Region IV Public Health Training Center

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on January 11, 2021. Training Overview Child sexual abuse prevention starts with knowledge and awareness of the problem. This webinar provides professionals who work with children and families with an overview of the issue as well as tools and strategies to create safer environments for children in both a professional and personal setting. The webinar will cover practical actions adults can take to reduce instances of child sexual abuse in their organizations, families, and communities, and will give participants information about evidence-informed training programs available to deepen knowledge and enhance skill building to prepare adults to speak up and prevent sex abuse. The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Trainer Tiffany Sawyer, Director of Prevention Services Tiffany Sawyer joined the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy as the Director of Prevention Services in 2006.  In her capacity at the Georgia Center, Tiffany oversees the Center’s statewide abuse and exploitation prevention initiative, which has trained over 150,000 adults.  Prior to her work in Georgia, Tiffany worked at Darkness to Light where she assisted in the creation of the Stewards of Children training curriculum and helped to launch the program on national and international levels.  She continues to serve as a curricula advisor and featured program expert for Darkness to Light through their Stewards of Children training video and other training modules. Sawyer served as the 2019 President of the National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and continues to serve on the Executive Committee.  She was appointed by Governor Nathan Deal in August 2014 to serve on the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel as the Prevention Specialist. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read more

Note: This is a recording of a lecture held on July 26, 2012. Training Overview Each year, billions of U.S. tax dollars are spent on research and hundreds of billions are spent on service delivery programs. However, relatively little is spent on, or known about, how best to ensure that the lessons learned from research inform and improve the quality of health and human services and the availability and utilization of evidence-based approaches. In the context of increased interest and investment in comparative effectiveness research that will help to determine the optimal and/or most cost-effective interventions to be used in clinical and community healthcare practice, it is essential that both clinical and public health practitioners are equipped with empirically-supported strategies to integrate scientific knowledge and effective interventions into everyday use. The National Institutes of Health have recognized that closing the gap between research discovery and program delivery is both a complex challenge and an absolute necessity if we are to ensure that all populations benefit from the Nation’s investments in new scientific discoveries. This lecture will focus on approaches to moving research into public health practice and policy. With an understanding of the importance of implementation science, challenges for improving efficient and meaningful translation will be discussed and dissemination and implementation frameworks will be highlighted along with examples and useful tools for both researchers and public health practitioners. The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Trainer Cynthia Vinson, MPA In her current position she works on building and sustaining the field of implementation science in order to enhance the integration of evidence-based guidelines, programs, and policies for cancer control in public health and clinical practice. She is responsible for working both within NCI and with other agencies and organizations at the international, national, state and local level to translate research funded by DCCPS into practice. In this capacity she has worked to develop and implement the Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T. (Plan, Link, Act, Network with Evidence-based Tools) web portal, the Research-tested Interventions Program website and the new Research to Reality community of practice in the US. Working collaboratively with the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer she has been able to facilitate the development of a Canadian version of the Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T.. Prior to her work at NCI she worked as a health education volunteer for the Peace Corps in Gabon, Central Africa. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read more

Note: This is a self-paced online course. Training Overview The ability to understand and use health information can significantly impact the health and well-being of communities. This module provides an overview of health literacy from the individual and organizational levels and introduces some techniques and tools to improve health literacy. The course contains three modules: the content module, a resources module, and an evaluation. After finishing all three modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. 30 minutes to complete. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Course Developers This course was developed by the Region IV Public Health Training Center at the Emory University Rollins Schools of Public Health. We would like to thank Cynthia Jorgensen, DrPH, Adjunct Professor at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health and former Associate Director for Communication Science for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for her contribution as the subject matter expert. We would like to thank Sheryl Golub, MPH and Tanya Hauth of Lexicon Strategies, for their contribution to the instructional design of this module.  This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read more

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on July 30, 2018. Training Overview This webinar is presented in partnership with the Georgia Society for Public Health Education (GASOPHE) and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD). More than ever, public health needs to clearly convey priority messages and policies to the public through mass media. This webinar will share concepts and tools that are useful whether you have a direct role in speaking to the media or assist public health teams that present priorities, talking points, and data to those directly representing public health in the media. The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Trainer John’s work has spanned nonprofits, government agencies and private business. Today, he leads the partnership and public affairs efforts of the NACDD, a 7,000 member public health nonprofit comprised of state and territorial health department employees working in prevention and control.    For the last four years, John has worked with CDC to scale and sustain the National Diabetes Prevention Program which has included work with media and technology companies to create disease prevention and awareness campaigns and tools.   He received his degree in Mass Communications from the University of Delaware, including media studies at the City of London Polytechnic.  He later completed a fellowship at the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C. and led his own communications and marketing firms for over 15 years. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read more

