Register for December 18, 2017 FHEA Cyberseminar; Congratulate Kenneth T. Jones, PhD; & Leverage Opportunity for Health Professionals to Address Veteran Health Equity and Care

 Updates from the VA Office of Health Equity

Announcements

December 14, 2017

 

 

 

Last Chance to Register for December FHEA Cyberseminar -- Using Quality Improvement Projects to Demonstrate Health Equity in Action for Vulnerable Veterans

FHEA 12.18.2017

The VA Office of Health Equity (OHE) launched the VA Health Equity Themed Quality Improvement Projects Initiative during fiscal year 2014. This initiative was launched to support local and field-based efforts to implement quality improvement efforts that have been designed or identified through existing literature and that are expected to achieve health equity and/or reduce health disparities among vulnerable Veteran groups. The purpose of the current session is to describe quality improvement projects and findings for projects funded by OHE during fiscal year 2017 and discuss lessons learned and actionable steps that can be used by VA facilities, researchers, and stakeholders to inform local and national efforts that advance health equity for vulnerable Veterans. 

** Please note, event will take place on a Monday. 

 

Using Quality Improvement Projects to Demonstrate Health Equity in Action for Vulnerable Veterans Monday, December 18, 2017 3:00 – 4:00 PM EST

REGISTER

Learning Objectives

  1. Identify quality improvement strategies and other actions that can be used to advance health equity; 
  2. Understand disparities in hysterectomy care in VA and how individual and system level determinants may contribute to disparities;
  3. Recognize differences in patient experience with surgical processes and outcomes; and  
  4. Describe VISN-wide implementation of the MOVE! program as a quality improvement strategy to narrow the equity gap among Hispanic/Latino and Non-Hispanic/Latino Veterans with respect to uncontrolled HbA1c.

Confirmed Speakers

  • Wendell Jones, MD Chief Medical Officer, VISN 17 Central Texas, Dallas, Texas
  • Jodie Katon, PhD Scientist, VA Health Services Research and Development, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington
  • Sara Knight, PhD Director, Health Services Research Program, Birmingham VA Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama 
  • Uchenna S. Uchendu, MD Chief Officer, Office of Health Equity, VA Central Office, Washington, DC

Background Resources

 

REGISTER

 

 

Office of Health Equity’s Kenneth T. Jones received Leaders for Health Equity Fellowship Certificate

 LHE 4 Listserv 12.14.2017

The VA Office of Health Equity would like to congratulate Kenneth T. Jones, PhD for successfully completing the Leaders for Health Equity Fellowship sponsored by George Washington University Health Workforce Institute. The year-long program recently produced its inaugural graduates - a network of global leaders of health professionals prepared to reduce health disparities in vulnerable populations within their organizations and beyond.

The vision of the Fellowship is to develop global leaders who understand the foundations of health inequity and have the knowledge, skills, and courage to build more equitable health systems and organizations. Dr. Jones was among the unique health professionals from the United States and other countries (Uganda, Ethiopia, India, Brazil, and the Philippines) recognized on Friday December 8, 2017 at the George Washington University in Washington DC. Leaders for Health Equity Program co-directors Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan and Dr. Guenevere Burke presented the certificate at the ceremony (pictured above).

As a part of the Fellowship, Dr. Jones identified and developed VA-centric tools for Veterans, VA employees, and other stakeholders to assess health equity as a strategic priority at VA facilities consistent with VA priorities. Congratulations Dr. Kenneth T. Jones!

 

 LHE 4 Listserv 2

 Photo Caption: Inaugural Class of the Leaders for Health Equity Fellowship Program (2017)

 

 

 Increasing the Number and Competency of Professionals to Address Veteran Health Equity and Care

QR Code Health Equity Tools 2017

The VA Office of Health Equity is committed to increasing the number of health professionals and stakeholders and competency to address the health equity needs of Veterans. 

  • Do you agree that all Veterans should have the opportunity to reach the highest level of health and well-being?

  • Are you aware of any disparities in health and healthcare among the Veterans within your area of Influence??

  • Do you know a promising quality improvement strategy/project that can be implemented to narrow the disparity gap?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, the Office of Health Equity invites you to join us and explore opportunities to engage deliberately and meaningfully, in order to address health and health care disparities among Veterans. In keeping with VHA Health Equity Action Plan - VA’s guiding document for achieving health equity for all Veterans - we continue to provide tools, connections and information about current and future opportunities to engage the VA workforce and all who care for Veterans in health equity pursuits with Veterans and their families as our community of focus

 

Applications for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Clinical Scholars Program will open January 12, 2018. The program provides funding and leadership training to clinically active providers to help leverage their ideas to improve health outcomes in communities across the country (http://clinical-scholars.org). Providers working in collaboration with veterans, their families, and local organizations are encouraged to apply.

The Clinical Scholars program provides funding and leadership training to clinically active providers with experience in providing healthcare services to children, adults, and families. Preferred applicants are engaged in their defined community of focus and motivated to leverage their passion and ideas to improve health beyond the clinical setting. Fellows identify complex ‘wicked’ health equity issues and propose novel interdisciplinary approaches to improve health beyond the clinical setting. Potential fellows apply in multidisciplinary clinical teams (> 2) and may represent the range of health affair professions: dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, social work, and/or veterinary medicine. The currently funded team projects are focused on a range of complex health issues: oral health, mental health and opioid abuse, behavioral health, immigrant health, community violence, and the foster care system (http://clinicalscholarsnli.org). 

Let the VA Office of Health Equityknow if you are VA staff or work with Veterans, and plan to leverage this opportunity, so that we can assist and consult as appropriate in order to advance Health Equity Themed Project(s) with VA/Veterans as the community of focus. View funded projects and Fellows at http://clinicalscholarsnli.org/projects/, including one example of Veteran-focused project on this link.