At the Core of Care

In this compelling podcast episode, we are joined by guest Shukriyyah Mitchell Hinton, BSN, RN, the Senior Director of Outreach and Advocacy from the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC) who leads a poignant conversation with Saleemah McNeil, CLC, MS, MFT, and Imani Davis. Together, they delve into the systemic challenges facing Black maternal health in Philadelphia and beyond. From personal experiences to community initiatives, they explore the multifaceted efforts to address disparities through advocacy, education, and support. As they navigate through discussions on mental health, home visiting programs, and legislative advocacy, they bring light to the ongoing struggles for maternal health equity. Imani Davis is a lived experience expert and community specialist for organizations including Strategy Arts and Community Action Network (CAN). Saleemah McNeil is a reproductive psychotherapist and founder of the Oshun Family Center in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. This episode coincides with Black Maternal Health Week. To learn more about virtual and in-person events scheduled in Philadelphia, please visit bmhwphilly.org for more information.

Our partners at Obscured captured the insights of our distinguished panelists in two parts, each shedding light on the diverse facets of harm reduction and effective strategies for addressing trauma resulting from interactions with law enforcement. If you have not listened to Part 1, we recommend starting with that episode. Listen here! Continuing the dialogue in the second part of the panel discussion are moderators Stephanie Marudas from Kouvenda Media and Namaijah Faison, MPH from the Pennsylvania Action Coalition. Joining them is Talitha Smith, BSN, RN, a nurse navigator with the Allegheny Health Network’s Center for Inclusion Health Clinic, RIvER (Rethinking Incarceration and Empowering Recovery). Following Talitha, we delve into the experiences of Chad Bruckner, a retired police detective who now owns and oversees a private investigator firm, Intercounty Investigations & Solutions, Inc. and is a coach and recovery specialist. Wrapping up the discussion is Laurie A. Corbin, MSS, MLSP, who is the Managing Director for Community Engagement at Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC). She oversees a range of programs that provide social services, prevention, intervention, treatment, and education to at-risk individuals and their families.

In a special collaboration, the Pennsylvania Action Coalition joined forces with Kouvenda Media’s Obscured Journalism Initiative last year to host a thought-provoking panel discussion on law enforcement interactions within the community and the implementation of a harm reduction care model. Our partners at Obscured captured the insights of our distinguished panelists in two parts, each shedding light on the diverse facets of harm reduction and effective strategies for addressing trauma resulting from interactions with law enforcement. In this episode, we hear from Talitha Smith, a nurse navigator with the Allegheny Health Network’s Center for Inclusion Health Clinic, RIvER (Rethinking Incarceration and Empowering Recovery). Talitha shares her insights about harm reduction and her passion for RIvER’s unique programming, which rapidly, effectively, and compassionately addresses the health needs of individuals post-release from incarceration.  Following Talitha's insights, we delve into the experiences of Chad Bruckner, a retired police detective who now owns and oversees a private investigator firm and is a coach and recovery specialist. Closing the discussion is Laurie A. Corbin who is the Managing Director for Community Engagement at Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC). She oversees a range of programs that provide social services, prevention, intervention, treatment, and education to at-risk individuals and their families.

In this episode, we speak with Kim Trout, PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM, FAAN and Saumya Ayyagari, MSN, MPH about nurse-led research on the lived experiences of sex workers who identify as women and their healthcare needs. We also hear insights from Blue Laurano, a harm reduction professional and MPH candidate at Temple University. Trout and Ayyagari are two of the three researchers on the study, “In Our Own Voices: The Lived Experience of Sex Workers in Philadelphia who Identify as Women.” This study aimed to begin filling the gaps in our knowledge concerning how the lived experience of being a woman (i.e., a cisgender or transgender woman) sex worker affects her health, health preferences, health needs, and health care utilization.  Saumya Ayyagari is the Nursing Workforce Development Manager for the Pennsylvania Action Coalition. Prior to this, her nursing career focused on reproductive health and parental and child health. She is passionate about expanding access to health care in a manner that is empowering to communities. Dr. Trout is an Associate Professor at the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing at Villanova University where she conducts research on health promotion, health equity, and maternal morbidity reduction through nursing and midwifery care. Blue Laurano has worked in harm reduction for more than seven years. They are deeply committed to uplifting the voices of persons who use substances & educating people about the benefits of utilizing harm reduction in all spaces. They are currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health at Temple University. Trout and Ayyagari hope their findings will inform health care and public health professionals about how to improve health care services for sex workers who identify as women. Read their published research article here: In Our Own Voices: The Lived Experience of Sex Workers in Philadelphia who Identify as Women

