| | Welcome to the Exclamation Point!,
the Alive! Maryland Monthly Newsletter April 2022 The Exclamation Point! is your straight-to-the-point monthly newsletter for Maryland's primary care and infectious disease workforce, brought to your inbox by Alive! Maryland. Each month we will feature key trainings and webinars, upcoming events, job opportunities, and other resources to help you in your work. We'll also highlight some of the impactful work and diverse perspectives of your colleagues across the State. In this issue: - Points of View: Provider Perspectives
- Action Points: Upcoming Events
- Key Points: Featured Resources
- Job Openings
- Funding Opportunities
Want to spread the word about a job opening or funding opportunity from your organization? Know a special healthcare provider in Maryland who deserves the spotlight? Let us know by contacting Christopher Hucks-Ortiz, Alive! Maryland Program Director, at info@AliveMaryland.org. Alive! Maryland is here to help you help Marylanders! | | | |  | Points of View: Provider Perspectives | | Each month we will highlight a Maryland provider in this section whose work is helping bring the State alive. If you have a colleague you think deserves some appreciation, let us know! Please email info@AliveMaryland.org and include the provider's name, role and affiliation, and contact details. We'll then reach out to your colleague with some brief interview questions. | | | | M. Tica Torres (he/they), Care Navigator Building a healthier Maryland begins with providers that are dedicated to their work and invested in the livelihood of their patients. One provider who embodies this mission is M. Tica Torres (he/they), a Care Navigator at Planned Parent Maryland, a Transgender Response Team Member for the State of Maryland, and a member of Alive! Maryland’s Inter-professional Advisory Board (IAB). We spoke with Torres about his endeavors as a Care Navigator, the motivations behind their work, and their advice on how other providers can advance impact in their own fields. Click below to read about how this phenomenal provider brings the state of Maryland alive! | | | | | |  | Action Points: Upcoming Events | | | |  | National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day National Youth HIV/AIDs Awareness Day is observed annually on April 10 and is a day to raise awareness about the impact of HIV on young people. Our most recent data show youth ages 13-24 accounted for 18.5 percent of newly reported HIV diagnoses in Maryland. At the end of 2019, it is estimated that 37.5 percent of youth living with HIV in Maryland were unaware of their status. Of youth living with diagnosed HIV, only 66.7 percent had a suppressed viral load in 2020. Click the button below to learn more about Youth and HIV in Maryland. | | | | | | Maryland Certified Community Health Worker (CCHW) Certificate Renewal Application Webinars Date and Time: Friday, April 8, 2022 at 10:00am EDT Description: The Maryland Department of Health Community Health Worker (MDH CHW) Program will be hosting interactive webinars on the requirements and application process for Certified Community Health Workers (CCHWs) to renew their CCHW certificate, and to answer any questions CCHWs may have about the renewal process. CCHW certificates are effective for two years from the date issued. There will be time for questions and answers with the MDH CHW Team after the webinar. Pre-register with this link to attend one of these webinars. You will be sent login information a few days prior to the webinar. Please see the Community Health Worker Certificate Renewal webpage for complete details on the renewal process. | | | | | | Invitation to Participate: Workplace PROSPER Survey The University of Maryland, Baltimore is partnering with the Maryland Department of Health via the Workplace PROSPER project to learn more about Maryland employer needs related to the impact of opioids in the workplace with the goal of creating an online resource toolkit. We are asking you and other Maryland employers to complete a brief (15 minute), online, and anonymous survey. The survey has questions on topics such as education and programming related to opioid use/misuse, peer support, and workplace policies and procedures. This survey should be completed by someone who has a broad perspective on your company’s employee needs and policies such as an operations manager, human resources professional, or a benefits or risk manager. If you would like to refer someone from another work organization to complete the survey, please email the research team at prosper@ssw.umaryland.edu. | | | |  | Key Points: Featured Resources | | Capacity Building Assistance from Alive! Maryland Our Point-to-Point Team is here to make capacity building assistance (CBA) work for you. Point-to-Point is your CBA resource for the State of Maryland’s HIV, viral hepatitis, STIs, and harm reduction workforce and your organizations as you continue the fight against the epidemics in Maryland. We offer capacity building assistance in the following areas: - Organizational Infrastructure
- Fiscal Administration
- Data Collection Management and Reporting
- Service Provision
- And more!
