
- Promotoras Play Essential Role in Connecting Farmworkers with Health Care in Rural NorCal
Pennsylvania Governor Reminds Businesses to Ensure a Safe Workspace for Employees and Customers Alike
As Pennsylvania continues to accelerate vaccine eligibility and availability and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the Governor Tom Wolf’s Administration said that all Pennsylvanians should take continued steps to ensure a safe workspace for employees and customers alike.
“We are making tremendous progress vaccinating Pennsylvanians and are now able to accelerate our state vaccine plan,” Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam said. “As we move forward, we are reminding Pennsylvanians that it is still imperative that they follow current personal mitigation efforts such as wearing a mask, maintaining social distance and following gathering and occupancy guidelines so we can protect public health while we jump-start our economy.”
“The COVID-19 virus is still present in our communities,” Beam added. “We encourage anyone who feels they need, or wants, a COVID-19 test to take advantage of hundreds of testing locations if they feel they have been exposed to COVID-19. Testing remains the best way to determine your exposure to and to ultimately stop the spread of COVID-19.”
“We’ve made significant progress in our battle against COVID-19, so we must continue abiding by all guidelines and orders, including masking and social distancing when out and about,” said Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Sec. Dennis Davin. “The best way to support our local businesses is to create a safe environment for everyone so that we can combat the virus’ spread, which will help position us to bounce back easier and faster long term.”
The Wolf Administration offers guidance online through the administration’s guidance for businesses and guidance for businesses in the restaurant industry.
The Open & Certified Pennsylvania process is still open for restaurants that are interested in self-certifying to increase indoor capacity. There is no cost to self-certify and restaurants can access the online self-certification form here. Self-certified restaurants can promote their status with provided branded signage and consumers can search the Open & Certified database to confirm what businesses near them have self-certified. Business owners with additional questions about the self-certification program can contact covidselfcert@pa.gov and view Frequently Asked Questions as a reference for restaurant owners and the public.
Newly updated orders and guidance, which take place Sunday, April 4, are available online: Governor’s Order, as amended. Secretary of Health Order, as amended. Frequently Asked Questions. Also starting Sunday, April 4, telework for businesses will be highly encouraged; previously, telework was to be used unless it was not possible to do so.
Pennsylvania to Distribute 7.9 Million Pounds of Emergency Food to Pennsylvania Food Banks
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced that the department has purchased an additional $12.9 million worth of U.S. Department of Agriculture Foods through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in Pennsylvania to provide critical support and food to food banks in all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
These supplemental federal funds, provided as part of the recently passed Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 in response to increased needs driven by COVID-19, have been used to purchase more than 7.9 million pounds of food, which will be delivered between June and December 2021.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the department distributed, on average, approximately 23 million pounds of USDA Foods through TEFAP every federal fiscal year. In federal fiscal year 2020, which ran from October 2019 through September 2020, the department distributed nearly 70 million pounds of food through TEFAP. And, in federal fiscal year 2021, with the addition of this food, the department is once again on track to distribute an estimated 70 million pounds of USDA Foods.
“While we’re actively getting Pennsylvanians back to work as the pandemic slows, many are still recovering from severe economic stress which has in turn stressed our charitable food system,” said Redding. “These federal funds are allowing us to increase the flow of food to food banks across the commonwealth as they work to continue meeting unprecedented demand.”
The department will push $3.2 million in TEFAP money directly to the food banks to cover administrative costs associated with storage, transportation, and distribution of the USDA Foods. In addition to this direct funding, the department has purchased 7.9 million pounds of USDA Foods – including meats, vegetables, canned goods, cheese and more – to the state’s food banks to distribute through their network of local food pantries and other distribution agencies. The food will be disbursed statewide to individuals in need of assistance in all 67 counties.
“We’re proud of all that Pennsylvanians have done to get us to this point, to mitigate against loss and bring us to a new year with new hope and a vaccine,” added Redding. “I encourage anyone who is still experiencing a financial strain to take advantage of these foods through your local food pantry. Better days are ahead, but for now, take a hand up.”
Pennsylvanians looking for help to put food on the table are eligible for state and federal food assistance found at Pennsylvania’s food banks and pantries. Additional support can be found through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and the Farmers Market Nutrition Program.
For more about the Wolf Administration’s efforts to address food insecurity in Pennsylvania, visit agriculture.pa.gov/foodsecurity.
