Presenter: Rebecca Adkins Fletcher, Ph.D. (she/her)
Associate Professor, Department of Appalachian Studies; Assistant Director, Center for Appalachian Studies & Services; Director, Governor's School for Tennessee History and Environmental Studies; Co-Editor, Appalachian Places: Stories from the Highlands Magazine, East Tennessee State University

Dr. Fletcher will discuss place-based approaches, including syndemics, bright spots, and vital places, to explore models of addressing SDOH. A syndemic approach emphasizes understanding the how diseases and their underlying social, economic, and environmental drivers affect health. Bright Spots are communities or regions that demonstrate better-than-expected health outcomes despite their resources and other impactful characteristics.  Vital Places are community spaces that support health, such as healthy food sources, recreational facilities, and gathering spaces. 

Session 1: Unraveling the Web: Strategies for Navigating Healthcare-related Mis/disinformation in the Social Media Era.

This session will describe a successful community outreach effort founded in 2021 with funding from the *Tennessee Department of Health and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Presenter: Melissa J. Geist, EdD, MSN, PPCNP-BC, FNP-BC, Professor of Nursing, Whitson-Hester School of Nursing, Board Certified Family and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Tennessee Tech University

Session 2:Un-Natural Supports: The Familial Responsibility in a Complex Healthcare System

This session will explore the lived experience of parenting a child with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Tennessee, with a focus on how families manage care within a complex and often fragmented healthcare system.

Presenters: Chrissy Hood- Peer Support Coordinator, Family Voices of Tennessee;

Tonya Bowman, M.S.- Family Resource Specialist, Family Voices of Tennessee

Session 3:

This session will
Presenter:

Session 4:

This session will
Presenter:

BACKGROUND:   Current efforts in Washington to reduce federal spending on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and other agencies that work in partnership with states to promote health and welfare could have significant consequences for state budgets and for services directed at underserved communities. This panel will focus on the projected changes in the federal budget and how those will impact state investments in TennCare, Cover Kids, the Adult Health and Mental Health Safety Net programs, rural health infrastructure and other public health programs. Panelists will also discuss how advocacy efforts can be targeted to minimize the impact of federal cuts on Tennessee communities.

PANELISTS:

• Mandy Spears, Executive Vice President/Deputy Director, The Sycamore Institute
• State Senator Jeff Yarbro, Democrat, Senate Health Committee member
• State Representative Renea Jones, Republican, House Insurance Committee member

MODERATOR:  Carole R. Myers PhD, RN, FAAN, Senior Fellow at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University and Professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville