Resources by Health Topic

Aging

• Cognitive Assessment Toolkit
  Identify cognitive impairment in its early stages with the Cognitive Assessment Toolkit. Healthcare providers across specialties and practice settings will find the resources and develop skills they need to conduct cognitive assessments.
• “Vital Minds” Podcast
  The PA Foundation addresses the topic of aging in several episodes of its “Vital Minds” podcast.

• • Episode 6 – Older Adult Flu Prevention
  • Episode 15 – Meeting a Growing Need: PAs in Palliative Care
  • Episode 25 – Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Importance of Early Screening and Intervention
  • Episode 29 – Health Equity in Aging

Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder (SUD)

• Benzodiazepines: Uses, Dangers, and Clinical Considerations
  This self-paced virtual seminar for PA students was designed to supplement established PA school curriculum and enhance learning on substance use disorder (SUD), with a specific focus on safe prescribing of benzodiazepines.
• Preventing Prescription Opioid Misuse in Special Patient Populations
  This curriculum focuses on preventing prescription opioid misuse in special patient populations. With mounting evidence about the pathways to prescription opioid misuse, we focus on introducing students and professionals to the subtleties of opioid misuse prevention in the following patient populations:
  • Patients in the LGBTQ+ community
  • Youth and young adult surgical patients
  • Palliative and hospice care patients
  • Pain patients in opioid use disorder (OUD) recovery
• Addressing Pain Management Via Telemedicine
  This curriculum focuses on providing a foundation for PA students and other pre-prescribers to navigate pain management in a world that relies increasingly on telemedicine. The training offered through this program will highlight the subtleties of working with pain patients through telemedicine, with an emphasis on mental health, and preventing the abuse and misuse of prescription opioids.
• Preventing Prescription Opioid Misuse
  Combating today’s opioid epidemic is not just about treating addiction. Prevention is the first step in ensuring the safety of your patients and reducing our nation’s overdose death rate. This course was designed to help prepare future prescribers to safely and effectively address patient needs through the use of opioids and/or other treatment modalities.
• Preparing to Address Substance Use Disorder in Practice: A PA Student Guide
  The PA Foundation has free online resources for PA students based on the PA Student SUD Symposium at AAPA 2019. The online guide includes five videos from sessions recorded at the symposium, as well as a comprehensive resource section for those wishing to pursue additional training or learn more about SUD prevention, treatment, and recovery.
• Video: Shutting Down Stigma Against SUD
  
  
  People with substance use disorder (SUD) face stigma on many fronts – from themselves, their loved ones, and even their medical providers. Research shows that clinicians do often have biases against patients with addiction. When patients feel stigmatized, they may avoid seeking treatment or disregard clinician recommendations and experience worse outcomes. Learn steps clinicians can take to become advocates for patients with SUD. Brought to you by the PA Foundation with support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network Dissemination Initiative.
• Mental Health Outreach Fellowship
  The goal of the MHFA program is to improve the mental health knowledge and skills of the U.S. public in an effort to prepare individuals to recognize and respond to signs of early-stage mental illness and mental health crisis, offer and provide initial help, and guide a person toward appropriate professional support.
• Allied Against Opioid Abuse
  AAOA is a partner-based educational initiative founded by the Healthcare Distribution Alliance to prevent prescription opioid misuse. The PA Foundation has joined with other leading partners to arm healthcare providers, patients and their families with resources to help prevent old or unused prescriptions from ending up in the wrong hands.
• “Vital Minds” Podcast
  The PA Foundation addresses the topics of mental health and SUD in several episodes of its “Vital Minds” podcast.
  • Episode 2 – Mood Disorders and Depression
  • Episode 4 – Mental Health First Aid
  • Episode 7 – Opioid and Alcohol Use Disorder
  • Episode 10 – Addressing Addiction in PA Practice
  • Episode 12 – Tackling Opioid Use Disorder in the Hospital Setting
  • Episode 14 – Beyond the Baby Blues: Addressing Postpartum Depression
  • Episode 18 – Preventing Prescription Opioid Misuse
  • Episode 20 – Telemedicine, Treating Pain, and the Prescription Decision
  • Episode 23 –
    Telemedicine: The Importance of Addressing Mental Health
  • Episode 26 – The Role of Peer Support Specialists in Preventing Prescription Opioid Misuse

   

• AAPA National Health Priority Toolkit: Behavioral and Mental Health
  Behavioral and mental health is one of four National Health Priorities targeted as part of a national movement for healthier bodies and minds.
• Other Resources
  • SUD
    • National Institute on Drug Abuse
    • SAMHSA Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit
    • SAMHSA TIP 63 Part 2: Addressing Opioid Use Disorder in General Medical Settings
    • Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association – Guidelines for Medication for Addiction Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder within the Emergency Department
    • Adolescent Substance Use Screening Tools

Nutrition

• Nutrition Outreach Fellowship & Materials
  The Nutrition Outreach fellowship began in 2020 as an opportunity for PAs to receive special training and resources on nutrition to both enhance their clinical practice and to give back to their healthcare peers and the community at large.
• Nutrition Guidance: Dairy Foods for Your Growing Family
  This one-page educational resource, “Dairy Foods for Your Growing Family,” was reviewed by Matthew Wright, PA-C, RD, and developed in partnership with the California Milk Advisory Board. PAs are encouraged to use it as an educational tool to help patients and families understand the role dairy plays in daily diet and eating patterns across life stages, for family members of all ages.
• “Vital Minds” Podcast
  The PA Foundation addresses the topic of nutrition in several episodes of its “Vital Minds” podcast.
  • Episode 3 – Oral Health
  • Episode 5 – Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease
  • Episode 9 – Diet Dialogue: Approaching Patient Conversations Using National Nutrition Data
  • Episode 13 – Food for Thought: Reframing Nutrition with Patients
  • Episode 24 – Addressing Food Allergy: Working with Patients and Caregivers
• AAPA National Health Priority Toolkit: Nutrition
  Nutrition is one of four National Health Priorities targeted as part of a national movement for healthier bodies and minds.

Other Topics

• All of Us Research Program
  AAPA and the PA Foundation are partnering with the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program to raise awareness about the importance of participation in research. All of Us is seeking one million or more individuals from across the U.S. who have been excluded from past biomedical research to participate in creating a robust and diverse data resource. Scientists and medical researchers with access to the data can use it to understand more about why people get sick or stay healthy.
• Flu Vaccine: The More You Know
  

Podcast

Access previous episodes of our Vital Minds podcast and supplemental resources here.