TB Notes Newsletter
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No. 4, 2006
TB Education and Training Network
Updates
Member Highlight
Ann Poole, RN, is a Nurse Consultant with the Georgia
Department of Human Resources, Division of Public
Health. “Way back in the 1970s, I went to nursing school
at a 2-year community college while working full-time
and adapting to marriage. That was an education in
itself! Since then I have attended a multitude of
continuing education courses covering nursing, TB,
computers, accounting, and numerous other subjects,” Ann
relates.
Ann’s job responsibilities include educating health
care providers and others regarding program policies,
procedures, and services to promote coordination of TB
program services; planning, coordinating, and
implementing TB educational and training programs for
public and private health care sectors; and monitoring
district programs and private and public sector entities
for compliance with state and/or federal TB guidelines
through data collection and on-site quality assurance
visits.
Ann learned about TB ETN very soon after starting
with the state program in 2001, when the first TB ETN
conference was held. “I think each state could only send
a couple of people, but since it was held in Atlanta, we
rotated our staff so we each could attend a portion of
it. I have attended every TB ETN conference since then
because I have learned so much valuable information
about educating the public and providers about TB!” Ann
commented.
Ann joined TB ETN to share ideas, strategies, and
resources with others in the United States and
internationally who are doing the same types of things
that she is doing in her state. She is also a member of
one of the TB ETN subcommittees. She has been on the
Communications and Membership subcommittee during
2005–2006, and will serve as co-chair with David Oeser
from Missouri for 2006–2007. Ann joined this committee
to promote the organization to others in the health
education and medical fields.
In the next couple of years, Ann would like to see
the membership expand in regard to staff of correctional
settings. She would also like to see more of the current
members become actively involved on one of the
subcommittees, and added that “this organization is a
reflection of the wealth of knowledge and diversity of
its members.”
Ann’s most recent training/education accomplishment
was “Put the Cuffs on TB,” a conference held in Georgia.
The goal of this conference was to open a dialogue
between persons working in public health, in
correctional systems (state, county, and city) and in
private practice in order to increase collaboration and
continuity of care for their shared TB clients. “We
would have been pleased if 25–30 had shown up. Instead,
we had 100 excited participants attend,” she related.
“Due to the tremendous feedback on this conference, we
are planning another one for later in the fall.” She
added that another correctional training session would
be held in January 2007.
She and her coworkers also have an ongoing “TB Update
and Skin Test Certification Workshop” that is
standardizing the knowledge and technique of TST
administration, reading, and interpretation in Georgia.
They have also provided statewide annual TB/HIV
conferences and “Saturday Clinicians Update” conferences
to keep their providers knowledgeable about current TB
treatment.
Ann is also a grandmother of three active grandsons,
and showing them the excitement and joy in life takes up
most of her free time. When time allows, Ann also enjoys
painting, using the computer, and learning new things.
If you’d like to join Ann as a TB ETN member and take
advantage of all TB ETN has to offer, please send an
e-mail to tbetn@cdc.gov
requesting a TB ETN registration form.
You can also send a request by fax to (404) 639-8960
or by mail to:
TB ETN, CEBSB,
Division of Tuberculosis Elimination,
CDC, 1600 Clifton Rd., N.E., MS E10,
Atlanta, Georgia 30333. Please visit
TB Education and Training Network.
—Reported by Regina Bess
Div of TB Elimination
Sixth Annual Conference Highlights
TB Education and Training Network (TB ETN) members
gathered August 15–17 in Atlanta for their sixth annual
conference. The conference focused on the four elements
of the systematic health education process: planning,
developing, implementing, and evaluating TB educational
materials and training programs. The meeting also
emphasized skill-building sessions and networking
activities. The title of this year’s conference was “TB
Training and Education Magic: Tricks of the Trade.” The
theme of magic was woven into the titles and content of
the presentations, and reflected in the wardrobes of
several of the presenters.
 The
182 participants attended both plenary sessions and
breakout workshops designed to enhance skill building.
Sue Etkind, Director of the Division of Tuberculosis
Prevention and Control at the Massachusetts Department
of Public Health, dressed in a wizard’s gown and hat,
delivered a rousing key note address. Titled “Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Do you have the
vision?” the presentation focused on ensuring that
education and training are essential parts of a TB
control program. To that end, she posed four questions
that educators and trainers must answer:
- Where does education and training fit into your
TB program’s organization?
- How do you make education and training part of
your organization’s mind set?
- What does education and training contribute to
TB program evaluation efforts? and
- How can education and training contribute to the
TB program’s strategic plan?
Workshops during the conference included using social
marketing principles to plan training and education
activities, focusing health promotion materials on
specific target audiences, using innovative approaches
to train trainers, and using evaluation to plan and
improve TB training.
 To
showcase projects from local areas, the conference
featured poster sessions and an educational materials
display; 34 poster abstracts were accepted for poster
presentations. Chosen for oral poster presentations were
“Staff Training Sessions for the Implementation of
Revised TB Prevention and Control Guidelines for
Canadian Federal Correctional Facilities,” presented by
Linette McElroy; “Developing a Targeted Educational
Message on a Shoestring Budget: The Making of a Local TB
Video Using Patients, Staff, and Community Partners,”
presented by Alisa Haushalter; and “Raising Awareness of
TB in African-American Communities on Chicago’s South
Side,” presented by Pamela Lamptey.
