About this Webinar

This one-time virtual training will introduce foundational behavioral health concepts and equip Community Health Workers (CHWs) with practical strategies to support community members experiencing behavioral health challenges. CHWs will gain clarity on their role and how it integrates and differs from peer specialists and clinical providers.

The Session includes real-world case examples and interactive discussions to deepen learning. MCD will provide facilitation by experienced CHW trainers and include CHWs with lived experience working in the behavioral health field to ensure real-world relevance and peer-informed learning.

The Session will align with MCD's upcoming Behavioral Health Specialty Track for CHWs and serve as both a stand-alone learning opportunity and a gateway to deeper training.

What you'll learn

• Define behavioral health and explain its relevance to whole-person care.
• Describe the unique role of CHWs in promoting mental wellness and supporting individuals.
• Understand common mental health concerns and substance use disorders.
• Understand how stigma affects help-seeking behavior.
• Access learning resources and referral tools for continued development.

Subject Matter Experts

• 
  

  Elizabeth Foley
  Co-Director of Public Health 
  MCD Global Health

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Elizabeth Foley, MCD, U.S. Programs Co-Director, has over 30 years of experience in healthcare and public health, spanning both domestic and international organizations. She has served as an advisor to national and state health improvement efforts, including the Maine CDC's Chronic Disease Programs, the National Health Disparities Collaborative, the Federally Qualified Health Center Network, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and the Robert Wood Johnson Aligning Forces for Quality. As lead content expert and curriculum designer for MCD's eLearning and Workforce Development programs, she and her team develop and deliver in-person and virtual training and technical assistance for thousands of public health professionals, healthcare providers, and community health workers throughout the United States and across the globe. Prior to joining MCD, Ms. Foley worked for the global NGO Partners In Health and the Harvard Medical School Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, designing and facilitating community health worker initiatives in the United States and developing countries.
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  Cristina Leal
  Senior Program Manager, CHW Initiatives, MCD Global Health

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Cristina Leal is the Senior Program Manager for Community health worker initiatives at MCD. In this role, she leads the HRSA-funded Community Health Worker (CHW) Training Program-CHWTP and oversees MCD's various CHW programs and team members. She is also responsible for cross-sector partnerships between community-based learning and traditional academic learning. She brings significant knowledge and experience in CHW training and CHW-led programs. Ms. Leal is fluent in English and Spanish, completed her Master's in Public Health at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas in 2024, Bachelor's Degree at the University of Texas-Pan American in 2011, and obtained a Texas CHW Certification in 2016.
• 
  

  Betty St. Hilaire
  Patient Advisory Coordinator, Winthrop Pediatrics 

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Betty St. Hilaire is a community health worker (CHW), the 2024 CHW Supervisor of the Year, and the current co-chair of the Maine Community Health Worker Initiative (MECHWI). Betty is the founder and board president of The United Community Living Center, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide support for the unhoused community. She is also the Past Chair of the Augusta Emergency Overnight Warming Center Advisory Council. Betty works as a Program manager overseeing the Community Health Worker Program as well as a recovery coach and ABC Parent coach for MaineGeneral Medical Center, the third largest health system in Maine. She sits on the Board of Directors of the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program where she serves on both their housing and executive committees. She has extensive experience in program development and implementation as well as grant and program management. Betty is a 2024 Graduate of the Hanley Center for Health Leadership Program and is a certified Beagle Poverty Coach. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Mental Health and Human Services and a Graduate Certificate in Substance use disorders from the University of Maine at Augusta. Betty has served in previous roles as a clinical-based social worker in a primary care residency practice, a care coordinator managing care plans for MaineCare members and as a Patient Advisory Coordinator, where she convened and led a patient advisory council for a major health system in Maine.

Enrollment and Contact Hours

Select the Enroll button below to register for the course. If you have any trouble accessing the course, contact support@nephtc.org.

Acknowledgement:  This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of award 2 UB6HP31685‐05‐00 “Public Health Training Centers.” The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
This training was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $400,000 with 100% funded by HRSA/HHS and 0% funded by nongovernment source(s). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

* Yale School of Public Health, Office of Public Health Practice, a New England Public Health Training Center partner, is a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. All CHES credit inquiries are managed by YSPH

Registration

Select the Enroll Me button below to register for this recording. If you have any trouble accessing the recording, contact support@nephtc.org.

