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throughout rural Tennessee.
Partnerships - Education - Advocacy - Resources
Certified Men's Health Educator
The Certified Men's Health Educator training course is aimed at professionals who are passionate about helping boys, men, and their families achieve true health and wellness.
 
The Certified Men’s Health Educator program is currently being offered free of charge to a limited number of healthcare professionals and non-healthcare professionals interested in improving the health of those living in their community, and who live or work in designated rural counties in Tennessee. Training for these professionals is provided by Men’s Health Network, in association with the Rural Health Association of Tennessee, and funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those who successfully complete the course will earn the “Certified Men’s Health Educator” designation. 
 
The CMHE program is also available, on a fee basis, to interested individuals and organizations. For information on how to enroll, please email cmhe@healthymen.org

Find out more and register for the training here.
Board Nominations

RHA of TN is accepting nominations for board members! There are 3 seat openings for the 2023-2025 term.

Nominees must be current members as of June 1, 2022. For more details and application instructions, visit RHA of TN's Blog here.

The Rural Health Association of Tennessee's 28th Annual Conference, "Collective Impact: A Call to Action," will be held November 16-18, 2022 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee where the winners will be announced.
Last Chance to Submit Proposals!

We are accepting presentation proposals. Proposals should highlight replicable programs, research, and/or collaborative efforts aimed at improving health and access to care in rural Tennessee.

The deadline for the proposals is June 30th! Make sure to submit your proposal before the upcoming deadline. We want to hear from you!

Submit your proposals here.

Member Spotlight

Tennessee's health departments, located in all 95 counties, are available to help women with family planning. Family planning medical services includes: yearly check-up, immunizations, basic infertility counseling, birth control, emergency contraception, STD testing and treatment, and select cancer screenings. They have resources, contraceptives for men and women, and can assist with pre- and post-natal care. For more information, call your local health department, or visit familyplanningtn.com. Learn more about TDH Division of Family Health and Wellness here.
Events

  • COVID Medical Homes for Rural Health Clinics In an hour-long presentation, learn how COVID medical homes can provide infrastructure for COVID-19-related education, prevention, testing, confidence, vaccine distribution, and mitigation strategies for Rural Health Clinics. Find more information on the June 28th webinar here.

  • HRSA’s Primary Care Innovation Challenge A total of $1 million in cash prizes is offered for low-cost, scalable solutions for improving access to primary care and social services. This June 29th information session will walk through judging criteria, submission requirements, timeline, and prize structure. Find out more here.

  • Access to Primary Care: HRSA’s Innovation Challenge Last week, HRSA announced a national competition with a total of $1 million in cash prizes for low-cost, scalable solutions that improve patient access to primary care and link health care to social services. The competition is open to broad public participation, including individuals, groups, health care organizations, and other entities. Submissions for phase 1 are due Tuesday, August 2nd. For more information, join an upcoming webinar on Wednesday, June 29 at 3:00 pm

  • The Impact of COVID-19 on the Rural Health Care Landscape Americans in rural communities face unique set of challenges when it comes to accessing health care. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, rural communities struggled with hospital closures, traveling long distances to receive care, and an older, sicker population. COVID-19’s surge over the past two years has disproportionately affected rural areas, including deepening workforce challenges faced by rural hospitals. Learn more at the June 29th online webinar here

  • Historic Funding Opportunity to Address Unsheltered Homelessness as a Social Determinant of Health in Rural Communities The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released a first-of-its-kind package of resources to address unsheltered homelessness, with a unique opportunity for rural communities. This Initiative for Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness being made available by HUD strongly promotes partnerships with health care organizations, public housing authorities and mainstream housing providers, and people with lived experience and expertise of homelessness. Find out more information about this June 30th webinar here.


  • Medical Debt Crisis - Impact on Black American Families Medical debt remains a looming crisis, disproportionately affecting Black households and communities. Race contributes to whether households have medical debt, with 27.9% of Black households carrying medical debt compared to 17.2% of white non-Hispanic households. Households in the South, the region with the highest concentration of Black people, carry more medical debt than households in other areas of the country. Structural and systemic racism underlies these disparities in medical debt. Medical debt must be addressed as a racial justice issue that exacerbates the existing racial wealth and health gap facing Black families and communities. View this July 13th webinar here.

  • Strategies for Distributing Naloxone to Rural Communities UVM CORA Community Rounds Workshop series session, “Strategies for Distributing Naloxone to Rural Communities.” Speakers are Geoff Capraro, MD, Attending Physician and Associate Professor, Brown Emergency Medicine, and Brooke Lawrence, from the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team. This presentation will explore the need for naloxone distribution in rural areas and discuss innovative methods and technologies for increasing access. Find out more about this July 13th webinar here.

