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Welcome to Exclamation Point!,
the Alive! Maryland 
Monthly Newsletter

October 2022

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! MarylandEach 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

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 info@AliveMaryland.org. Alive! Maryland is here to help you help Marylanders!

 
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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.

Nelly Velazquez (she/her), Patient Navigator

Education is often one of the first steps to achieving goals for people in marginalized communities. Not only does it increase knowledge, but it also empowers individuals to seek change for themselves. In the sector of Public Health, education can save lives. 

Nelly Velazquez spent the last nine years of her career in Public Health as a Health Educator, working most prominently to teach about disease prevention in Baltimore City. Now, thanks to an offer from Georgetown University, she will be working for their Office of Minority and Health Disparities as a Patient Navigator. 

Velazquez is motivated most by her commitment to improving health outcomes in underserved communities, and her work has been vital to keeping the state of Maryland alive.

Read the interview below to learn more about her impact in Baltimore City and how she plans to continue her work at Georgetown.

 
events

Action Points: Upcoming Events

2023 Medicare Open Enrollment Webinar Series, Session 1 - Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Please join the Maryland AIDS Drug Assistance Program (MADAP) Insurance Team as we begin our 2023 Open Enrollment Webinar Series, which will run through January 25, 2023. The first session will take place on Wednesday, October 12, at 1:00pm.

Click the button below to view the topics we will cover in the first session and to register.

You can also view the dates of all eight upcoming sessions in the series by visiting the MADAP Resource Center at AliveMaryland.org/MADAP or clicking below.

 

Health Cares About Domestic Violence (HCADV) Day Webinar - Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Intimate Partner Violence, Homelessness and Behavioral Health: A Toolkit for Health Center and Community Partners

This webinar will be held as part of Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day (HCADV), a nationally-recognized awareness day that takes place annually on the second Wednesday of October. HCADV Day aims to reach members of the healthcare and advocacy communities to offer education about the critical importance of universal education to promote healthy relationships, to address the health impact of abuse, and offer warm referrals to domestic violence advocates.

In recognition of HCADV Day, Health Partners on IPV + Exploitation and National Health Care for the Homeless Council are excited to release a new toolkit, Intimate Partner Violence, Homelessness, and Behavioral Health developed for Health Care for the Homeless Health Centers and their community-based partners.

Click the button below to learn more about this webinar and to register.

 

National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day - Saturday, October 15, 2022

  • National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD), whose observance is coordinated by the Latino Commission on AIDS, aims to mobilize community-based organizations to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and promote testing, prevention, and education among the Latino community. 
  • In 2021, there were 101 reported HIV diagnoses among Hispanic people in Maryland, accounting for 13.1 percent of total HIV diagnoses.
  • By the end of 2021, 1 in 219 Hispanic persons in Maryland were reported to be living with diagnosed HIV. 

Learn more about NLAAD and access shareable resources and toolkits by clicking the button below.

 

Interested in applying to be a member of the Maryland AIDS Drug Assistance Program (MADAP)
Quality Management Committee?

MADAP is seeking volunteers for the reinstatement of the MADAP Quality Management Committee. The purpose of this committee is to bring together stakeholders from across the State of Maryland to review MADAP performance measurement data and discuss quality improvement projects so that we can improve outcomes for MADAP clients.

Apply by Sunday, October 23, 2022 by clicking the button below.

 

Washington, D.C. Regional Planning Commission on Health and HIV (COHAH)
Seeking New Members

Any interested person living or working in the Washington EMA may apply for membership on the Washington, D.C. Regional Planning Commission on Health and HIV (COHAH). COHAH will invigorate planning for HIV prevention and care programs that will demonstrate effectiveness, innovation, accountability, and responsiveness to our community.

Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis. To apply, fill out the application form linked in the button below.

 
resources

Key Points: Featured Resources

cba

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.