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on May 18, 2020. Training Overview Youth suicide in the United States is on the rise and suicide is a leading cause of death for this population. Youth suicide is a public health challenge and requires a comprehensive approach to address its multiple risk and protective factors. Strategies with the best available evidence to prevent suicide range from strengthening economic supports of families, to reducing access to lethal means among people at risk, to promoting connectedness, teaching coping and problem-solving skills, and identifying and supporting people at risk. The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Trainer Alex E. Crosby, MD, MPH Alex E. Crosby, was raised in Detroit, Michigan. He is the son of Emeral and Corene Crosby and is a husband and father of four children. He graduated with a BA in chemistry from Fisk University, an MD from Howard University's School of Medicine, and an MPH in health administration and management from Emory University's School of Public Health. He completed training programs in Family Medicine then General Preventive Medicine and Public Health and epidemiology. He has responded to numerous public health emergencies and led investigative teams, addressing adolescent suicide clusters, civil unrest, school-associated violence, sniper attacks, firearm-related injuries due to celebratory shooting, Hurricane Rita, and Ebola. He has authored or co-authored over 100 publications. His work as a medical epidemiologist focuses on prevention of suicidal behavior, child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, interpersonal violence among adolescents, and assault injuries among minorities. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read more

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on February 23, 2022. Training Overview Series Description: Systems problems, by definition, are complex and can seem impossible to tackle. However, there are tools and innovative approaches that might help public health professionals and partners make progress on these problems. Join us for a 3 part webinar series to learn tools and approaches for tackling large-scale community challenges, from maternal health to opioid overdoses. In the first webinar, we will cover stakeholder mapping and how understanding the whole ecosystem of players can help you decide who to include in co-creating solutions and what communications approaches to use. The second webinar will cover right-sizing your problem so that you can effectively approach and tackle it. Finally, building off the identified parts of the ecosystem, in the third webinar, we’ll journey map the current, as well as the ideal, situation. From there, we can look at the gaps between the two states and ideate possible solutions. These are interactive webinars in which learners will engage with the instructor and other participants.   Description of Webinar 3 (Journey Mapping): Now that we have a clear picture of what the problem is and who the problem affects, we are going to explore the weeds of it through journey mapping. This is done by walking through each step of the experience that accompanies your problem as it currently exists, paying particular attention to the pain points which can become opportunities. For example, you might consider the current experiences that community members have when trying to access fresh and healthy food in their neighborhood. The first step may be online research to find local, and affordable food sources. A pain point that could be identified is that people don’t know what to search or where to look. Using this same process, we will comparatively make an ideal experience, then contrast the two to identify possible solutions. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. CERTIFICATE:  The course contains two modules: a module to access the webinar and an evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard.   About the Trainer Meaghan Kennedy Meaghan’s experience intersects innovation, public health, and social entrepreneurship. After an epidemiology research career at CDC, she founded Orange Sparkle Ball, an innovation and impact consultancy that accelerates initiatives in the private and public sector and works with both domestic and global partners. With an acceleration methodology rooted in design thinking, Orange Sparkle Ball focuses on open innovation, innovation program design, social entrepreneurship and community activation. Meaghan has taught at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention. She has been a guest reviewer at Georgia Tech since 2007, a judge and mentor for the Global Social Venture Competition and Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA), a mentor for social entrepreneurs and is a frequently invited to speak on innovation and entrepreneurship. Sophie Becker Sophie is a design strategist who joined Orange Sparkle Ball after being a design apprentice at their sister organization, Spark Corps. She is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology with a BFA in Industrial Design and a minor in psychology. She focuses on strategy and communications for community networks and public health innovation projects. She has a particular interest in how design and innovation can drive progress addressing in systemic challenges, which a particular interest in housing and health. Previously she has worked as an industrial designer for a startup, a product designer at a traditional design agency, and a graphic designer at a corporate sustainable beauty company. Liris Berra Liris Berra is a Public Health Innovation Analyst who joined the Orange Sparkle Ball team through the Rollins Earn and Learn partnership with Rollins School of Public Health. She is a graduate of the University of Miami with a dual BS degree in Public Health and Elementary Education with minors in Psychology and Biology. As part of the Orange Sparkle Ball team, Liris works to develop public health communications, explores the intersection of implementation science, innovation, and design, and analyzes quantitative and qualitative data. Her previous work has been primarily in community-based settings, working as an educator, the social service sector, and with NGOs at the local level. Liris is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health and a certificate in the Social Determinants of Health. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read more