To request capacity building assistance from Alive! Maryland, click the button to the left or visit AliveMaryland.org/cba. | | | | | | On-Demand e-Learning Module:
Motivational Interviewing: Helping Others with Change Motivational interviewing is an evidence-based approach utilizing person-centered conversation that supports individuals in making behavior changes. This collaborative, non-judgmental approach honors the autonomy of the individual. Motivational interviewing can be a powerful tool in helping clients discover their own reasons for making a change. Effective motivational interviewing takes time and practice to master, but there are plenty of simple techniques that providers can adopt to better assist their clients. This online, self-paced eLearning module will provide you with a working knowledge of motivational interviewing and foundational skills to integrate motivational interviewing into your practice. 1.0 hr, CME/CE, AMA, AAPA, ANCC, APA, ASWB, ACPE are available for this offering free of charge. | | | | | | MADAP Operations Updates The Maryland AIDS Drug Assistance Program's Center Chief issued two recent operations updates on guidelines for new and established patients. | | | | | | | | Center for HIV Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Evaluation The Center for HIV Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Evaluation (CHSE) is responsible for collecting information about HIV and AIDS in Maryland for use in planning, implementing, and evaluating responses to the epidemic. Visit CHSE for the latest statistics on HIV in Maryland. | | | | | | | | Maryland Engagement in HIV Care This live infographic uses Maryland surveillance data for current residents to describe the number and percentage of persons living with diagnosed HIV who belong to select stages of the HIV continuum. | | | | | | | |  | Job Openings
Recovery Support and Harm Reduction Supervisor, Howard County Health Department Description: This position provides management, direction, services and supervision for the Recovery Support and Harm Reduction Unit. Position is responsible for managing the program budget. This position is eligible for hybrid telework. | | | | | | Program Administrator, MDH Infectious Disease and Environmental Health Services Description: Within the Center for HIV/STI Integration and Capacity (CHSIC), this position will focus on monitoring, analyzing, improving, and reporting program data for all SAMHSA-funded initiatives which are facilitated by the CHSIC. | | | | | | Grants and Contracts Compliance Monitor, MDH Infectious Disease and Environmental Health Services Description: This position will manage the fiscal and programmatic compliance by monitoring activities which support the work of the Center for HIV Prevention and Health Services. This position will also make recommendations for changes to policies and procedures which incorporate best practices, generally accepted accounting principles, funder guidelines, and Office of Management and Budget circulars. | | | |  | | | Contingency Management Initiative, MDH BHA Description: The Contingency Management Initiative (CMI) initiative will support activities to implement an evidence-based practice (EBP) that will be utilized in community-based outpatient (OP) substance use disorder (SUD) treatment programs statewide with special emphasis on jurisdictions with demonstrated need to help mitigate overdose and overdose deaths. | | | | | | Community Health Worker Training Program Development and Implementation, MDH OPHI Description: The Office of Population Health Improvement at the Maryland Department of Health seeks interested organizations to apply for a grant for the development and implementation of community health worker (CHW) training programs. | | | | | | | | Point of Contact
Please reach out to Christopher Hucks-Ortiz, Alive! Maryland Program Director, at info@AliveMaryland.org with
any questions, feedback, or submissions. For all CDC specific related training and technical assistance CTS Tracking Requests, you may contact Tawanna Davis, Tawanna.Davis@maryland.gov.
Click the button below to request capacity building assistance for your organization. | | | | | | About Alive! Maryland The Maryland Department of Health has engaged with HealthHIV, a national capacity building organization, to launch Alive! Maryland, the first-ever comprehensive capacity building initiative for the infectious disease and primary care workforce in the State of Maryland. ALIVE stands for Assess, Learn, Integrate, Visualize, Engage — representing each phase of the program. Alive! Maryland is a motivational call to action to build capacity to improve health in Maryland’s HIV, viral hepatitis, STIs, and harm reduction workforce. This initiative will provide Maryland providers with a web-based, self-paced Virtual Training Institute, many CEU opportunities, direct training and technical assistance, resource development, and more. | | | | | |  | HealthHIV
HealthHIV.org 1630 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 500 | Washington, DC 20009
202.232.6749 | info@healthhiv.org © 2022 HealthHIV | All rights reserved. | | | | | | | | | |
