Educational Webinars
The Association for Community Health Improvement produces several educational webinars each year. These sessions address a range of topics, including: population health improvement and chronic disease prevention, access to care, community benefit programs and reporting, collaborative strategies, outcomes measurement, and evaluation.
2010 Dates: January 14 | February 11 | April 22 | May 20 | June 17 | August 19 | September 23 | October 21 | November 18
Time (unless otherwise noted): 11:00-12:00 (Pacific Time); 12:00-1:00 (MT); 1:00-2:00 (CT); 2:00-3:00 (ET)
Registration Fee: $40 (members) | $80 (non-members)
Registrants receive a confirmation e-mail immediately upon completing the online form. Instructions for connecting to the webinar and the dial-in number are sent to registrants by e-mail two days in advance of the session.
(See descriptions of ACHI's 2009 educational webinars.)
September 23, 2010
Community Benefit Strategic Planning: Engaging the Entire Hospital in a Comprehensive Approach
| Penrose Jackson Director, Community Health Improvement Fletcher Allen Health Care Burlington, VT Read Penrose's bio |
Does this sound familiar?
"Community benefit activities have not been developed as a part of institution-wide plans to address needs in a planned, measured way consistent with the organizational vision and strategy. Instead, programs have been added throughout the years, some through grant funding opportunities, and some in response to needs identified through periodic community needs assessments. Some programs have been funded with minimal reporting requirements."
This was the case for Fletcher Allen Health Care, but all that has changed. Fletcher Allen realized that while its community programming did benefit the local population, an integrated community benefit plan - one that both addresses identified community needs and advances Fletcher Allen's vision and strategy - would strengthen and improve their work in the face of rising health needs and disparities.
Join this webinar to learn how Fletcher Allen aligned their community benefit reporting with organizational strategy, and then created a 3- to 5-year plan for community benefit itself. Penrose Jackson and Julie Cole will share their four community benefit standards that guide all decisions, their development of goals and objectives, the roles of Fletcher Allen's Community Benefit Advisory Group, and the staff structure and skills they have on board to execute the plan and deliver value to the community and the hospital.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the evolution in thinking and organizational practice that resulted in the creation of a community benefit strategic plan.
- Learn the major components of Fletcher Allen Health Care's community benefit plan, and its relationship to the organizational strategic plan.
- Discuss the multiple benefits of creating and executing a plan, for the community and for the hospital.
August 19, 2010
Community Benefit Journey to Excellence
| Adelaide Smith-Buckner Assistant Director, Corporate & Community Programs Mary Washington Healthcare Fredericksburg, VA Read Adelaide's bio |
In this webinar, Mary Washington Healthcare will share its experiences, management approach, and tools used on a journey to move community benefit from an "organizational outlier" to a core strategy.
Based on a popular session at ACHI's March 2010 conference, Adelaide Buckner will discuss how they built a community benefit infrastructure by engaging the board of trustees and executive leadership, and by redesigning the community benefit department and staff positions. She will also share the progression of changes made to an evolving community benefit organizational chart as a result of community input. The session will include a discussion of barriers and questions faced along the way, and Mary Washington Healthcare's solutions that enabled the organization to create and implement a fuller community benefit strategy.
At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will understand:
- the steps taken and tools used to create a system of community benefit management and oversight
- ways to integrate community input and participation into senior leadership's planning and priorities
- the importance and benefits of institutionalizing community benefit though written charters and policies
June 17, 2010
Making Local Policy and Environmental Changes for Healthy Food and Physical Activity
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Laura Aiken, MHA, MS Executive Director, Advocates for Health in Action WakeMed Health & Hospitals Raleigh, North Carolina Read Laura's bio |
Advocates for Health in Action, a community collaborative of 50 organizations focused on increasing access to healthy foods and physical activity, has made a significant impact on policy and environmental issues in Wake County, North Carolina and beyond. In this webinar, executive director Laura Aiken will share their approach to and progress in making the healthy choice the easy choice.
Join us to learn how the collaborative's community assets mapping project utilizes GIS technology coupled with youth involvement to facilitate health changes in neighborhoods. Hear the ways in which healthy snacking policies for youth have made a significant and lasting impact. See how successful use of social marketing has attracted a broad base of advocates for healthy eating, physical activity issues, and for general education on living a healthier lifestyle.
Ms. Aiken also will discuss extensive work done with parents on ways to make a difference in their children's school environments, through projects such as community gardens, outdoor classrooms, healthy fundraising, and school wellness committees.
At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will:
- understand why policy and environmental change are highly effective ways to promote healthy community lifestyle improvements
- learn how community asset mapping can be used in conjunction with community involvement as a powerful advocacy and education tool
- be able to describe varying levels of policy intervention, from small organizations to legislative policy, as well as benefits of and tactics for breaking down barriers to policy implementation
- understand how to find resources for policy implementation and environmental change related to physical activity and healthy eating.
May 20, 2010
Using County Health Rankings to Improve Community Health
| Julie Willems Van Dijk, RN, Ph.D. Associate Scientist and Community Engagement Lead, MATCH University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute Madison, Wisconsin Read Julie's bio |
In February 2010, the County Health Rankings tool was released by Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH), a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The tool provides data for every county in all 50 states on health factors (a county's "health risk") and health outcomes (an assessment of current health).
The initiative demonstrates that where we live matters to our health. The health of a community depends upon many different factors - ranging from individual health behaviors, education and jobs, to quality of healthcare, to the environment.