In this episode, we are closing out our special vaccine confidence coverage with Letha Joseph, DNP, APRN, AGPCNP-BC and Adeline Kline, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, NCSN who are members of the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium’s Vaccine Confidence Advisory Committee. Kline and Joseph discuss the importance of relationship-building with community members to help promote health and wellness goals. Letha Joseph is a nurse practitioner from Durham, North Carolina. She is also the Director of the Geriatric and Extended Care Nurse Practitioner Residency program at the Durham VA Healthcare System and consulting associate at the Duke University School of Nursing. Adeline Kline is a family nurse practitioner and clinical educator for Hawai’i Keiki, which is a partnership between the University of Hawai’i Mānoa School of Nursing and the Hawai‘i Department of Education.

Our special vaccine confidence coverage continues as we discuss the latest vaccine confidence trends and lessons learned as we enter the third year of the COVID-19 public health emergency. In this episode, we speak to Monica J. Harmon, MSN, MPH, RN and Jayatri Das, Ph.D. about the role that non-traditional health settings and partnerships have played in recent years to promote vaccine confidence.   Harmon and Das have been involved in educational and public health outreach within the community since the beginning of the pandemic. Jayatri Das is the Chief Bioscientist at the Franklin Institute, a science museum in Philadelphia that leads education programming and research efforts. She is also the Executive Producer of the Franklin Institute’s So Curious! Podcast. Das has helped oversee the Franklin Institute’s involvement with a nationwide initiative called Communities for Immunity to help educate and engage the public during the pandemic. Monica J. Harmon is a public health nurse and holds various leadership roles. At Drexel University she is the Executive Director at the College of Nursing and Health Professions (CNHP) Community Wellness HUB in addition to being an assistant clinical professor. She is also the Interim CNHP Services Director at the Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services. Harmon serves as the Co-Chair for the Pennsylvania Action Coalition’s Nurse Diversity Council and is the chapter president of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Area Black Nurses Association (SEPABNA).

Our special vaccine confidence coverage continues as we discuss the latest vaccine confidence trends and lessons learned along the way. In this episode, Annette Gadegbeku, M.D joins us for a community-health focused conversation about her work and active role in various vaccination and testing initiatives that helped serve the community at Drexel University. She shares some of the key community health lessons learned after rolling out these initiatives specifically at the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships. Annette Gadegbeku is a family physician and holds various leadership roles at Drexel University in addition to being an associate professor. She is the Chief of the Division of Community Health in the Department of Family, Community, & Preventive Medicine, the Associate Dean for the Office of Community Health & Health Equity, and the Medical Director of the Healing Hurt People Program in the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice.

In 2021 we rolled out a six-part vaccine confidence series featuring nurse champions who shared their experience with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, addressing nursing burnout, and much more. We are continuing the conversation about vaccine confidence with a four-episode special focusing on vaccine confidence trends and lessons learned so far. In this episode we follow up with Melody Butler, who we previously talked to in 2021 from our first vaccine confidence series. She explains where we are in the pandemic and addresses the simultaneous surge of COVID, RSV, and the flu. Butler also shares her perspective on whether we are more prepared to prevent cases of infectious disease than in previous years. Melody Butler, BSN, RN, CIC is an Infection Preventionist at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center on Long Island and the founder of Nurses Who Vaccinate.

In this episode, we speak to Kathleen Metzker and Sara Reid about centering trauma literacy in the health center medical home and how health systems can cultivate trauma-aware practices as part of their delivery of care. Metzker and Reid are interviewed by Jillian Bird, Director of Training and Technical Assistance at the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium to support providers working at community health centers across the country.  Kathleen Metzker is the Director of Integrative Health and Mind Body Services at the Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University. In this multidisciplinary health care setting, more than 6,000 patients access a range of services, including: primary care, behavioral health, dental services, and health and wellness programs. Sara Reid is a health educator, support group facilitator and consumer board member for the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. She is a public speaker and delivers trainings on transgender priorities, including teaching medical and behavioral health providers how to provide gender-affirming healthcare. Support for this episode comes from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is part of an award totaling $550,000 with zero percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.