Pennsylvanians in Phase 1B Now Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine: 1B includes those in Congregate Care; Postal Service, Manufacturing and Transit Workers; and Clergy
Starting April 5, 2021, Pennsylvanians in Phase 1B of the state’s vaccination plan are now eligible to schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment to become protected against the virus. Phase 1B eligible Pennsylvanians include:
- People in congregate settings not otherwise specified as long-term care facilities, and persons receiving home and community-based services
- U.S. Postal Service workers
- Manufacturing workers
- Clergy and other essential support for houses of worship
- Public transit workers
- Education workers
Teachers and school staff for pre-K through 12 were vaccinated under a special initiative that concluded April 2 and that resulted in more than 112,500 vaccinations. Vaccinations continue for child care workers who are also part of that special initiative. All other education workers, including those in higher education, are now eligible for vaccination as part of 1B. Last week, Acting Secretary Alison Beam also announced that targeted frontline industries were eligible March 31.
“Our revised vaccination eligibility plan means more Pennsylvanians now have access to the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine as vaccine supply increases and providers and counties establish easier access to appointments,” Gov. Wolf said.
The remainder of the accelerated plan includes eligibility as follows:
- April 12 all residents in Phase 1C will be eligible to start scheduling vaccination appointments.
- April 19, all residents will be eligible to start scheduling vaccination appointments.
Pennsylvania’s vaccination plan can be found here.
Those eligible for an appointment can access the provider map available here. People without internet access can contact the Health Hotline by calling 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258).
COVID-19 Vaccine Resources: 4/1/21 – Reaching Vulnerable Populations
As COVID-19 vaccines continue rolling out across the country, CMS is taking action to protect the health and safety of our nation’s patients and providers and keeping you updated on the latest COVID-19 resources from HHS, CDC and CMS.
With information coming from many different sources, CMS has up-to-date resources and materials to help you share important and relevant information on the COVID-19 vaccine with the people that you serve. You can find these and more resources on the COVID-19 Partner Resources Page and the HHS COVID Education Campaign page. We look forward to partnering with you to promote vaccine safety and encourage our beneficiaries to get vaccinated when they have the opportunity. For more information, visit the CMS COVID-19 Policies and Guidance page.
COVID-19 VACCINE RESOURCES TO SUPPORT VULNERABLE POPULATIONS
Many groups such as older adults and people with disabilities may have substantial challenges accessing COVID-19 vaccination services and warrant specific considerations to support equitable vaccine access. The CDC has provided guidance, tools and toolkits and other COVID-19 vaccine resources to support vulnerable populations who are a higher risk, to help them make decisions, protect their health, and communicate with their communities.
Toolkit for People with Disabilities – The CDC has created a toolkit to help people with disabilities and those who serve or care for them make decisions, protect their health, and communicate with their communities. This toolkit has several resources including:
- Guidance for Vaccinating Older Adults and People with Disabilities: Ensuring Equitable COVID-19 Vaccine Access – This document summarizes what jurisdictions should consider when planning to vaccinate older adults and people with disabilities living in the community.
- Vaccine Considerations for People with Disabilities – This webpage provides information for people with disabilities or conditions and for their care providers.
- Guidance for Direct Service Providers for People with Disabilities – This webpage provides information for direct service providers who provide a wide variety of home and community-based, health-related services that support people with disabilities.
Vaccinating Homebound Persons With COVID-19 Vaccine – COVID-19 vaccination of homebound persons presents unique challenges to ensure safe and effective vaccination, This webpage provides guidance on management of vaccines and vaccination for persons vaccinated at home or in small group settings.
Toolkit for People Experiencing Homelessness – This webpage provides guidance and tools to help homeless service providers make decisions and protect and communicate with staff and with people who are experiencing homelessness.
COVID-19 vaccines for patients in dialysis clinics – The federal government is partnering with dialysis organizations, local and state jurisdictions to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines for patients and healthcare personnel in outpatient dialysis clinics. This webpage provides information for dialysis partners and public health jurisdictions to ensure equitable and effective access to COVID-19 vaccines and increase availability of COVID-19 vaccines for patients in dialysis clinics.
Other Communications Resources
April is National Minority Health Month, and this year, the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) is focusing on the impacts COVID-19 is having on racial and ethnic minority and American Indian and Alaska Native communities and underscoring the need for these vulnerable communities to get vaccinated as more vaccines become available. The theme for National Minority Health Month is #VaccineReady.