This webinar will present the design and content of the Rankings tool, ways to use it in your community or region, and examples of community engagement already underway in response to the report We will also discuss using the Rankings as a "call to action" to develop broad-based solutions within your communities.
This webinar is FREE thanks to the generous sponsorship of Holleran Consulting.
April 22, 2010
Improving Health with Community Health Workers: National Evidence and Local Experience
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Patricia Duthie, BSN, RN Director, Community Health Education Spectrum Health Healthier Communities Grand Rapids, MI Read Patricia's bio |
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Diane Gibbs, MA Director, Community Health Programs Spectrum Health Healthier Communities Read Diane's bio |
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Erin E. Inman, BS, PharmD, BCPS Director, Healthier Communities Spectrum Health Read Erin's bio |
This webinar will illustrate Spectrum Health’s experience using Community Health Workers, and provide practical strategies and tactics for you to use and adapt. "Community Health Worker" is used as an umbrella term to describe a health workforce that functions under various job titles. Often, these health care professionals work in communities or neighborhoods that are either under-insured or uninsured. Their critical services provide significant savings in health care costs by encouraging individuals to better manage their health. National evidence confirms that Community Health Workers (CHWs) reduce health care costs for people with chronic diseases, and reduce health care disparities by building trust and working as part of a health care team.
Spectrum Health has been using CHWs since the early 1990’s in a variety of programs such as their Mothers Offering Mothers Support (MOMS) program, their Programa Puente – Latino Health Network program and their School Health Advocacy program. Spectrum Health’s experience confirms that CHWs provide valuable education and support for community members, especially those who traditionally experience health disparities. Spectrum Health will share specific tips and guidelines for hiring, supervising and training CHWs, and provide a bibliography of resources to help guide decisions about employing CHWs.
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:
- describe the value and benefits of using Community Health Workers
- provide examples of job descriptions, supervision guidelines, and training curricula, and
- understand Spectrum Health’s experience, as well as other attendees' experiences, with CHWs.
February 11, 2010
An Innovative Approach to Building a Medical Home for Vulnerable Populations
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Margo DeMont, Ph.D. Executive Director, Community Health Enhancement Memorial Hospital of South Bend South Bend, IN Read Margo's bio |
This webinar will describe how two traditionally competitive health systems, one community-owned and the other faith-based, joined in a courageous new collaborative to build new medical home capacity serving vulnerable, healthcare access-challenged, medically underserved residents.
The project was uniquely funded from sources other than the capital-constrained health systems. The City and community came together to support an investment in excess of $1.1 million to transform a vacant, decrepit building into an state-of-the art medical home facility that also has become an anchor for the revitalization of the neighborhood. You will hear about the unusual physician recruitment strategy that has attracted the best and the brightest medical talent in the community, as well as the community-marketing strategy brought in over 500 patients in three months, prior to an additional 500 being assigned by Medicaid. The physician recruiting and marketing strategies are easily replicated. Presenter Margo DeMont will also describe an outcomes measurement approach that ranges from health care capacity measures, to health and health care metrics, and quality of life.
Join us to learn about this innovative project that built medical home capacity for those most in need, is improving health status, and is demonstrating the social benefits that can be achieved through real partnerships.
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to identify:
- two key steps in the collaboration of a community-owned and a faith-based health system to develop a new entity
- an unusual physician recruitment strategy that is employing some of the best and brightest medical talent in the community
- the out-of-the-ordinary funding sources to address the medical needs of the underserved, and
- a community-based marketing strategy that has been successful and inexpensive.
January 14, 2010
Governance Oversight of Community Benefit Policy & Programs
| Lawrence Prybil, PhD, FACHE College of Public Health The University of Iowa Iowa City, IA Read Larry's bio |
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Eileen Barsi Director of Community Benefit Catholic Healthcare West San Francisco, CA Read Eileen's bio |
Managers, directors, and vice presidents of community benefit are charged with designing, implementing, and reporting on their programs. For a truly integrated community benefit program’s success, an increasingly important set of considerations involves the board of trustees’ participation in policy-setting and oversight of hospitals’ and health systems’ community benefit goals and performance metrics. With many mid-level staff seeking guidance on how to “manage up” and help their organizations devote attention to community benefit as a strategic priority, developing governance practices is an important topic.
This session will present findings of unprecedented recent research into community health systems’ governance of community benefit, examining characteristics of “low performing, mid-range, and high-performing” systems. Learn from study author Lawrence Prybil to what extent systems have assigned clear oversight responsibility at the board level, have a formal assessment process, established policies, review performance data, and more.
The research findings will be complemented with an illustrated case example detailing the approach of health system Catholic Healthcare West (CHW). Eileen Barsi of CHW will share how and why their board established policies to guide community benefit program commitments, the nature of the board’s oversight, and the benefits and challenges experienced along the way.
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:
- Articulate the outcomes of Dr. Prybil’s research with CEO and trustees, from Governance in High-Performing Community Health Systems.
- State at least three ways in which high-performing hospital and health system boards can engage effectively in community benefit oversight.
- Understand and articulate why and how one health system engaged their trustees in strategic policy-setting and oversight.
This web page may contain links to sites that are not owned or maintained by the Association for Community Health Improvement (ACHI) or the American Hospital Association (AHA). The views expressed by presenters listed on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of ACHI or AHA.
