Category: Opioid Epidemic

Policy Analysis in the Policy Process and How Systems Thinking Fits In

Course Objective

  • Define Stage Two of the CDC policy process i.e. Policy Analysis
  • List types of evidence that can be reviewed as part of the policy analysis phase
  • Assess feasibility of available policy options via framing questions and rubrics
  • Identify and define key variables in a complex public health issue
  • Sketch and interpret a simple systems map/ causal loop diagram
  • Define and identify leverage points in a system and assess their potential impact on the system
  • Discuss the importance of systems modeling and explore how systems models can be used to ask and answer policy-relevant questions
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Date: June 30th 2021

Subject Matter Experts:  
Helen de Pinho, MBBCh, FCCH (Public Health), MBA
Assistant Professor at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, and Associate Director of the Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program (AMDD) at Columbia University

&

Sylvia Pirani, MPH, MS
Public Health Practice Consultant

The Strategic Skills Training Series developed by the Region 2 PHTC aims to help prepare public health leaders and the public health workforce to develop the practices and competencies associated with being a Chief Health Strategist.

Using a scenario focused on the opioid problem in the fictitious ‘Tycho County’, this course will describe how the ‘Policy Analysis’ stage of the CDC policy process can be implemented by a health department using systems thinking tools and approaches.

Recommended Pre-Requisites:

  1. An Overview of the Policy Process in Public Health and the Need for Systems Thinking
  2. Problem Identification in the Policy Process and How Systems Thinking Fits In

Participants will be able to:

  1. Define Stage Two of the CDC policy process i.e. Policy Analysis
  2. List types of evidence that can be reviewed as part of the policy analysis phase
  3. Assess feasibility of available policy options via framing questions and rubrics
  4. Identify and define key variables in a complex public health issue
  5. Sketch and interpret a simple systems map/ causal loop diagram
  6. Define and identify leverage points in a system and assess their potential impact on the system
  7. Discuss the importance of systems modeling and explore how systems models can be used to ask and answer policy-relevant questions
Strategy and Policy Development in the Policy Process and How Systems Thinking Fits In

Course Objective

  • Define Stage Three of the CDC policy process i.e. Strategy and Policy Development
  • Describe the steps that Health Departments can follow to develop an enactment strategy and draft an actual policy
  • Understand how systems thinking tools can help strengthen the strategy and policy development process
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Date: June 30th 2021

Subject Matter Experts: 
Sylvia Pirani, MPH, MS
Public Health Practice Consultant

&

Helen de Pinho, MBBCh, FCCH (Public Health), MBA
Assistant Professor at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, and Associate Director of the Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program (AMDD) at Columbia University

The Strategic Skills Training Series developed by the Region 2 PHTC aims to help prepare public health leaders and the public health workforce to develop the practices and competencies associated with being a Chief Health Strategist.

 

Using a scenario focused on the opioid problem in the fictitious ‘Tycho County’, this course will describe how the ‘Strategy and Policy Development’ stage of the CDC policy process can be implemented by a health department using systems thinking tools and approaches.

 

Recommended Pre-Requisites:

  1. An Overview of the Policy Process in Public Health and the Need for Systems Thinking
  2. Problem Identification in the Policy Process and How Systems Thinking Fits In
  3. Policy Analysis in the Policy Process and How Systems Thinking Fits In

Participants will be able to:

  1. Define Stage Three of the CDC policy process i.e. Strategy and Policy Development
  2. Describe the steps that Health Departments can follow to develop an enactment strategy and draft an actual policy
  3. Understand how systems thinking tools can help strengthen the strategy and policy development process
Policy Making and Systems Thinking: tools to help the public health workforce address challenging times

Course Objective

  • Define policy making in public health and how it can be used to achieve public health goals
  • Identify how systems thinking can strengthen public health policy development
  • Discuss how some of the essential steps in policy making and systems thinking can help address “wicked” public health challenges
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Date: January  12th, 2021

Presenter:
Sylvia Pirani, MPH, MS
Public Health Practice Consultant

Helen de Pinho, MBBCh, FCCH, MBA
Assistant Professor
Population and Family Health
Columbia University Medical Center

In this month’s Log-in2Learn, Helen de Pinho, MBBCh, FCCH, MBA, and Sylvia Pirani, MPH, MS, walk us through the process of policy making and the role of systems thinking in combating complex challenges. Sylvia starts by highlighting the steps required to craft good policy and emphasizes the importance of incorporating community members and stakeholders in the process. She then identifies some of the common obstacles seen during this process and shares instances of the same. Helen goes on to unpack the concept of systems thinking, explaining how it can be used and why it is such an essential tool for policy makers and the public health workforce. She demonstrates the ways in which systems thinking can be used to address complex situations and tricky relationships in the policy making process through a series of examples. Finally, they both identify the next steps in policy making and share useful resources for policy identification and systems thinking during challenging times.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Define policy making in public health and how it can be used to achieve public health goals
  2. Identify how systems thinking can strengthen public health policy development
  3. Discuss how some of the essential steps in policy making and systems thinking can help address “wicked” public health challenges
Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Course Objective

