The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a markup on Wednesday, May 11, at 10:15 am Eastern. The legislation would reauthorize the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program, which prioritizes resources for the mental and behavioral health care workforce through training grants.
ASAHP Urges FY 23 Title VII HRSA Funding
ASAHP joined more than 80 undersigned members of Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition (HPNEC) in urging Congress to provide $1.51 billion for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Title VII health professions and Title VIII nursing workforce development programs for FY 2023.
Apply Today for ASAHP's Annual Interprofessional Recognition Award
The deadline to apply is this Monday, May 2. Through the Award for Institutional Excellence and Innovation in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Health Care, ASAHP looks to recognize a member institution and/or industry member for outstanding achievement in IPE and IPCP. In addition to the award, several institutions will also be recognized as “Programs of Merit” by ASAHP.
Candidates for this award must be ASAHP members and should demonstrate outstanding achievement in the following areas:
Initiatives are inclusive and comprehensive in scope in the preparation of collaboration-ready health professionals.
Initiatives are strongly committed to assessment of outcomes and dissemination of scholarship.
Initiatives are strongly connected to their Institution’s mission and culture.
Initiatives are connected to external stakeholders in the community.
Initiatives promote personal, community and population health.
Initiatives advocate for social justice and address social determinants of health.
Learn more about the award and view the application here.
House Holds FY 23 Budget Hearings with HHS and ED Secretaries
ASAHP’s hearing memo for the Administration’s FY 23 budget request with Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is available here.
Legal And Ethical Perspectives On The Transportation Mask Mandate
Two important questions about wearing masks during the COVID pandemic are:
Who should be in charge of public health decisions affecting the American public, scientific agencies designated by Congress or unelected federal judges?
How do we balance individual freedom and collective responsibility?
Two new commentaries from the Commonwealth Fund address these issues and can be obtained at Federal Judge Eliminates the CDC’s Public Transportation Mask Mandate | Commonwealth Fund and What Do We Owe Each Other? Balancing Personal Freedom and Collective Responsibility in the Age of COVID | Commonwealth Fund.
Call for Proposals: Interprofessional Collaboration Research Grant Program
ASAHP’s Research Committee is now accepting proposal for the Interprofessional Collaboration Research Grant Program. The grant’s goal is to support innovative research projects with the highest potential to produce new knowledge and paradigms towards success in interprofessional collaboration. Projects should involve at least two and preferably more health professions (definition available here). The most competitive applications will be designed as scalable projects with potential outcomes which can be broadly applied and implemented by ASAHP member institutions.
Eligibility: The Principal Investigator (PI) must be a full-time faculty in an ASAHP member institution. Applicants may serve as PI on only one grant application.
Award: 2-3 grant(s) may be awarded up to $25,000 per award. Awards will be provided for one year of support.
Deadline: Applications must be received via electronic submission to the Association of School Advancing Health Professions by 8:00pm ET on June 15, 2022. Proposals received by the deadline will be reviewed by a committee of educational researchers.
Learn more about the program here.
Advancing Health Equity
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has outlined an action plan that demonstrates the Biden Administration’s ongoing efforts to provide high-quality, affordable health care for all individuals, regardless of their background, and to drive health equity across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
More information can be obtained at CMS Strategic Plan Pillar: Health Equity.
Opening The Door For States To Address Drivers Of Health In Medicaid
The Commonwealth Fund indicates in a blog that states increasingly are turning to Medicaid to address social drivers of health that contribute significantly to health outcomes, like living conditions and access to nutritious food. Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved a proposal from California to provide “in lieu of” services a robust menu of health-related services offered to beneficiaries through Medicaid managed care.
The blog can be obtained at New Policy Opens the Door for States to Address Drivers of Health in Medicaid | Commonwealth Fund.
ASAHP Joins FASHP Letter on Mental and Behavioral Health
ASAHP and other members of the Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP) wrote a letter to Congressional Committee leaders to encourage the inclusion of health professions education and training programs in their legislative efforts to address the mental health challenges facing our country.
The letter may be accessed here.
Nexus Summit 2022 Registration is Now Open
Registration for the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education’s Nexus Summit 2022 - Learning Together in the Nexus: A Focus on What Matters Most, is now open. The conference will include both in-person and virtual experiences. An in-person component will take place in Minneapolis on August 21-24 and a virtual component will take place September 13-14.
