New Releases 
2021 NCLHDA Annual Survey – DEADLINE EXTENDED until June 7
Thank you to everyone who has taken their time to respond to the NCLHDA Annual Survey. We have extended the deadline until Monday, June 7 for anyone who has not yet completed their response. We will share the results of the survey during the July 29 (10-11:30 a.m.) webinar. See details below in the Key Dates section of these highlights.
Closing Soon! NCLHDA Quality Improvement Design Team
Applications accepted until June 4
The NCLHDA Program and Population Health Improvement Partners are recruiting four Local Health Departments to participate in a six-month long collaborative design team to develop and test quality improvement-related activities. The design team will include three staff from each health department. The team will meet from July-December, with an expected average time commitment of three hours a month. This includes time for meetings and completing activities. Health departments will receive a $1,500 stipend for their participation. Applicants need to have support from their Health Director, a commitment to quality improvement, and excitement for new ideas. Learn more about the opportunity.
Apply by June 4!
The 2022 HDSAI Interpretation Document is now available for review
The revised HDSAI was released on April 22 but will not go into effect until January 1, 2022. The revisions are being posted this spring to provide an opportunity for local health department staff to review and become familiar with the changes before they go into effect on January 1, 2022.
The May 20 webinar took a deep dive into the changes that were made through the revision process. The recording of the webinar is now posted. We encourage everyone who was not able to attend the webinar to view the recording.
If you see any changes that need to be made in the 2022 HDSAI Interpretation Document, please email us at NCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu.
2020-2021 Webinar Series
Audience Participation: Engaging health department staff and partners in Accreditation
We will be releasing the new Why Accreditation Matters communications campaign. The webinar will go through all of the resources that are available to support accreditation among local health department staff, local, state and regional leaders and community members. We will also be unveiling the revisions to the NCLHDA Training webpage and a new on-demand training on the HDSAI Interpretation document. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Register.
See the Key Dates section of these Highlights for the full listing of upcoming webinars.
View the recording of the May 20 webinar, Reading the Script and Learning the Line: A Deep Dive into the HDSAI Interpretation Document Revisions on our website.
Accreditation in Action
Bi-Annual Dashboard Webinar Update
There were two questions posed during the spring Bi-Annual Dashboard Webinar that were not answered during the webinar. The questions and the responses are listed below.
Question: If a user is deleted from the dashboard, will their activity history remain in the dashboard?
Answer: No. However, if you want the history to remain, you have two options to keep a user’s
history in the dashboard once they are removed as being a user:
1. Inactivate the User. Email Fred at VMSG (fred@kca-inc.com) and tell him you have a user that you want to move to Inactive. Once a user is moved to inactive status, they are no longer have access to the dashboard and are no longer using one of you allotted user licenses, but their history will remain in the dashboard.
2. Overwrite the User. You can overwrite a user by opening the user information for the user that will no longer be using the dashboard and add the new user who is taking their place. All of the assignments/history of the previous user will go to the new user.
Question: How can you download a document to make changes and upload it back to the dashboard without making it a new document?
Answer:
1. Download the document
2. Make the edit
3. Save the document as the EXACT same file name (sometimes MS adds a (1) or (2), etc. behind the document name – make sure this does not happen)
4. When you are ready to add the document back to the dashboard, click the copy button (see the pink highlight in the box below) and follow the prompts – this will upload the document as a new version.
COVID-19 Guide – Share what you are using for evidence!
This is definitely a time for us to pull together and support each other by sharing plans for accreditation moving forward. One way the NCLHDA Program wants to help is by compiling the ways that local health departments are using their response to COVID-19 to meet accreditation activity requirements in the COVID-19 Response Guide. We have started but really need to hear from you! Please share examples of how you are using your agencies response to COVID-19 meet accreditation activities so that your colleagues can learn from your experience. We would like to post the updated guide by July 1, 2021. If you have any examples, please send them to NCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu by COB on June 25. Thank you in advance!
Key Dates
June 17 from 10—11:30 a.m., Audience Participation: Engaging health department staff and partners in Accreditation. Webinar. We will be releasing the new Why Accreditation Matters communication campaign. The webinar will go through all of the resources that are available to support accreditation among local health department staff, local, state and regional leaders and community members. We will also be unveiling the revisions to the NCLHD Accreditation training webpage and a new on-demand training on the HDSAI Interpretation document revisions. There is no cost to attend; however, registration is required. Register.
July 29 from 10 –13:30 a.m. NCLHD Accreditation Program Updates. Webinar. The NCLHD Accreditation Program will be releasing its strategic plan, sharing the results of the annual survey, and providing next steps for the program overall. There is no cost to attend, however, registration is required. Register.
Tips and Tricks for Accreditation Success: Stories from the Field
Provide Health Promotion/Disease Prevention for the General Population: Rowan County Health Department
The Rowan County Health Department takes a collaborative approach with their community`s Post Overdose Response Team (PORT) project. In Rowan County, unintentional overdose deaths have more than tripled from 2001 to 2016. The Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) gives emergency medical care and ongoing support to help opioid overdose survivors in their journey to becoming drug-free.
The Rowan County Health Department in collaboration with Rowan County Emergency Medical Services and the Center for Prevention Services have partnered to establish a Post Overdose Repose Ream (PORT) that will intervene directly in affected communities to provide outreach and support. The team will assist both active users, and those further along in the recovery process, by providing peer counseling, group therapy and other support.
The PORT comprises a Certified Peer Support Specialist, a Harm Reduction Advocate, and Community Paramedic who reach out and will try to connect identified individuals to the available services, treatment and resources in the county with 48-72 hours after contact.
PORT clients will be invited to participate in the support group meetings and training offered through the Health Department with the intention to prevent and minimize repeat overdoses. PORT members will make attempts to engage the family members and/or significant others of the overdose survivors to achieve greater impact.
For more information contact: Vera Avery, vera.avery@rowancountync.gov
We want to hear from you
Share your tips and tricks for accreditation success with other local health departments across the state. If you have a tip or trick that you would like to share, send a summary – no more than 500 words – including the activity addressed and any lessons learned. Please send your submission to NCLHDaccreditation@unc.edu. Stories will be shared via these monthly highlights