December 2020 Center for Rural Health Update

FOCUS on Rural Health

Primary Care Week 2020: Silver Linings in the (Virtual) Cloud
Despite being virtual, Primary Care Week proved successful with a broader mix of presenters and audience members.

News

2020 Photo Contest Winners
Check out the winning images in our annual National Rural Health Day photo contest!

CRH Staff Additions and Promotions
The Center for Rural Health (CRH) is excited to announce the addition of three new staff members and the promotion of another.

Peggy Jo Archer is the senior project coordinator for the National Indigenous Elder Justice Initiative (NIEJI) at the CRH.
Amy Breigenzer was promoted to project coordinator at the CRH. Along with coordinating and managing the Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health, Scrubs Academy, Scrubs Camps, the HIPAA Training program, and Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs), Amy helps with a number of other programs, including the Flex project, workforce, and other State Office of Rural Health initiatives.
Ashley Folarin joined the CRH as a project assistant on the Flex project and Project ECHO.
Nicole Threadgold is the CRH's new project coordinator for Flex and the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program and will be helping with the CHNA process.

Veteran Stories
The National Resource Center on Native American Aging is honoring Native Elder veterans by sharing the stories of these veterans' service, selflessness, and dedication.

ROPES Project Provides Tools for Opioid Prevention
This partnership, involving eight counties in North Dakota, has found success in preventing substance abuse.

Funding & Other Opportunities

2020-2021 North Dakota Flex CAH Subcontract
Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) are invited to apply to receive funding for financial and operational improvement. Projects may include financial and operational assessments, chart audits, collaborative population health management efforts in response to identified unmet community needs, or improving security through cybersecurity risk assessments.
Deadline: January 5, 2021

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota Caring Foundation Rural Health Grant Program
Applications are currently being accepted for this program. The program's goal is to improve the health of people in the state and raise awareness for people of all ages of the importance of daily physical activity and ways to improve their overall wellness.
Deadline: January 6, 2021

Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health
Don't miss out on the opportunity to connect with healthcare professionals, educators, and students from across the state. The 2021 Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health is slated for June 2-4 at the Bismarck Events Center in Bismarck, North Dakota. If necessary, the conference will be moved to an online format utilizing the same schedule.

The deadline for sponsor and exhibitor registration is March 4, 2021.
Scholarships covering the conference registration cost are available. The deadline to apply is March 4, 2021.
Early bird registration is open for attendees. Registration and payment are due by May 4, 2021.

CRH Events

December 28	Virtual Support Group for Brain Injury Survivors, Providers, and Caregivers The North Dakota Brain Injury Network (NDBIN) is hosting a virtual support group that will feature guest speaker Shilo Zeller. The topic of her presentation is Love Your Brain.
December 30	NDBIN Webinar Wednesdays Dr. David Biberdorf, OD, is an optometrist in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He will be talking about the impact vision can have on cognition and attention following a brain injury.
January 4, 2021	Virtual Support Group for Brain Injury Survivors NDBIN and the University of Mary are collaborating to offer a limited time virtual support group for brain injury survivors as well as caregivers and professionals in the field. Along with giving occupational therapy students clinical experience, the support group will help survivors deal with anxiety, depression, and other symptoms of brain injury.
January 13, 2021	POLST Conversations and Implementation Session Join a free session to discuss implementing Physicians Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST).
March 25-26, 2021	2021 Mind Matters Conference – Virtual Save the dates for the 2021 Mind Matters Conference, which will be held virtually. The conference offers participants an opportunity to learn about new systems of care for people living with brain injuries.

Publications

Ostmo Authors Recaps on Rural Ethnic/Racial Disparities
Per Ostmo of CRH wrote two Rural Health Research Recaps:

Rural Ethnic/Racial Disparities: Adverse Health Outcomes summarizes adverse health outcomes, including premature death, age-adjusted mortality, disability status, and obesity rates across rural minority group populations.
Rural Ethnic/Racial Disparities: Social and Systemic Inequities examines social and systemic inequities that influence disparities in health among minority group populations.

The Public Health Associates Program: Opportunities for Rural Host Sites
The Rural Health Information Hub hosted a webinar with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), highlighting the CDC's Public Health Associate Program and the opportunities available to rural organizations interested in becoming host sites.

NIEJI Fact Sheets
NIEJI has a number of new fact sheets available that address the take-away information for each of its online training modules.

National Rural Health Day Webinars
For National Rural Health Day, CRH hosted these informative and powerful webinars. Check out their recordings and slides.

Schroeder Coauthors Article on Mental Illness Stigma
Shawnda Schroeder was one of the authors of the Role of Rural and Urban Geography and Gender in Community Stigma Around Mental Illness, which appeared in the Journal of Health Education and Behavior.

Schroeder Writes Articles on Oral Health
Shawnda Schroeder authored three articles on oral health in North Dakota:

Resident Physicians Write About Health Outcomes
The Targeted Rural Health Education (TRHE) project helps resident physicians and health profession students take a closer look at the health needs of communities in which they are training. TRHE's goal is to help health-professionals-in-training to promote positive health outcomes in rural communities. Here are the four most recent articles:

Domestic Violence: What It Is and How to Help by Rachel Silkey
Don't Let Hypothermia Sneak Up This Winter by Christina Krieger
Care for Wishek's Unborn: Understanding Ultrasounds by Zoe Sayler
General Surgeons: Lifesaving and Routine Care In Rural Communities by Casey Ricker