About this Webinar

Seizures and epilepsy can occur with comorbid neurologic and psychiatric disorders including stroke, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, brain tumors, migraine, multiple sclerosis, autism, anxiety, and depression.

Learn about epilepsy, its treatment, its relationship to other common neurologic conditions, challenges individuals and families with epilepsy face and how to assist people better manage their disease and lifestyle to lessen the impact of epilepsy.

Faculty deliver live interactive virtual training that provides an overview of epilepsy, common comorbidities in epilepsy, available treatments, lifestyle and disease management considerations and an introduction to evidence-based epilepsy self-management programs.

What you'll learn

At the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

• Discuss seizures, epilepsy and how epilepsy is diagnosed and treated
• Recognize the relationship between seizures, epilepsy, and comorbid neurologic and psychiatric conditions
• Understand common challenges individuals and families impacted by epilepsy face
• Identify epilepsy self-management programs and assistance available to individuals with epilepsy to help them better manage their disease and lifestyle to lessen the impacts of epilepsy

Subject Matter Experts

• 
  

  Elaine Kiriakopoulos
  MD, MSc

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Dr. Elaine Kiriakopoulos is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, a neurologist and public health educator, and the Director of the HOBSCOTCH Institute for Cognitive Health and Well-Being and the Community Epilepsy & Self-Management Training Center at the Dartmouth Health. At Dartmouth, she leads efforts aiming to expand epilepsy education for health professionals and has developed and led interactive virtual epilepsy education and training for community health workers and primary care providers in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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  Trina Dawson
  BA, CHW

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Trina Dawson is the Project Coordinator for the HOBSCOTCH Institute for Cognitive Health and Well-Being at Dartmouth-Health. She received her BA from Plymouth State University in Psychology. In this role she assists in the delivery and support of Epilepsy & Self-Management Community Health Worker Training and participates as a Cognitive Coach in self-management program delivery to patients. Prior to joining Dartmouth Health, Trina worked as a Community Health Worker in a rural healthcare center setting and was responsible to connect individuals and families with resources such as food, housing, transportation, medical care, and mental health services.

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  Anna Murray
  BA, CHW

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Anna Murray is a Community Health Worker in the Department of Neurology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Currently, in her CHW role she works with patients with neurologic disease to address social determinants of health and connect them with resources in the community to meet their needs. As a CHW at an academic medical center her role is integrated with nurses, physicians, and social workers in a team-oriented approach to improving health outcomes and quality of life for patients. Anna has received certification to serve as an Epilepsy Self-Management Coach broadening her CHW skillset and enabling her to assist this patient population build key chronic disease self-management skills in their homes and diverse communities.





Registration

Select the Enroll Me button below to register for this recording. If you have any trouble accessing the recording, contact support@nephtc.org.



Acknowledgement: This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of award 2 UB6HP31685‐05‐00 “Public Health Training Centers.” The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.

About this Webinar

Participants will explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and this new moment in the civil rights movement for Black lives through a lens of trauma-informed care. The workshop will cover self- and community care, self-reflection for allyship and liberation, and resiliency-building through a lens of racial and gender justice.

What you'll learn

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Identify tools for self- and community care to help sustain health workers in a critical time
• Name Principles of Trauma-Informed Care and some ways they can be applied to daily work with colleagues and clients/ patients
• Think about how to hold trauma-informed, healing-centered space to talk about some of the major changes happening in our society right now.
• Deepen a self-reflection practice for resiliency-building and improved collaboration.

Subject Matter Expert

• 
  Samantha Calero
  
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Samantha Isabel Calero (Sam, she/her) is a biracial Latinx public health consultant. Her work includes training and facilitation, technical assistance, policy analysis and development and organizational capacity building to address trauma, resiliency, racial and gender justice. She approaches her work with an intersectional, margins-to-center lens of relationship building and critical analysis for change. Sam is a member of Mijente and currently is completing her master's degree in health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She lives in Roxbury with her daughter.


Registration

Select the Enroll Me button below to register for this webinar. If you have any trouble accessing the webinar, contact support@nephtc.org.

