Applications Now Open: Faith Leaders for Life
Faith Leaders for Life is a free suicide prevention program for faith leaders and congregations in North Carolina. Through a combination of training, discussion, and collaboration, faith-based communities will be able to incorporate suicide prevention programming into their congregation’s activities resulting in increased awareness and identification of people at risk as well as a reduction of stigma around suicide.
Participants will be divided into two discussion groups, taking place on the following dates:
- Group 1: 5/24, 5/31, 6/7, 6/14, and 6/21
- Group 2: 7/12, 7/19, 7/26, 8/2, and 8/9
These groups will each complete a virtual five-week program: LivingWorks Faith. LivingWorks Faith is an online program designed for ministry leaders who want to learn more about preventing suicide, intervening in a crisis, and ministering to their congregations’ needs around suicide. Over a 5-week period, this initiative will include:
- A 5-hour online training course designed for Christian faith leaders
- Evidence-based curriculum
- Suicide care skills for prevention, intervention, and postvention in faith communities
- Insight, stories, and guidance from over a dozen faith leaders
- Simulations to help practice and retain your skills
Applicants should be leaders within their faith communities, which we broadly define as faith-based entities that hold regular worship services. Leaders may be in official or unofficial leadership positions, so long as their congregations would consider them leaders.
Applications for the Faith Leaders for Life program will be accepted through May 15. Apply at this link.
LivingWorks Start Training
Are you interested in receiving suicide prevention training? Do you want to know how to intervene with someone who is at risk for suicide? LivingWorks Start training is a gatekeeper training that teaches individuals to:
- Take notice of the warning signs of suicide
- Ask if someone is thinking about suicide
- State the seriousness of suicide
- Connect someone to care
Gatekeepers can be anyone who is able to help others access care or help. People of faith interact with diverse communities in their churches and organizations and are able to meet people in times of need, suffering, and crisis.
The LivingWorks Start training course is an online training that only takes 90 minutes to complete and has videos, practice sessions, and places to practice your intervention skills. You can start the course, save it, and stop to finish whenever you please. You have 60 days to complete your training. After completion, you will receive a certificate of completion to celebrate your new skills.
To sign up, email Abby Coffey (abigail.coffey@dhhs.nc.gov) and she will send you your training enrollment to access the course free of charge.
If you sign up for one of these courses please let them know you learned of the program from NCCUMC.
Medicaid Expansion UPDATE & the SAVE Act
On March 27, 2023, Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law Medicaid expansion for North Carolina after 13 years of debate. This makes North Carolina the 40th state to adopt Medicaid expansion.
While this is a big step forward toward Medicaid expansion, it is important to know that expansion is not a done deal. Funding the expansion is part of a comprehensive state budget bill. The budget is a two-year spending plan but also contains major policies. The earliest that this approval could come is April, but more likely, the state budget will be approved this summer, closer to the end of the current fiscal year on June 30th.
What can you do? You can educate yourself on and continue to advocate for Medicaid expansion to be included in the NC budget. You can help ensure that Medicaid expansion is not removed from the budget during upcoming budget negotiations. Keep advocating for Medicaid expansion until the budget is passed! Learn more at www.care4carolina.com.
COVID Update
In conversation with Dr. Wes Wallace, adjunct professor in emergency medicine at the UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, this month we learned that nationally, deaths from COVID are down to 166 per day as of the end of April. That is down 34% over the previous 2 weeks. Seniors continue to be the age demographic primarily hospitalized with COVID.
COVID transmission rates for the most part are on the decline. There remain some pockets of the country with high transmission rates but there is mostly a moderate level of transmission in North Carolina. Overall, hospital admission rates for COVID in NC are at their lowest level since May 15, 2022. It is encouraging to see COVID trending in a positive direction and there is strong indication that it will continue this way.
The FDA recently approved a second bivalent booster for at-risk persons. Adults over 75, adults over 65 with comorbidity (many folks over 65), and persons moderately or severely immunocompromised, including children down to 6 months of age, are eligible.
If you are eligible for the newly approved booster, Dr. Wallace recommends that you get your second bivalent booster, if your first bivalent booster was:
- 6+ months ago: consider getting a bivalent booster now.
- 4-6 months ago: schedule one but don’t rush to get the shot.
- Less than 4 months ago: wait but do not wait past May/June so you have enough time before the anticipated reformulated fall booster is available.
What can you do? Encourage seniors and others at risk to get the bivalent vaccine and the bivalent booster. Note that 90% of people in the hospital “for” or “with” COVID-19 DO NOT have a bivalent vaccine (i.e. fall 2022 booster). Remind those at risk to call their doctor early for a Paxlovid prescription if they catch COVID. Ask congregants to stay home (or at least wear a high-quality, well-fitting mask) if they developed cold-like symptoms.
Consider updating your church’s HVAC system. It might be much more affordable than you imagined. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a federal law that pays individuals, and groups to upgrade HVAC systems and take other actions that reduce CO2. In lieu of tax credits, this act pays 501(c)(3) organizations directly for certain installations. Learn more here: https://www.epa.gov/green-power-markets/inflation-reduction-act.
Health Checks at Annual Conference for Those Enrolled in Conference Health Insurance
Friday, June 16th from 6 am-10 am, Gallery Rooms 3 & 6 at the Greenville Convention Center
WHAT: The Blueprint For Wellness (BFW) health screening includes a blood draw and a few measurements such as blood pressure and waist circumference. This screening is open to enrollees (participants and spouses) on the conference’s active health insurance plans.
WHY: Attendees will receive:
- $100 in Pulse Cash in their Virgin Pulse well-being program. This incentive reward is redeemable as a transfer to your checking account or can be redeemed for gift cards, merchandise, or a charitable donation.
- Up to 140 Wellness Credits for achieving healthy results. Earn a total of 150 Wellness Credits before the end of the year and receive an additional $150 in Pulse Cash.
- Free, personalized, confidential data on 30 health factors that can be shared by the participant with their primary care provider. Healthcare providers have indicated that this valuable information supports them in creating an overall plan for the health of their patients.
- BONUS: This year’s results can be entered in the Virgin Pulse Health Check. When participants and their covered spouses take the Health Check, they avoid a higher deductible in 2024. Plus, you’ll have a baseline for next year’s BFW screening.
HOW TO REGISTER: Registration is strongly recommended. Walk-ins are very limited. Register by June 2 in either of these ways:
- Log in to your Virgin Pulse account and find Quest Blueprint for Wellness Screening under the “Benefits” tab or through Benefits Access (for participants) under the “Well-Being” tab.
- Call Quest Diagnostics at 1-855-623-9355. Employer group = HealthFlex or United Methodist Church
ALTERNATIVES: If you can’t attend the BFW event, you can complete the BFW at a Quest Diagnostics facility or via Self-Collection Kit, or with a Physician Results Form. The deadline for completing both the BFW and the Virgin Pulse Health Check is August 31.
In the next update: Conference Health Team offerings at Annual Conference 2023.