Harm Reduction and Trauma-Informed Care in the Treatment of Infectious Disease

Sponsor: NH Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselors Association

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A 3-Hour Training Event with David de Gijsel, MD, MSc, MPH, Antonia Altomare, DO, MPH, Erin Miers, PsyD, Solomon Hallal, MA, LICSW, Dr. Anais Ovalle, and 2 guest panelists

PRESENTATIONS:

Simplified Hepatitis C Treatment- Treat All, Cure All with David de Gijsel, MD, MSc, MPH. (10am-10:45am) Treatment of hepatitis C has been simplified and guidelines recommend treating everyone. Treatment of people who use drugs has been shown to be effective. The biggest obstacle to eliminating hepatitis C is lack of testing and linkage to care – an area very suited to behavioral interventions.

Objectives:

• To learn about the simplified treatment guidelines for hepatitis C

• To review outcomes of hepatitis C treatment of people who use drugs

• To understand barriers to care and the role of behavioral experts to overcome those

Caring for People on the Edge with Erin Miers, PsyD & Solomon Hallal, MA, LICSW. (11am-11:45am) Solomon and Erin will be presenting a brief overview of trauma specifically relevant to the prevalence of trauma for the LGBTQIA2S+ community. They will present and discuss the concept of marginalized identities and the role that marginalization has in reproducing stigma and trauma. Solomon and Erin will also be discussing ways that stigma informs cultural ideas about what is aberrant behavior, and will provide strategies for navigating therapeutic work with patients from the LGBTQIA2S+ community who have experienced trauma.

Objectives:

• Identify at least two trauma informed care strategies that can be utilized with LGBTQIA2S+ patients

• Identify two ways we can identify risk for people coming from marginalized populations

• Identify at least one way that stigma impacts care for LGBTQIA2S+ patients and how trauma informed care can help mitigate that discrepancy.

Integrating Harm Reduction into Medical Care with David de Gijsel, MD, MSc, MPH. (1pm-1:45pm) Centering medical and behavioral care on the priorities and aims of an individual improve outcomes, builds trust and increases satisfaction. We will apply harm reduction principles to examples of routine medical care.

Objectives:

• To review principles of harm reduction

• To apply these principles to instances of medical care

• To appreciate the role of behavioral therapists in promoting patient-centered medical care

Patient Panel moderated by Erin Miers, PsyD. (2pm-2:45pm) Two panelests will join us and speak about their lived experience dealing with these topics.

PRESENTERS:

David de Gijsel, MD, MSc, MPH (he/him) works on the intersection of poverty and health. Currently, he focuses on the infectious complications of injection drug use, specifically on new care models for the integrated treatment of hepatitis C in people who inject drugs. Throughout his career, he has been involved in global health education and service delivery in various African countries. David hails from the Netherlands, where he completed medical school at the University of Amsterdam. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY. He stayed at Montefiore as an internist for several years before spending two years in Kigali, Rwanda, teaching Rwandan medical students and residents through the Human Resources for Health Program. Upon his return to the US, he came to Dartmouth-Hitchcock for a fellowship in Infectious Disease and a residency in Leadership Preventive Medicine, combined with an MPH at The Dartmouth Institute. David holds appointments as Assistant Professor at the Geisel School of Medicine and at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice. He is a staff physician in the Section of Infectious Disease & International Health at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the Medical Director at Better Life Partners, a community-based substance use disorder treatment provider.

Antonia Altomare, DO, MPH is an Infectious Disease physician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Dr. Altomare is the Program Director for the Ryan White Part D HIV Program at DHMC. She completed her medical school training at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and residencies in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine, as well as a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at DHMC. Additionally, she has a Masters of Public Health from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice. Her primary research interests are clinical quality improvement particularly within HIV care. Additionally, she treats everything from general infectious diseases to immunocompromised hosts, with an interest in HIV and STIs.

Dr. Erin Miers, PsyD is a clinical psychologist who has been with the Dartmouth-Hitchcock HIV Program since 2017. Prior to that she worked with high risk youth both in private settings, at community mental health, and in schools. She obtained her PsyD in 2015 from California School of Professional Psychology in San Francisco. She has been trained in a variety of trauma focused therapies, including: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and EMDR. Erin has a passion for social justice and helping others; she works on a variety of committees to help make New Hampshire a better place for everyone. She has a wide variety of research interests including the intersectionality of gender identity and autism spectrum disorder, the impact of stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV, and the impact of burnout on mental health care providers. Erin considers it a privilege to work with the DH HIV Program and to provide care for her patients.

Solomon Hallal, MA, LICSW (they/them) is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW), Instructor of Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, and Behavioral Health Consultant to the Infectious Disease and Moms in Recovery Programs. In addition to holding an MSW from Smith College School for Social Work, Solomon holds an MA in Gender and Cultural Studies from Simmons College in Boston. Prior to working at Dartmouth, Solomon was a mental health provider and clinical supervisor for the State of Vermont’s Department of Corrections’ southern facilities, and specialized in working to make so-called men’s correctional facilities safer for trans* women. Solomon’s current research interests are around the mental health impacts of the HIV/COVID syndemic as experienced by individuals who survived the AIDS epidemic and are currently living through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Solomon Hallal, MA, LICSW (they/them) is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW), Instructor of Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, and Behavioral Health Consultant to the Infectious Disease and Moms in Recovery Programs. In addition to holding an MSW from Smith College School for Social Work, Solomon holds an MA in Gender and Cultural Studies from Simmons College in Boston. Prior to working at Dartmouth, Solomon was a mental health provider and clinical supervisor for the State of Vermont’s Department of Corrections’ southern facilities, and specialized in working to make so-called men’s correctional facilities safer for trans* women. Solomon’s current research interests are around the mental health impacts of the HIV/COVID syndemic as experienced by individuals who survived the AIDS epidemic and are currently living through the COVID-19 pandemic.

New England AIDS Education and Training Center

The New England AIDS Education and Training Center (NEAETC), established in 1988, is part of the AIDS Education and Training Center Program funded by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and is sponsored regionally by the Department of Family Medicine & Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

NEAETC’s goal is to provide education and clinical training for health care providers to diagnose, counsel and care for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, as well as to promote HIV prevention. The project serves Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. NEAETC offers programs in collaboration with community health centers, Ryan White affiliates, hospitals and medical centers, state and local health departments, AIDS service organizations, medical, nursing, dental and osteopathic schools, and other community agencies.

NEAETC trains nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, dentists as well as other health care providers. NEAETC offers multiple educational opportunities including clinical consultation and skills building and offers continuing education credits (CEU and CME) for many events. NEAETC’s programs enhance competency in HIV prevention and care, improving services for people with HIV.

www.NEAETC.ORG

Event Details