_{Acknowledgement: This project is/was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31685 “Regional Public Health Training Center Program.” This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.}

About this Webinar

Community health workers will learn to use the Teach – Back Method, an evidence based communication tool proven to improve patient outcomes by decreasing problems that result from miscommunication. Meet Carlos and learn by example as he explains how he uses teach as part of his CHW role working with patients in a pharmacy to increase adherence.

What you'll learn

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• State the purpose of Teach Back
• Explain the essential steps in Teach Back
• Identify situations where Teach Back is appropriate to use
• List 2-3 questions to ask patients so they will teach back
• Develop a plan to use Teach Back in daily practice

Subject Matter Experts

• 
  Dawn Heffernan
  Director,
  W. MA Public Health Training Center
  UMass Amherst
• 
  Carlos Semidey
  Community Health Worker,
  Holyoke Health Center, Inc (HHC)

Registration and Contact Hours

Select the Enroll button below to register for this webinar. If you have any trouble accessing the webinar, contact trainingmanager@nephtc.org.

The Certificate of Completion will include the length of the webinar. Generally 50 – 60 minutes is equivalent to 1 contact hour. Contact hours may be applicable towards continuing education requirements for certain credentials. Check with your credentialing body to verify if the topic meets its continuing education requirements.

About this Webinar

Integrating Community Health Workers into a Pharmacy Setting is a worthwhile challenge. This course offers practical advice on how community health workers are utilized in a federally qualified health center. Learn from experts who systematized the CHW role in both pharmacy and primary care.

What you'll learn

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the community health worker role in medication therapy management program in an urban pharmacy setting
• Identify 4 essential skills for community health workers in the pharmacy setting
• State the target population for community health workers
• Name two outreach settings described in the training

Subject Matter Expert

• 
  Jerril Varghese, PharmD, RPh
  Clinical Pharmacist,
  Holyoke Health Center, Inc (HHC)

Registration and Contact Hours

Select the Enroll button below to register for this webinar. If you have any trouble accessing the webinar, contact trainingmanager@nephtc.org.

The Certificate of Completion will include the length of the webinar. Generally 50 – 60 minutes is equivalent to 1 contact hour. Contact hours may be applicable towards continuing education requirements for certain credentials. Check with your credentialing body to verify if the topic meets its continuing education requirements.

About this Webinar

At a time when Community Health Workers are increasingly important as a way of reaching vulnerable populations, hear from a leader who directs implementation across multiple programs and settings. Whether your organization already employs community health workers and wants to integrate their practice more effectively, or is considering how to introduce them and define their roles, this webinar will allow you to hear from both nurses and CHWs. Discover how working together has influenced their scopes of work and effectiveness.

What you'll learn

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the role of the Community Health Worker in comparison to the role of the public health or other nurse
• Describe two models of CHW & nurse collaboration from real cases
• Identify areas for potential improvement in collaborating with CHWs

Subject Matter Expert

• 
  Abby Charles
  Senior Program Manager Institute for Public Health Innovation

Registration and Contact Hours

Select the Enroll button below to register for this webinar. If you have any trouble accessing the webinar, contact trainingmanager@nephtc.org.

The Certificate of Completion will include the length of the webinar. Generally 50 – 60 minutes is equivalent to 1 contact hour. Contact hours may be applicable towards continuing education requirements for certain credentials. Check with your credentialing body to verify if the topic meets its continuing education requirements.

About this Webinar

This webinar will provide practical tips and strategies for improved threat awareness and self-protection during field work, focused on workplace violence risk. Quick, effective stress management techniques, such as specialized breathing will also be provided. These tools can aid in increasing awareness and safety as well as de-escalation.

What you'll learn

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• List 2 strategies for improved hazard awareness in the field
• List 2 strategies for maintaining your personal safety in the field
• List 2 self-practice techniques for stress management

Subject Matter Expert

• 
  Hilary Hackbart
  
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Hilary Hackbart works for the MA Department of Labor Standards in the Workplace Safety and Health for Public Sector Employees program. She has worked extensively on the development of occupational health and safety management systems, has conducted hundreds of on-site workplace health and safety assessments, and has trained thousands of workers on a wide range of health and safety topics, including workplace violence prevention. She holds a BA in Biochemistry from Harvard University, and an MS in Hazardous Materials Management from Tufts University.