In this episode, we have a conversation with two community health professionals about the role community health centers play in addressing community violence. Cheryl Seay and Wayne Clark share how they are working to improve access to health care and reduce violence in their communities. Seay and Clark are interviewed by Jillian Bird, Director of Training and Technical Assistance at the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium to support providers working at community health centers across the country. Cheryl Seay is the Program Manager for the Center for Community Health Workers at Penn Medicine at Home and is the founder of the Jarrell Christopher Seay Love and Laughter Foundation, a nonprofit focused on addressing gun violence and community health. Wayne Clark is a Health Navigator at Roots Community Health Center, Inc. He is also the founder and executive director at Oakland Impact Center, which provides innovative counseling, mentoring, skill building, violence prevention training, and more. Support for this episode comes from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is part of an award totaling $550,000 with zero percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.

In recognition of November being National Diabetes Month, this episode is about equitable diabetes prevention services for special and vulnerable populations, specifically Pacific Islanders. We speak to Jen Lee from Atlanta, Georgia and Cecilia Sigrah from Kosrae, an island in the Federated States in Micronesia about the rollout of their Pacific Islander Diabetes Prevention Program (PI-DPP) – now entering its fifth year. Interviewed by Jillian Bird, Director of Training and Technical Assistance at the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium, Lee and Sigrah talk about PI-DPP and the outcomes of providing a tailored prevention program to the communities they serve.  Jen Lee is the Deputy Director for the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) and Cecilia Sigrah is the Operations Manager, Coordinator and Lifestyle Coach for the Kosrae Community Health Center. Support for this episode comes from the Health Resources and Services Administration (or HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (or HHS). It is part of an award totaling $550,000 with zero percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents of this podcast are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.

In this episode, we hear about the impact of chronic stress on personal and community health from two longtime community health professionals, Uzuri Pease-Greene and Jeneen Skinner. Interviewed by Jillian Bird, Director of Training and Technical Assistance at the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium, Pease-Greene and Skinner share their experiences working at the community level along with the lessons they have learned and the importance of trust to relationship building. Jeneen Skinner works in Camden, New Jersey and is the Senior Clinical Manager for care management initiatives for the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers and Uzuri Pease-Greene is the Executive Director of Community Awareness Resource Entity (C.A.R.E.) in San Francisco. To learn more about the issues discussed in this episode, check out a related training webinar available online: Chronic Stress, Housing, and Health: Patient Experiences and Strategies for Comprehensive Care.

This episode is part of an ongoing series about mental health integration services as part of the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium’s (NNCC's) work through the Philadelphia Nurse-Family Partnership and Mabel Morris Family Home Visiting Program. Home visiting nurses from at NNCC identified the growing demand for mental health care for clients. In response, NNCC onboarded two therapists to provide counseling directly to parents in the home visiting programs at no cost to the client. In this episode, we speak to two mothers currently receiving therapeutic services through the Joseph J. Peters Institute. Both mothers share their experience, including changes in how they view their role as a parent, learning to cope with childhood trauma, and the impact that access to therapy has made in their lives so far. *Content Warning: Child abuse is briefly discussed in this episode.

Currently, 26 states across the United States grant full practice authority for NPs, with Kansas and New York modernizing their laws most recently. In this episode, we hear more about how these two states moved towards full practice authority and what this could mean for other states, such as Pennsylvania, where reduced practice regulations exist. Joining us for this conversation are Pennsylvania State Senator Camera Bartolotta and Dr. Tay Kopanos. Topics covered include current obstacles to full practice authority and the future of primary care needs. Senator Camera Bartolotta is a Republican State Senator representing southwestern Pennsylvania’s 46th District. Dr. Tay Kopanos is a nurse practitioner and the Vice President of State Government Affairs for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.  In case you missed it, listen to Part 1 of our special coverage with Dr. Lynn Heard, a longtime nurse practitioner who has been unable to find new collaborative agreements with a physician for two years now. Two of her patients also share their perspective with us about the change in their primary care.  To learn more about full practice authority, listen to our previous episode, The Fight for Full Practice Authority in Pennsylvania, which features various NPs who are advocating for themselves and their patients.