For the second year in a row, the 36th Annual High Country Conference on Respiratory Care was held virtually on February 9-10, 2022. The two-day conference provided attendees with up-to-date, patient-centered and evidence-based practices in respiratory care.

We recently came across this post from Atrium Health and felt like we needed to share. It’s not just you. It seems like everyone – especially healthcare providers – are feeling overwhelmed, anxious and exhausted as the pandemic stretches into another year. Experts from Atrium Health offer advice about how to embrace positive thinking and self-care strategies that can help us endure this time.

With FDA authorization, the CDC recommended that children 5 to 11 get a lower dose Pfizer vaccine. Clinical trials found the vaccine is safe and effective. There were no safety concerns or serious side effects noted in the clinical trials. 

The Northwest AHEC Practice Support Team is committed to promote understanding and improve the orientation of Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) for North Carolinians. In order to support these goals, we will share a publication on SDOH each month on our Practice Support Blog. 

Mark your calendar for February 9-10, 2022, we will be holding a Virtual Conference. Stay tuned for more details coming late fall!

We’ve all been through a lot lately. As we continue to persevere, let’s remember to make mental health a priority. Problems with mental health are very common in the United States, with an estimated 50% of all Americans diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime.

COVID-19 vaccines are our best shot to bring back summer and get everyone safely back to the people, places and activities they love. So, we are joining the Bringing Summer Back initiative, a fun, flexible, community-centered approach to help every organization and individual stop the spread of COVID-19 by urging friends and neighbors to get vaccinated.

The Training Industry Conference & Expo (TICE) was held online on April 27-29, Andrew L. Brewer, MS, Instructional Technologist for Northwest Area Health Education Center (NWAHEC), presented Pandemic Pivot: Shift from Classroom to Virtual. Andrew also hosted a roundtable discussion session on the future of online learning and development. 

TICE was attended by training professionals from all over the world. For the first time in the history of this long running program it was available online everywhere due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the topic of virtual learning was especially timely. 

With the experience of NWAHEC’s shift to online delivery, Andrew was able to use a case study to share the methodologies and lessons learned as NWAHEC tackled the challenges presented by the sudden necessity of virtual learning. 

Dr. Christopher Ohl, Infectious Disease Expert at Wake Forest Baptist Health, shared his weekly update on Facebook Live this week. Most of the segment was spent on why you should get vaccinated.

Online module available to the public for statewide use

The NC AHEC Program is offering an online module titled Volunteer Training for COVID-19 Vaccination Sites free to the public in North Carolina. This training provides a general introduction to what volunteers might expect onsite and can be supplemented with additional onboarding by their vaccination team.