New Partner Spotlight: Carolyn Parshall, MPH |
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Carolyn Parshall is an epidemiologist and the student development director at the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (AASTEC), where she has worked since January 2019. Carolyn was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She attended Arizona State University for her undergraduate studies before returning to Albuquerque to earn her MPH at the University of New Mexico. She has worked on public health and non-profit initiatives in Ethiopia, Senegal, and New Zealand.
Since joining AASTEC, Carolyn has worked as project lead to oversample American Indian/Alaska Native youth in the biennial administration of the New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey and deliver the resultant data directly back to tribal communities in the state. Since 2020, she has also led COVID-19 response efforts in several tribal communities in New Mexico, implementing contact tracing systems and providing technical guidance and support.
Carolyn loves living in New Mexico and when not working, can be found enjoying the outdoors either running, hiking, camping, or snowboarding (yes, it snows in New Mexico!).
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Oklahoma CBT Partners Celebrate 2021–2022
Field Placement Students
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Left to right: Adam Warren, Matt Reeves, Dr. Cassandra Querdibitty (SPTHB preceptor), Emily Eischen-Martin, McKenzie Cowlbeck, Reety Erwin (OPHTC Graduate Research Assistant) Attending via Zoom: Tavis Phan, Emilia Hart (OPHA preceptor) Photographer: Dr. Kerstin M. Reinschmidt (OPHTC Principal Investigator) |
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McKenzie Cowlbeck, a first-year MHA/MPH student interested in policy work was paired with OPHA. Her project revolved around public health policy and advocacy efforts, such as tracking bills according to OPHA’s policy agenda, creating and presenting at a policy webinar, and helping organize and advocate at OPHA’s first advocacy day at the State Capitol. McKenzie not only learned about Oklahoma’s legislative process, policymaking, and advocacy, but she loved OPHA and its people. McKenzie will serve as the next OPHA public policy committee chair.
Matt Reeves, a first year MHA student interested in health system operations and management, was also paired with OPHA. Alongside his preceptor, Matt was tasked to raise awareness for OPHA activities via events, social media, and advocacy, and generate public interaction and attention to the association. He used Twitter to keep the community informed of events during spring 2022, including OPHA’s activities for National Public Health Week. He explored many parts of OPHA, from monthly board meetings to Advocacy Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol, adding up to a very rewarding experience. The new challenges brought out the best in his skills.
Adam Warren, a second year MPH Biostatistics student, worked with the OPHTC. Alongside his preceptors, he assessed the impact of COVID-19 on Community Health Workers (CHWs) throughout the state. Building on a previous installment of this project, Adam used qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data and analyze CHW experiences and perceptions. Survey results identified CHW contributions to the COVID-19 response, how the pandemic impacted them professionally and personally, what support they sought, and needs of the communities they serve. Adam synthesized and reported findings back to CHWs and other stakeholders.
Emily Eischen-Martin, a second year MPH Epidemiology student, was paired with the SPTHB. She conducted a preliminary analysis of the first set of data received from last year’s Tribal Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey that evaluated various health issues and behaviors prevalent in American Indian tribes and communities served by the SPTHB. Emily analyzed participant characteristics associated with receiving full COVID-19 vaccinations. This gave her the opportunity to apply her coursework, while giving her a glimpse into how beneficial epidemiological research is to advocate for better health outcomes of American Indians.
Tavis Phan, a PhD Health Promotion Sciences student, worked on a Student-Faculty Collaborative Project. He developed a study design aimed at understanding the perspectives of urban Vietnamese-Americans in Oklahoma in relation to health beliefs, nutritional health behaviors, and cultural experiences that pertain to Type 2 diabetes mitigation, education, and control. The knowledge gained from this study will lead to recommendations for public health interventions that are culturally relevant and appropriate for Vietnamese-American communities.
By engaging in these diverse projects, students were able to apply their knowledge from the classroom in real world settings. Not only were they able to hone their skills through practice, they created real impact in the world of public health that will create ripples of benefit for all partner organizations and communities served. The Oklahoma CBT Partners are proud of the students, and wish them well as they move forward through their careers. Congratulations!
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month |
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month. We've compiled several resources to help support those who may be struggling with mental health.
If you or someone you know is suicidal or in emotional distress, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Trained crisis workers are available to talk 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your confidential and toll-free call goes to the nearest crisis center in the Lifeline national network. These centers provide crisis counseling and mental health referrals.
1-800-273-TALK (8255)
TTY: 1-800-799-4889
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The Best Online Mental Health Resources | Sprout Health...
Few years have highlighted the need for accessible mental health resources quite like 2020. Here is our ultimate list of free and affordable online mental health resources to help you cope over the next few months and beyond. If you need...
Read more
www.sprouthealthgroup.com
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About Mental Health
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. 1 Mental health is important at every...
Read more
www.cdc.gov
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Mental Health Awareness Month
MTV, in coordination with the White House, HHS and SAMHSA, will convene the first-ever Mental Health Youth Action Forum to drive culture from awareness to action on mental health through storytelling and media.
Read more
www.samhsa.gov
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Memorial Day Holiday - May 30, 2022 |
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"Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it." - Unknown
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Course Spotlight:
Psychological Resiliency - Building Personal Resilience and Self-Reliance
Course Description:
Once the survival needs of people impacted by a disaster are stable, the important work of rebuilding the collective social network and individual lives in the community can begin. Disaster and Crisis Intervention (DCI) Facilitation processes use proven professional group facilitation skills and processes to equip individuals in the affected communities with tools that help in their psycho-social reconstruction. This training will enable participants to work with individuals, other professionals, organizations, communities, or agencies who have experienced a crisis or who have responsibilities in crisis recovery now
and in the future.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the relationship between change, crisis and disaster
- Use the Grief and Recovery Process Model for assisting people affected by crisis, change or disaster
- Describe different facilitation and resilience building techniques for individuals, groups and communities
- Explain specific strategies to take care of ourselves and other caregivers and develop appropriate strategies to use as we assist others in their recuperation
- Develop and/or determine which intervention strategies to use in communities to aid in the rebuilding of social networks and individual lives in communities
For more information about
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Featured Course Bundle:
Tribal Behavioral Health
The Tribal Behavioral Health curriculum is designed to provide general guidance and understanding to increase the knowledge of behavioral health in the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population and among tribal health departments, including issues and challenges — and organizations seeking to improve AI/AN behavioral health.
The 4 courses included in this curriculum will cover several topics related to behavioral health in the AI/AN population, including historical trauma and current issues. Descriptions of some of the programs and organizations that are working to improve AI/AN behavioral health will also be presented.
Courses in the Tribal Behavioral Health
course bundle include:
- Tribal Behavioral Health 101: Overview of American Indian/Alaska Native Behavioral Health - 1 hour
- Tribal Behavioral Health 102: Health Issues for American Indian/Alaska Native Men - 1 hour
- Tribal Behavioral Health 103: The Opioid Epidemic and American Indian/Alaska Native Communities - 1 hour
- Tribal Behavioral Health 104: Culture is Prevention! - 1 hour
For more information about this course bundle, please click here.
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Looking for more training on a specific topic in public health? Need additional training on a current public health hot topic? We want to help you address these needs. Please email us and let us know about your current training needs/interests/issues. We will evaluate our current trainings to see if we have something that can address your area of interest.
We look forward to your feedback!
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Follow us on social media! |
Visit the Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center Website!
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