 

Harm Reduction Webinar Course Series

This three-part training series from Alive! Maryland offers evidence-based harm reduction strategies for providers who serve people who use drugs. Topics explored include the principles of psychotherapy for harm reduction and identifying and treating skin infections in people who inject drugs. 

Training sessions in the series:

  • An Introduction to Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (IHRP): Clinical Rationale, Theory, and Technique
  • Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy: The Seven Therapeutic Tasks — Skills and Strategies
  • Injection Drug Use: Wound and Skin Changes
Click the button below or visit AliveMaryland.org/Training/Harm-Reduction-Series to learn more and access the series. 
 

NEW On-Demand Training - Best Practices for Affirming Care: Honoring the Lives of Our Clients

For gender-diverse individuals who have experienced stigma and discrimination during their lives, small mistakes can bring up past negative experiences. These feelings can affect their willingness to seek health care. Providers are responsible for communicating with knowledge and understanding about the health concerns, barriers to care, and other needs that are common among LGBTQ community. This webinar describes trauma-informed care and provides best practices for high-quality healthcare by providing affirming care to clients who experience stigma and discrimination.  

 

Five Ways Health Centers Can Promote Health Care Access for Survivors of Domestic Violence

This 2-page PDF summarizes the key actions to promote health center enrollment for survivors of domestic violence, and how health centers may partner with community-based programs, such as DV advocacy programs.

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Healthcare.com Enrollment for Survivors of Domestic Violence

This in-depth PDF identifies the unique opportunities for health enrollment specialists and health center staff to increase health access for survivors of domestic violence. 

 

Montgomery County EHE HIV Treatment Booklet

This print-ready PDF booklet contains information for Montgomery County HIV Services at the Dennis Avenue Health Center. It can be accessed below in both English and Spanish.

 
 
 

Montgomery County EHE PrEP Ads

Ready-made ad artwork for Montgomery County promoting HIV prevention through PrEP.

 

Medicare Open Enrollment 2023: October 15 – December 7, 2022

Mark your calendars — Medicare Open Enrollment starts October 15, 2022! In the meantime, you can get a head start by previewing 2023 plans today.

Now’s a great time to review your coverage and see if there’s a better fit for you.

Create or log into your Medicare account, so you can:

  • See how the details of your current plan are changing for next year. 
  • Compare benefits and costs in your current plan to other plans available in your area.
  • Build your prescription drug list to help you compare plans. 
  • Check prices based on any help you get with prescription drug costs.
 
jobs

Job Openings

Agency Budget Specialist Supervisor, MDH Infectious Disease & Environmental Health Services

Location: Baltimore City

Description: This position will develop recommendations for budget and expenditure plans, and provide in-depth analysis of spending affordability. This position will also provide oversight of assigned federal grants (block grants, categorical grants and contracts) and Special Fund revenue sources, as well as ensure compliance with federal expenditure reporting requirements (quarterly/annual reporting).

Deadline: October 14, 2022

 

Community Health Nurse, MDH Local Health

Location: Anne Arundel County

Description: The main purpose of this position is to provide nursing case management, directly observed therapy, follow-ups, and education to tuberculosis patients and suspects, and TB Prophylaxis to patients, inmates, and refugees in the Anne Arundel County Department of Health's two (2) centers, TB clinic, and patient homes. This position will assist with surveillance activities to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

Deadline: October 17, 2022

 

Epidemiologist, MDH Infectious Disease & Environmental Health Services

Location: Baltimore City

Description: This position will be responsible for conducting HIV surveillance activities and case investigations, in compliance with Maryland and CDC requirements for the public health surveillance of HIV. Such surveillance activities will include identifying, soliciting, managing, and reporting medical HIV-related information from various sources, including hospitals, laboratories, provider’s offices, and other healthcare facilities throughout the State of Maryland.

Deadline: October 20, 2022

 
contact
 

Point of Contact


Please reach out to Melissa Kelley, 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 DavisTawanna.Davis@maryland.gov

Click the button below to request capacity building assistance for your organization.

 
about

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.

 
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