More details may be accessed here.
Why and How to Build Awareness of Cultural Sensitivity in Healthcare Curricula
Craig Jackson, MSW, JD, was featured on THE Campus discussing “Why and How to Build Awareness of Cultural Sensitivity in Healthcare Curricula.” Dr. Jackson currently serves as a Director on ASAHP’s Board of Directors and as Dean for the School of Allied Health Professions at Loma Linda University.
Watch the video here.
ASAHP Joins ACE-Led Letter on Mental and Behavioral Health
ASAHP joined the American Council on Education and nearly 100 organizations in a letter to Congressional Committee leaders them to prioritize the mental and behavioral health needs of students in higher education as the committees develop mental health legislation.
The letter may be accessed here.
DoublePell Alliance Webinar: How Student Advocacy Can Help Make #DoublePell Happen
The #DoublePell Alliance will hold a webinar titled, “Join the Movement: How Student Advocacy Can Help Make #DoublePell Happen.” This event, held on April 26, from 1-2:15pm ET, is intended for student advocates and student organizers on campus to learn how to ensure Congress hears why increasing the Pell Grant is so important to making college affordable. The event will feature Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI), advocacy experts, and current students as they explain how to get involved in #DoublePell advocacy efforts while emphasizing the importance of the Pell Grant in making college dreams a reality. The free webinar will include discussion, Q&A, and a walkthrough of campaign materials. Participants will leave this event with a strong understanding of how to get involved in the #DoublePell campaign.
Register here.
Mitigating A Health Care Workforce Crisis
With health care workforce shortages having been predicted long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest Milbank Quarterly Opinion looks at the numbers in national and historical contexts, offering some suggestions to counter the expected higher rate of workforce churn in an industry that used to be seen as recession-proof.
The Opinion can be obtained at Getting Health Care Workers Back to Work and Other Workforce Shortage Challenges | Milbank Memorial Fund.
Public Health Emergency Extended
On Wednesday, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra extended the public health emergency declaration by 90 days, to mid-July, and allowing pandemic policies to continue. HHS said it will provide states with at least 60 days’ notice prior to any ending of the declaration.
The renewal of the public health emergency determination may be accessed here.
2022 IPEC Interprofessional Leadership Development Program
The 2022 ILDP, titled Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Practice: Leadership Strategies for Bridging the Gaps, will be held at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta, GA from June 22-24, 2022.
Designed for leaders, directors, and program coordinators responsible for campus-wide interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives and residency/fellowship leaders in IPE for collaborative practice (CP), ILDP participants will develop an actionable plan for bridging the education-to-practice gap at their institution, along with a process to measure success.
Liaison AHCAS Education Sessions
Liaison is holding a new round of AHCAS (Allied Health) Education Sessions. Built on the same platform as other health-profession based application services, such as OTCAS, PTCAS, CASPA, and others, AHCAS is the premier application system, uniting programs across dozens of health-profession based disciplines to give applicants a streamlined, cost-effective approach to application submission.
ASAHP and Friends of HRSA Recommend Robust HRSA Funding for FY 23
ASAHP was one of 99 members of the Friends of HRSA coalition and other supporting organizations that recommended providing at least $9.8 billion for discretionary HRSA programs in the FY 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. Strong funding for HRSA is critical to supporting all of HRSA’s activities and programs, which are essential to protect the health of our communities.
The letter to Congressional appropriators may be accessed here.
Student Loan Repayment Pause Extended
President Biden on April 6 extended through August 31, 2022 the pause on payments of federal student loans.
A statement by President Biden can be obtained at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/04/06/statement-by-president-biden-extending-the-pause-on-student-loan-repayment-through-august-31st-2022/.
Health And Health Care For Women Of Reproductive Age
According to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund, the U.S. health care system consistently fails to meet the needs of women of reproductive age, whether for maternal care, primary care, or mental health care. A comparison is made involving health care access and outcomes for women ages 18 to 49 in 11 high-income countries.
The report can be obtained at Health and Health Care for Women of Reproductive Age | Commonwealth Fund.