More Learning Opportunities in December bridging to 2026

Posted by Cecilia Vernes on November 25th, 2025 Posted in: Blog, CHES Credit, Education and Outreach, NNLM Class, PHDL Resources, Public Health

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Below are the upcoming webinars and classes that may interest you or your public health colleagues.

Empathy Lens: Humanizing Images & Education for Reducing Stigma Against People Who Use Drugs

December 4  2:00 ET/ 1:00 CT/ Noon MT/ 11:00 PT/ 9:00 AKT/ 8:00 HT

This session will explore how stigma in both language and visuals fuels discrimination and exclusion in health information about drug use, while sharing practical strategies for selecting non-stigmatizing, accurate, and inclusive materials for outreach, education, and advocacy. The presenters will share their work on the Empathy Lens project (EmpathyLens.org), a free online library of compassionate, realistic images captured at harm reduction and treatment organizations across Washington State.

Short video for a preview of what will be discussed: NNLM Discovery | The Empathy Lens Project on Vimeo

CHES CE: Yes

Effective Health Communication and Health Literacy: Understanding the Connection 

December 10  2:00 ET/ 1:00 CT/ Noon MT/ 11:00 PT/ 9:00 AKT/ 8:00 HT

This webinar introduces the concepts of health literacy and health communication, outlines components of clear health communication, and identifies online resources from NLM, government agencies and other recognized resources for health literacy and health communication.

CHES CE: Yes

 Connecting Older Adults to Health Information

December 11 12 – 1:30 ET/ 11-12:30 CT/ 10-11:30 MT/ 9-10:30 PT/ 7-8:30 ATK/ 6-7:30 HT

This 90-minute webinar covers websites and data sources to help you respond to requests for health information from and about older adults, as well as covering programming ideas to address the health information needs of older adults.

Sites we’ll explore include MedlinePlus, PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, the National Institute on Aging, County Health Rankings, and the Congressional District Health Dashboard.

CHES CE: Yes

Getting Started with PolicyMap 

December 11  3:00 ET/ 2:00 CT/ 1:00 MT/ Noon PT/ 10:00 AKT/ 9:00 HT

As PolicyMap is included in the PHDL collection, this session will cover basic processes for using PolicyMap and creating maps with the thousands of data indicators available from PolicyMap.

This session is specifically created for Public Health Digital Library members. If you are not part of the program, feel free to attend. However, know that the focus will be on the staff whose organizations are members. Please access https://www.nnlm.gov/membership/phdl to verify membership.

Dr. Jazmyne McNeese, the Senior Data Services Analyst at PolicyMap, will be presenting.

CHES CE:  No

Improving Cancer Care for Rural Communities, a three-part series

Part 1:

Addressing Rural Cancer Care Through a Network Model

Access the webpage via the link to access the recording from the webinar.

Rural cancer care presents unique challenges for health professionals, including limited access to oncology specialists, fragmented care coordination, and a lack of infrastructure to support evidence-based treatment and quality monitoring. These barriers contribute to significant disparities in cancer outcomes for rural populations. To address these gaps, the Iowa Cancer Affiliate Network (I-CAN) offers a novel, collaborative model that strengthens rural hospitals’ capacity to deliver high-quality cancer care. By adapting a network-based framework, I-CAN enhances multidisciplinary coordination, supports the implementation of evidence-based standards, and improves adherence to treatment quality measures. This webinar will explore the structure and function of I-CAN, including implementation strategies, evaluation methods, and early outcomes. Attendees will gain insights into how this scalable model can transform cancer care delivery in rural regions across the U.S.

Guest Speaker: Aaron Seaman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine- General Internal Medicine, University of Iowa

Part 2:

Implementing Scalable Exercise Interventions to Address Supportive Care Disparities in Rural Cancer Survivors

January 6, 2026: 2:00 ET/ 1:00 CT/ Noon MT/ 11:00 PT/ 9:00 AKT/ 8:00 HT

Cancer survivors in rural areas face unique challenges in accessing supportive care, including structured exercise programs that are proven to improve physical function, mental health, and quality of life. Dr. Jess Gorzelitz leads research focused on implementing and evaluating a distance-based, strength-focused exercise intervention tailored for older, rural cancer survivors. Leveraging the Iowa Cancer Affiliate Network (I-CAN), this webinar will describe existing disparities in access to exercise oncology resources and the use of remote exercise programs to inform long-term behavior change. This webinar will explore how scalable, evidence-based exercise interventions can be integrated into survivorship care to address disparities and improve outcomes for rural cancer populations.

Guest speaker: Jessica Susan Gorzelitz, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor of Health Promotion
Department of Health and Human Physiology  & Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Iowa

CHES CE: No

Part 3:

A Provider’s Perspective on Building High Quality Cancer Care Programs in Rural Areas

March 3, 2026: 2:00 ET/ 1:00 CT/ Noon MT/ 11:00 PT/ 9:00 AKT/ 8:00 HT

Rural community hospitals are a critical source of cancer care for patients in their catchment area. In the midst of resource constraints and competing priorities, rural hospitals often must be strategic and innovative in their pursuit to provide quality comprehensive cancer care. When Dr. Kollmorgen came on as Medical Director of Oncology Services at Mahaska Hospital in Oskaloosa, Iowa, he saw an opportunity to bring his expertise as a surgical oncologist and experience with CoC accreditation to bear on developing their cancer program. As part of this work, Mahaska has become a member of the Iowa Cancer Affiliate Network (I-CAN), where Kollmorgen and colleagues find support and resources from the I-CAN team and other affiliate members. In this webinar, he will discuss what it’s like to work as a surgical oncologist and medical director at Mahaska Hospital, the challenges of cancer care in rural areas, strategies for building a culture of quality improvement, and how the relationship with I-CAN has supported their work.

Guest speaker: Daniel Kollmorgen, MD, FACS

CHES CE: No

Many public health professionals are members of the TRAIN Learning Network. You will find public health-related classes from NNLM in the TRAIN Course Catalog.  Search using ‘NNLM’.  Classes include online and on-demand offerings.

 

 

 

We also post classes on the PHDL Learning Calendar available from your PHDL Page.

 

 

 

 

 

See you in class!