Tag: Opioid Epidemic

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

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

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.

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.
Region 2 Public Health Training Center