Spread the word by accessing and sharing the resources in the National Minority Health Month Toolkit, which has resources, sample social media messages, and downloadable graphics.
To learn more about National Minority Health Month, visit our website (English | Spanish), sign up to receive email updates on news and activities, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
NEW COVID-19 Public Education Campaign – HHS just launched We Can Do This, a national initiative to increase public confidence in and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines while reinforcing basic prevention measures such as mask wearing and social distancing. Campaign resources and toolkits are available to reach diverse communities. More information can be found here.
Communication Resources Updates – The CDC recently updated it’s Communication Resources for COVID-19 Vaccines and the Social Media Toolkit: COVID-19 Vaccinations with the latest and most up-to-date COVID-19 vaccine information.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
NEW Guidance for Providers: COVID-19 Vaccine Administration – No Out-of-Pocket Cost to Patients
NEW Resources for Medicare beneficiaries:
- Stay Protected from COVID-19 – Medicare Covers the Vaccine card
- Bring Your Medicare Card When You Get Your COVID-19 Vaccine card
For more information, please contact us at: Partnership@cms.hhs.gov
Appalachian Research Journal Publishes Coronavirus Research Results
The Journal of Appalachian Health has many research articles pertaining to the Coronavirus pandemic. Check them out HERE:
COVID-19 and Opioid Use in Appalachian Kentucky: Challenges and Silver Linings
Authors: Rachel Vickers-Smith, Hannah L.F. Cooper, April M. Young
Rural Appalachia Battling the Intersection of Two Crises: COVID-19 and Substance Use Disorders
Authors: Margaret Miller, Rebekah Rollston, Kate E. Beatty, Michael Meit
Impact of the COVID-19 Shutdown on Mental Health in Appalachia by Working Status
Authors: Erin N. Haynes, Timothy J. Hilbert, Susan C. Westneat, Kate Leger, Katie Keynton, et al.
A Description of COVID-19 Lifestyle Restrictions Among a Sample of Rural Appalachian Women
Authors: Michele Staton, Martha Tillson, J. Matthew Webster
Authors: Tauna Gulley, Teresa Tyson, Ethan Collins, Rachel Helton, Paula Hill-Collins, et al.
Advancing Cancer Prevention Practice Facilitation Work in Rural Primary Care During COVID-19
Authors: Dannell Boatman, Susan Eason, Mary E. Conn, Summer Miller, Stephenie Kennedy-Rea
Poll Finds Rural Residents More Hesitant to Get Vaccinated
Author: Tim Marema
Addressing Opioid Overdose Deaths in the Workplace
NIOSH recently published a video called Addressing Opioid Overdose Deaths in the Workplace. The video can help employers decide whether to have naloxone, an effective drug for reversing opioid overdoses, available in their workplace. The video also gives employers and workers information on how to implement and maintain a workplace naloxone program.
To learn more, see our factsheet.
NIOSH: April Is Workplace Violence Awareness Month
Workplace violence is any type of violence or threat of violence against workers. It generally occurs in the workplace but can also happen away from it. Workplace violence can range from threats and verbal abuse to more serious events that lead to physical assaults, homicides, and mass casualty events, such as those that occurred recently at workplaces in Atlanta, Georgia, and Boulder, Colorado. Because April is Workplace Violence Awareness month, we would like to share resources on what we know based on research and also where research gaps still exist.
Workplace violence can occur anywhere and at any time, but certain groups of workers are at increased risk. These groups include those who exchange money with the public; transport passengers, goods, or services; work alone or in small groups late at night or early in the morning; and come into close contact as they treat and provide patient care. Examples include retail workers, nurses, taxi drivers, and others who commonly interact with customers, clients, or patients. However, workplace violence doesn’t have to involve workers and customers or clients. Threats and assaults can also come from other employees, supervisors or managers, a domestic partner, or a current or former spouse.
Rural Availability of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners
For victims of sexual assault, high-quality health care provided by sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) is associated with improved health and prosecutorial outcomes. However, very little is known about access to SANEs.
Sheridan Miyamoto, assistant professor and SAFE-T Center principal investigator, and Elizabeth Thiede, nursing doctoral student and 2021 ENRS Student Conference Scholarship Award winner, wanted to learn more about whether rural areas in particular may have disparate access to SANEs.