  • HIV Management in Rural and Underserved Communities of the Southeast: Tailoring Care and Treatment to Improve Health Equity - Part 1 Learn from Southeast AIDS Education and Training Center, Tennessee AIDS Education and Training Center about differentiate antiretroviral agents for HIV based on efficacy, safety, adherence potential, and drug-drug interactions, how to apply best practices and evidence-based interventions to improve rapid HIV treatment initiation in rural and underserved settings, select appropriate HIV treatment regimens based on current guideline recommendations, clinical evidence, and individual patient factors, and other information. Find the July 15th webinar here.

  • A Step Ahead West Tennessee Join their five week mother-daughter event starting July 14th in Jackson, TN to discuss topics including self-esteem, female reproductive goals, and a variety of other tops. For more information and to RVSP, reach out to 731-695-9966 or 731-695-4941.
Resources

  • Rx for the Rural Healthcare Workforce and Access to Care Podcast with Tom Morris of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy about trends related to the rural healthcare workforce and efforts to overcome challenges. It discusses the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, rural hospital closures, telehealth, graduate medical education in rural areas, community health workers and community paramedics, funding opportunities to promote healthcare access in rural areas, the opioid crisis, and more. Listen here.


  • Regional Hospitals Dealing with Teen Mental Health Crisis Regional Hospitals Dealing with TeNationally, a trend has been growing in recent years, with more kids seeking mental health treatment in emergency rooms. Often that means waiting there several days until they are safe or an adolescent psychiatric bed becomes available. Self-harm injuries have also increased among kids. Read more about it here.

  • HUD Commits $54.5 Million to Rural Housing and Social Supports The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a broad, new initiative to connect individuals and families to housing, health care, and supportive services. Total funding of $322 million is a supplement to HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Program, with $43 million for incremental housing vouchers for at-risk households, and $54 million set aside for projects in rural areas. The Supplemental to Address Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness requires collaboration among housing authorities, health care organizations, and those that provide support for individuals and families facing issues that often lead to homelessness – such as domestic violence, youth trauma, and substance use disorder. Find out more here.

  • Non-Metropolitan and Metropolitan Trends in Mental Health Treatment Availability in Community Health and Community Mental Health Centers For this brief, HRSA provided historical data for community mental health centers (CMHCs) and community health centers (CHCs) – two types of federally funded sites that provide mental health care. Researchers at the Rural and Underserved Research Center found that the supply of CMHCs decreased substantially from 2000 to 2019 in non-metropolitan counties. However, the supply of CHCs offering mental health services increased substantially over the same time period. Find out more here.

  • Telehealth for LGBTQ+ Patients Telehealth appointments are a safe, convenient way for LGBTQ+ patients to access health care. They can also be a necessary lifeline for patients who do not have LGBTQ+ affirming health care available nearby. Find out more here

  • Why the Omicron Variant of COVID Hit Rural America Hardest A new study reveals stark disparities in health care between urban and rural America during the omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with highly vaccinated areas faring better. Read more about it here.

  • COVID-19 Tests by Mail Every household in the U.S. can now order an additional set of eight COVID-19 tests from www.covidtests.gov. The tests are free with free shipping. If you need assistance placing an order, call 1-800-232-0233.


  • National Maternal Mental Health Hotline This hotline provides mental health information and support to pregnant and new mothers. The hotline can be reached at 1-833-9-HELP4MOMS or 1-833-943-5746.
 
  • Job Board New jobs have been added to the RHA of TN job board. Those can be found here.

  • Call for Proposals We are accepting conference presentation proposals. Proposals should highlight replicable programs, research, and/or collaborative efforts aimed at improving health and access to care in rural TN. Deadline is June 30th. Find out more here.

  • Award Nominations Each year, RHA of TN presents awards to influential programs and people who are improving rural health in Tennessee. Find the award categories here. If there is someone you would like to nominate, please find the nomination form here. Send completed form to info@tnruralhealth.org. Deadline for submissions are August 15th.
Funding Opportunities
The below grants have been hand picked to offer new funding opportunities to our members.
Welcome to our New and Returning Members!
The below organizations have recently joined or renewed their memberships. Members can search our member directory to connect with other members when logging into the RHA of TN's website. While you're searching, update your profile!

Thank you to our Platinum Sponsors
for making this communication and our annual conference possible.
Mailing Address:
PO Box 656,
Decaturville, TN 38329