Keynote by Dr. April Alexander

Dr. Alexander gave the keynote presentation touching on the main conference topics of resiliency for youth and adults as well as how to work toward health equity. She built on themes from her research as well as her advocacy work as part of Black Lives Matter 5280. This keynote set the tone of the conference and gave context to the overall theme of Collective Resilience and Renewed Focus on Equity.

Changing Public Policy for SBHCs & Youth: Legislative Updates

Participants learned about the work CASBHC did at the state Capitol this year to advance beneficial public policies for SBHCs and youth as well as federally in partnership with other state associations and School-Based Health Alliance. The session included some takeaways for SBHCs to understand about Colorado law changes and how it impacts their clinics as well as some planning for engagement with their legislators in the summer & fall to work toward more momentum in the 2022 legislative session.
• Aubrey Hill, MPP, Executive Director, CASBHC

Planting the Seed: Meeting Young People at the Intersection of Individual & Environmental Influences on Behavioral Health

Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is an evidence-based strategy for preventing, identifying, and addressing substance use in adolescents and adults. SBIRT for adolescents is recommended by the American Association of Pediatrics and is emerging as an effective strategy for addressing substance use with young people. Brief interventions utilize motivational interviewing (MI), a communication style that guides and engages individuals in strength-based conversations about behavior change. MI reinforces individual autonomy, a characteristic that is especially important for young people who are beginning to recognize their ability to be the agents of change in their own lives. Utilizing MI during a brief intervention provides an avenue to explore the social determinants of behavior, motivation, and empowerment in a young person’s life. This presentation provided participants with an opportunity to gain a basic understanding of SBIRT as well as explicit and implicit factors related to youth substance use. Participants had opportunities to practice motivational interviewing skills and other appropriate engagement strategies while navigating scenarios created to demonstrate the complexities of brief interventions with young people.
• Adam Musielewicz, MPA, SBIRT Practice Facilitator, Peer Assistance Services
• Giana Calabrese, MPH, SBIRT Program Coordinator, Peer Assistance Services

​

Improving Population Health: A Comprehensive School District-Based Care Delivery Model

The presentation from the Children’s Health team provided a detailed and comprehensive approach of how telehealth and population focused programming has expanded the Network of Care delivery to increase access to care in the Dallas metroplex. The team shared how the program can be replicated for other health care institutions to implement in their community. The audience walked away with the following session objectives (1) Applied Resilience in adapting to community health needs during a pandemic; (2) Providing an ongoing and robust approach to managing public health within the school setting; (3) Demonstrating successful outcomes in community-based health services.
• Karen Kaighan, MSN, MPH, Director, School Health Programs, Children’s Health System of Texas
• Danielle Beal, MSCP, Operations Manager, School Health Programs, Children’s Health System of Texas
• Jason Isham, MSCP, Director, Integrated Behavioral Health, Children’s Health System of Texas

​

Quality Improvement: Staff Support & Youth Engagement

Quality Improvement (QI) is one of the pillars of sustainability for School-Based Health Centers and has been a requested topic from many sites. During this session, attendees learned about data collection tools and workflows that could help them understand how to develop and manage QI projects while supporting staff and including youth voice/perspectives in the process.
• Maureen Daly, MD, MPH – SBHC & Quality Improvement Consultant, CDPHE and Clinical Consultant for Apex Evaluation
• Taylor Miranda Thompson, MPH – Senior Quality Initiatives Manager, Colorado Community Health Network
• Cristina Bejarano, MPH – Director of Engagement, Colorado Association for School-Based Health Care

​

Resources for SBHCs to Reintegrate Dental Health Services Amid COVID-19 Challenges

As consultants of the Delta Dental grant received by CASBHC, the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine was tasked to advance preventive oral health practices among school-based health centers (SBHCs) by supporting them in re-integrating existing dental practices that were suspended during COVID-19 lockdowns and advancing to the next level of preventative dental care. Participating SBHCs were brought together to take part in a needs assessment to understand oral health services that were halted or decreased because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This needs assessment revealed the desire for resources, recorded video and written documents, enhanced preventive services including oral health screenings, fluoride varnish, oral health education, school sealants, tele-dentistry, and more to increase the impact on overall student oral health.
• Tamanna Tiwari, DDS, MPH – Assistant Professor, University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine
• Deidre Callanan, RDH, D.C., MPC – Assistant Professor, University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine
• Gilbert Fru – 2nd year dental student & 1st year MPH student, University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine
• Jacqueline Merz – 2nd year dental student & 1st year MPH student, University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine

​