“If rural areas have limited SANE availability, then rural victims of sexual assault may be at risk of receiving lower-quality care, which has implications not only for their health but also for prosecutorial outcomes,” stated Thiede.
The research recently was published in The Journal of Rural Health.
To examine rural access to SANEs, Thiede and Miyamoto analyzed data from the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) as well as data collected from 43 rural Pennsylvania hospitals.
The IAFN data showed that certified SANEs — those who have met rigorous qualifications and passed a certification exam — were only present in 16.7% of rural counties. The data collected from individual hospitals confirmed that very few have certified SANEs on staff and, instead, most rely on registered nurses with varying levels of additional training in sexual assault care.
Thiede and Miyamoto also found that most of these hospitals are not able to provide continuous sexual assault care coverage. This may lead them to encourage victims to seek care elsewhere or to rely on health care providers without additional training and experience in sexual assault care when victims present to emergency rooms.
Miyamoto and Thiede suspect that the absence of certified SANEs in the majority of rural Pennsylvania counties could be indicative of barriers to meeting certification requirements for rural SANEs. The two suggested one likely barrier to certification is the difficulty obtaining the supervised practice hours required for certification eligibility.
“Rural communities face challenges in recruiting, training, and retaining SANE nurses. Creative solutions are needed to increase access to quality sexual assault care.” Miyamoto stated. “The intent of the Penn State Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Telehealth (SAFE-T) program is to pair less experienced nurses working in rural areas with expert SANEs to receive examination support, precepting, and peer review via telehealth technology. Programs like this show great promise in growing and sustaining a rural SANE workforce.”
To continue ensuring that rural sexual assault victims receive expert quality sexual assault care, further research is needed to better understand how hospitals make decisions related to how they will provide sexual assault care and how ecological factors, such as hospital resources, the population size of the surrounding community, organizational culture, and state-level oversight may influence this decision-making.
More information about the SAFE-T Center and their work can be found on the website.
COMING SOON: Emergency Broadband Benefit Program
Health care centers, grantees and partners have an exciting opportunity to help spread the word about an upcoming program. Eligible patients and households may apply for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program when it opens in late April.
Background
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program lowers the cost of high-speed internet service to ensure people have the connectivity they need during the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency. By the end of April, $3.2 billion in funding will be available to provide qualifying households discounts on their internet service bills and an opportunity to receive a discount on a computer or tablet. The EBB program is similar to the Lifeline program with expanded eligibility, vendors, and subsidies. This benefit is available directly to consumers on a first come, first serve basis.
Eligible patients and households may submit applications beginning around late April. Health centers and organizations are encouraged to begin preparing to increase awareness and help patients apply (e.g., outreach, internet access, and supporting applications completion). Organizations are encouraged to develop a plan now to support patients as funds are expected to go quickly.
How You Can Help
- Share information about the EBB program with patients.
- FCC’s EBB webpage
- Fact sheet
- Provide access to the internet and basic technical support at your organization so patients can complete the application.
The Telehealth Resource Centers are available to assist with questions. For more information, including recorded technical assistance webinars, please visit the FCC-supported technical assistance provider Universal Service Administrative Company and visit the resources below.
Resources for the EBB Program:
- FCC’s EBB webpage
- Consumer FAQ for Emergency Broadband Benefit
- Fact sheet
- “Become an Outreach Partner”
- Universal Service Administrative Company Technical Assistance Webinars
USDA Seeks Applications to Support Technical Assistance and Improve RuralTransportation Systems
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Justin Maxson announced that USDA is accepting applications for grants to improve rural transportation systems.
USDA is making the grants available under the Rural Business Development Grant program. Eligible applicants are organizations seeking to provide rural communities with training and technical assistance to improve transportation services and facilities. USDA does not provide funding directly to individuals under this program.
Applications will be scored, reviewed, and selected on a competitive basis. Applications must be submitted to the applicant’s nearest USDA office by June 30, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. local time. Additional information is available on page 17112 of the April1, 2021, Federal Register.
In Pennsylvania, please contact the Business and Cooperatives Program Director David Foster at 717-237-2181 or David.Foster@usda.gov with any questions about the program or application process.
Applicants are encouraged to consider projects that provide measurable results in helping rural communities build robust and sustainable economies through strategic investments in infrastructure, partnerships, and innovation.