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http://tinyurl.com/eb9jybcy Diseases of Despair, with the complex mix of substance use, opioid use, mental health issues, suicidality, and related life challenges represent a growing epidemic in the U.S. In my book, Building Communities of Hope, I try to tackle this issue head on in a number of chapters.  Diseases of Despair In 2019, the Deputy

What builds hope in a community?  Difficult question. There are many things that, working together, build hope in a community over time. My recent book, Building Communities of Hope, shares dozens of stories and research about successful practices in community building.  This work takes time, because there are large trends and structural issues that impact

Hope in these times? When everything seems to be difficult? Yes, though it can be hard. As we look at the history of humankind, we find eras of peace and prosperity, destabilizing times, ages of dissention and violence, and periods of transition where everything seems a bit cattywampus and not quite right. We’re in one

This is a time of year when there’s a strong focus on families, celebration, gratitude and hope. We also are living with the war in Ukraine, political discord, layoffs, social inequities and the rising cost of living. For the majority, there will be the difficult work of watching our budgets. However, for too many people,

The Center for Health Innovation (CHI) is the NM Public Health Agency and serves as the lead agency for the HRSA Rural Network Development grant. Susan Wilger and I developed the proposal which was funded by HRSA as a planning grant and Joan Goldsworthy Appel and I have led the planning process with four NM

The Medicare Suite of Services is a term I’ve coined to describe a cluster of services to older adult patients that FQHCs provide that meet the needs of an aging population in a way that addresses priorities identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). These high priority services are meant to help older

In 2017, I wrote an article about healthcare staffing shortages in New Mexico, based upon what we knew then, five years ago. Since then, I’ve been involved in many projects and written multiple reports about this issue. It’s a lot worse now. New Mexico’s healthcare shortages are more severe than many other areas of the

There is a trend to bring many health care and social services closer to, or back into our communities. Many health care professionals, researchers, and people on the street are finding that health care works best when it is locally rooted, with services that are easily accessible in or near our communities. Big Trends Shaping Community

How sustainable is your organization? Do you know where you have your greatest organizational strengths and assets?  Are you aware of your risks, and how to minimize them? And, do you have a roadmap for building your sustainability? Building sustainability is critical in today’s challenging fiscal, programmatic and public policy environments. This article will provide