Ph.D. program cohosts second annual PBRN Symposium
On Thursday, Oct. 27, WMU's Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences program cosponsored the Michigan Practice-Based Research Network Symposium with TrueNorth Community Services. The event was held at the Amway Grand Conference Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The 2015 symposium brought together state and national leaders in health care research, administration and education to discuss the current and emerging landscape of health care delivery in Michigan. The 2016 symposium was focused on self-sufficiency and workforce development in health care.
"Self-sufficiency in the delivery of health care is the ability of a household to consistently provide for their basic health care needs with improved efficiencies through better public-private partnerships that increase levels of economic and social value," said Kieran Fogarty, director of the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Ph.D. program at Western Michigan University. "We wanted to bring together thought leaders in these areas and discuss how universities, nonprofits and private groups can work together to address these common problems."
Presenters at the symposium spoke of innovative approaches that support vulnerable and disadvantaged people in their move from poverty to self-sufficiency. Keynote speakers included Nick Lyon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Mark Messonnier, senior economist in Population Health Workforce Branch at the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia.
Lyon spoke about the new initiatives at the state level that align with self-sufficiency efforts with private agencies and addressed using evidence-based practices that promote effective health care delivery systems throughout Michigan. Messonnier spoke about the future of workforce development to meet the changing health care needs of the nation. After the symposium, he stated “I was struck by how related all the presentations were. The notions of sustainability, self-sufficiency, serving one’s community, and evidence-based decision making were also strong throughout the day."
Federal policy analyst Kevin McGraff from Washington D.C. presented information about Assurance 16, a policy which encourages states to spend federal Block Grant money received in the Low Income Heat and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) on self-sufficiency services. In response, David Wingard, director of research and strategic development at TrueNorth Community Services presented the outcomes from their self-sufficiency rural heat and energy project which is now active in 63 counties throughout Michigan.
Lisa Brennan, executive director of the Western Regional Area Health Education Center, spoke about the Health Care Workforce Head Start program, a collaboration between AHEC and the College of Health and Human Services. The head start program offers high-achieving students from underrepresented areas in the AHEC catchment area an opportunity to earn 12 health care and human service credits at WMU during the summer before their freshman year.