  • Explain regulatory updates regarding buprenorphine treatment during a public health emergency
  • Describe practice-level changes in buprenorphine treatment throughout COVID-19
  • Discuss common issues affecting patients in buprenorphine treatment during COVID-19
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Date: July 7th, 2020

Presenter:
Tiffany Lu, MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center / Albert Einstein School of Medicine

In this month’s Log-in2Learn Dr. Tiffany Lu provides an overview of buprenorphine treatment prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges associated with treatment for opioid use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Lu describes the communities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and how the pandemic paved the way for regulation updates regarding buprenorphine treatment such as reduced restrictions and an increased use of telemedicine to treat opioid use disorders. The webinar also addresses some other measures put in place with buprenorphine treatment due to the public health emergency, including: longer prescriptions, halted urine drug testing (self reports), access to naloxone and harm reduction supplies. The presenter also shares available resources to support clinical providers as they face the challenges associated with buprenorphine treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Explain regulatory updates regarding buprenorphine treatment during a public health emergency
  2. Describe practice-level changes in buprenorphine treatment throughout COVID-19
  3. Discuss common issues affecting patients in buprenorphine treatment during COVID-19
Change Management: How Leadership can Support Staff During Crises

Course Objective

  • Explain key elements of the adaptive leadership model.
  • List the 4 dimensions of change readiness and list questions to be raised under each dimension.
  • Describe how a planned change initiative can be implemented using Kotter’s 8-step model.
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Launch Date: June 30th, 2020

Subject Matter Expert:
Emil J. Sadloch
President, Sadloch Development Associates & Instructor for Rutgers University’s Executive and Professional Education
School of Public Health, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences

The Strategic Skills Training Series developed by the Region 2 PHTC aims to help prepare public health leaders and the public health workforce to develop the practices and competencies associated with being a Chief Health Strategist. This training is the second in the Strategic Skills Training Series focused on Change Management for Public Health Professionals. This module explains the utility of the adaptive leadership model and the 4 dimensions of change readiness to address public health workforce issues, specifically focusing on staff morale. It also guides you through Kotter’s 8-step model to plan, implement, and sustain change within an organization.

Participants will learn about the following:

  1. Explain key elements of the adaptive leadership model.
  2. List the 4 dimensions of change readiness and list questions to be raised under each dimension.
  3. Describe how a planned change initiative can be implemented using Kotter’s 8-step model.
An Overview of the Policy Process in Public Health and the Need for Systems Thinking

Course Objective

  • Explain the role of policy engagement in public health
  • Describe how policy is understood in a Public Health 3.0 context
  • Define the role of a public health agency in policy making
  • List ways that systems thinking concepts and tools can strengthen the policy process
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Launch Date: June 30th, 2020

Presenter:
Sylvia Pirani, MPH, MS
Public Health Practice Consultant

Engaging in policy making is an essential activity of public health agencies and staff to achieve the goals of Public Health 3.0 and to work collaboratively to address the social determinants of health. This training provides an overview of the policy making process as defined by the Centers for Disease Control, draws on the COVID-19 and other complex public health problems to discuss the challenges commonly faced by public health agencies during this policy process, and makes the case for using a systems thinking approach to overcome these policy roadblocks and address unintended consequences.

Participants will learn about the following:

  1. Explain the role of policy engagement in public health
  2. Describe how policy is understood in a Public Health 3.0 context
  3. Define the role of a public health agency in policy making
  4. List ways that systems thinking concepts and tools can strengthen the policy process
Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and Drug Poisonings: What do we know? What do we need to know?
Pharmacists Looking at Medication

Course Objective

  • Define prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP)
  • List the measurement issues that arise when studying PDMPs and their effect on prescription opioid and heroin poisoning rates
  • Describe the evidence surrounding the effects of PDMPs on rates of nonfatal and fatal prescription opioid and heroin poisoning
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Date: December 4, 2018

Presenter:
Silvia Martins MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Magdalena Cerda, DrPH
Associate Professor, Department of Population Health
New York University School of Medicine

David Fink, MPhil, MPH
PhD Candidate, Epidemiology Department
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Participants learn from Dr. Silvia Martins, Dr. Magdalena Cerda and Dr. David Fink about the use of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) in the United States. First, Dr. David Fink provides an overview in current PDMP practices, explains the inconsistent evidence related to their success in reducing fatal and nonfatal prescription drug poisoning, and explores the unintended consequences of PDMP implementation such as increased heroin poisoning rates. Then, Dr. Cerda categorizes different PDMPs as proactive and reactive, then describes their research of PDMP implementation from 1999 to 2016. Lastly, Dr. Martins explains how proactive PDMPs–which proactively provide unsolicited information to PDMP users, provide open access to law enforcement, and require frequent data reporting–are less likely to be associated with increased in fatal heroin poisonings than reactive PDMPs.

Region 2 Public Health Training Center