Registration and Contact Hours

Select the Enroll button below to register for this webinar. If you have any trouble accessing the webinar, contact trainingmanager@nephtc.org.

The Certificate of Completion will include the length of the webinar. Generally 50 – 60 minutes is equivalent to 1 contact hour. Contact hours may be applicable towards continuing education requirements for certain credentials. Check with your credentialing body to verify if the topic meets its continuing education requirements.

About this Webinar

Across the country and locally in Vermont, there has been an increase in recognition of the effectiveness of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in supporting individuals with diabetes. As trusted members of the communities they work with, CHWs are well suited to provide diabetes support and offer ongoing care in addressing social and health issues. Organizations have increased efforts to integrate CHWs in the delivery of diabetes support, but there is a need to increase awareness about how to successfully expand the role of CHWs in addressing diabetes.

What you'll learn

At the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

• Define types, symptoms, risk factors and complications of diabetes
• Discuss the rate of Vermonters with Diabetes
• Identify the roles that Community Health Workers can play in diabetes prevention and control
  
  

Subject Matter Experts

• 
  

  Jennifer Woolard
  BS, MPH

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Jennifer Woolard, BS, MPH: Jennifer Woolard is the Public Health Program Administrator with the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) Heart Disease and Diabetes Program. She holds a master’s in public health and a bachelor’s in nutrition and has more than ten years of public health experience. Her roles have spanned across various settings, including work with schools, towns, community organizations, health systems, and statewide partners, all aimed at reducing the burden of disease. Over the last five years, Jennifer has worked with community and clinical partners to address system level interventions in support of the prevention and management of heart disease and diabetes. Part of Jennifer’s work has also centered on the development of a formal statewide infrastructure to support and sustain Community Health Workers in Vermont.

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  Sharon Anderson
  RDN

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Sharon Anderson is a registered dietitian nutritionist and a certified diabetes care and education specialist. She has worked at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in Saint Johnsbury for the past 20 years. Currently she is the director of nutrition and food service. Sharon graduated from the University of Vermont in 1992 with a BS in Nutritional Sciences. She has spent the bulk of her career working with people who have obesity and or diabetes and helping them live healthier lives.



• 
  

  Deborah Locke-Rousseau
  Community Health Team Lead, CHW Supervisor,
  Community Connections of NVRH

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Debbie has been with NVRH for four and a half years. Debbie came to NVRH from the local Council on Aging after 15 years’ experience, 10 years in Case Management and 5 years as a CM Supervisor. Debbie has a background in Emergency Medicine having worked with the local EMS and UVM Medical Center Emergency Department as well as their transport team, as a Correctional Officer, and as a Medical Billing Specialist. As the CHT Lead, she organizes and facilitates the monthly CHT meetings for the NVRH Health Service Area. Our CHT includes not only the Blueprint paid staff, as the title implies, but each partner in the HSA that provides services to our fellow community members, patients, clients. We have over 50 Community Partner Agencies that participate, with over 160 members on the distribution listing. Community Connections is the gateway to those services provided to the community by our Community Health Team members. As a free service provided by NVRH, the CHWs are available by phone, fax, provider or community partner referral or on a walk-in basis at their building on the NVRH campus to conduct a brief intake and hear what is important to and for the individual, conducting a benefits review and supporting them in self-managing to live their best lives.

• 
  

  Crystal Bigelow
  CHW and Vermont Health Connect Navigator at Community Connections of NVRH

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Crystal has been a CHW at Community Connections for a little over three years. In that time she has trained to become a Vermont Health Connect Navigator, a Health Coach, and most recently a Peer Recovery Coach in order to support our local peer recovery center as CHWs. Crystal came to NVRH with seven years’ experience as a Medical Receptionist and a Dental Billing Specialist at Northern Counties Health Care.





Registration

Select the Enroll Me button below to register for this recording. If you have any trouble accessing the recording, contact support@nephtc.org.



Acknowledgement: This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of award 2 UB6HP31685‐05‐00 “Public Health Training Centers.” The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.