 Participants
from Canada, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and
New York shared materials developed in their programs at
the educational materials display. Also displaying
materials were staff of DTBE, the National TB
Controllers Association, the Francis J. Curry National
Tuberculosis Center, the Heartland National Tuberculosis
Center, the Northeastern Regional Training and Medical
Consultation Consortium, the Southeastern National
Tuberculosis Center, the National Prevention Information
Network, VersaPharm, and Cellistis.
Conference participants enjoyed the opportunity to
network at an evening social get-together sponsored by
Translation Plus, VersaPharm, Celestis, and Quest
Medical Staffing. During the social, participants were
treated to a special performance by Atlanta magician
Tommy Johns.
An initial look at the overall conference evaluations
and comments from participants were very positive, with
more than 90% of the evaluations reporting that
participants agreed or strongly agreed that the
conference goal and objectives met their needs as
educators and trainers.
TB
Education and Training Network.
—Submitted by Scott McCoy, M.Ed.
Div of TB Elimination
Cultural Competency Subcommittee
The membership of the Cultural Competency
Subcommittee has increased to over 80 individuals who
are active members of the TB Education and Training
Network (TB ETN). The main goal of the subcommittee is
to promote cultural competency among members of TB ETN.
Providing resources for members and sharing information
during conference calls is one of the ways that the
subcommittee supports its members.
As a result of the needs assessment that was
conducted at the 2005 TB ETN conference in Atlanta, the
subcommittee decided to focus on marketing the
Cultural Competency Resource List
(PDF), originally developed in 2001. An ad hoc
workgroup of subcommittee members came together to
create a cover for the resource document. They submitted
several colorful designs for the cover, and the selected
design was used on the resource document that was
included in the TB ETN conference binder. This list is
updated annually by the subcommittee, with additional
resources being identified and included. There are over
100 organizations included on the updated list, ranging
from associations, government agencies, and research
centers to cross-cultural service providers. Almost all
organizations have Internet websites, thus the
information referenced is readily available. The
subcommittee members have reviewed each listing and
written a brief description, and have updated the
contact information for each resource. However,
inclusion on the list does not imply endorsement by the
subcommittee. An ongoing subcommittee workgroup is
attempting to make the list more user-friendly for its
intended audiences.
Another current priority project is a review of the
CDC Ethnographic Guides for TB programs. Bill Bower,
co-chair of the subcommittee, coordinated the review
teams for each guide as it was released for comments
prior to final publication by CDC. Eight subcommittee
members reviewed the Mexican guide and provided comments
and feedback on evaluation forms developed by CDC. At a
later date, five members provided review and comments on
the Vietnamese guide. Most recently, members reviewed
the Somali guide and were able to recruit Somalians to
provide their unique perspectives as well. Additional
members have volunteered to provide feedback on the
upcoming Hmong and Chinese guides.
The subcommittee welcomes a new co-chair, Ms.
Kristina Watkins, MPH. Kristina is a Training Specialist
with the Southeastern National TB Center in Gainesville,
Florida. She has been an invaluable addition to the
subcommittee and has a wealth of experience in providing
training and education materials for the 13
jurisdictions within her region. Kristina graduated from
the University of Michigan School of Public Health and
studied abroad in Santiago, Chile. Both she and Bill
Bower, who continues as co-chair for a second year, are
fluent in Spanish.
The subcommittee solicited additional input from new
members attending the 2006 TB ETN conference for its
needs assessment process. This will help define projects
that the subcommittee can address in the future.
—Submitted by Margaret Rohter, MPH
Suburban Cook County TB Sanitarium District
Co-chair 2004-06, TB ETN Cultural Competency
Subcommittee
Cultural Competency Quotes
“Cultural competence has thus evolved from the
making of assumptions about patients on the basis of
their background to the implementation of the principles
of patient-centered care, including exploration,
empathy, and responsiveness to patients’ needs, values,
and preferences. Culturally competent providers expand
this repertoire to include skills that are especially
useful in cross-cultural interactions.”
“Cultural competence has emerged as an important
goal for very practical reasons. As the United States
becomes more diverse, clinicians will increasingly see
patients with a broad range of perspectives regarding
health. Patients may present their symptoms quite
differently from what we learned in our textbooks, they
may have different expectations or thresholds for
seeking care, and their beliefs will influence whether
or not they follow our recommendations.”
“Cultural competence is not a panacea that will
single-handedly improve health outcomes and eliminate
disparities, but a necessary set of skills for
physicians who wish to deliver high-quality care to all
patients. If we accept this premise, we will see
cultural competence as a movement that is not marginal,
but mainstream.”
—Excerpts from “Cultural Competence-Marginal or
Mainstream Movement?” by Joseph R. Betancourt, M.D.,
M.P.H. Published in New England Journal of Medicine
351:10, September 2, 2004. |
