Association of Health Care Journalists

The State of Oral Health: Increasing Access & Reducing Disparities
2021-11-09 01:00 (America/New_York)
Nov. 9, 20211-2 p.m. ET
NIHCM Foundation
An estimated 80 million Americans currently lack access to dental care. As oral health is essential to the overall health and well-being of an individual, the high volume of those without access can have potentially devastating health consequences such as an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, chronic diseases, diabetes, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Three main barriers to accessing dental care include coverage, provider shortages, and cultural barriers to oral health. In this webinar, we will hear from leaders in the field of oral health who are working to reduce disparities in access to and quality of care.
Speakers will discuss:

Federal initiatives to reduce health disparities and advance oral health equity, while furthering oral health in pediatric populations

A health plan foundation’s investment, in collaboration with the Duke Endowment, to improve oral health in the Carolinas, including in rural communities and school-based programs

Interprofessional approaches to integrate oral health into education and care delivery models

Register & Join Here

The Summit on Mental Health
2021-11-08 01:00 - 2021-11-12 00:59
Anxiety and depression increased among Americans during the pandemic, especially among Black and Asian people. Substance use disorders and overdoses also increased. This layered crisis has exposed problems that existed before the pandemic and spotlighted them for journalists across the country.

AHCJ’s first multi-day gathering focused entirely on mental and behavioral health, hosted by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will explore many aspects of mental health, in the context of the pandemic and aside from it. Experts from major health care providers, public health entities, research institutions and nonprofits will speak at this four-day event, culminating in a “big picture” keynote with global mental health innovator Dr. Vikram Patel.

Spotlight Speakers

The case for a global mental health solution (and the U.S. role in achieving it) with Dr. Vikram Patel

Our collective trauma: A conversation with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk

The Mental Health Justice Act: A Q&A with U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Orange County, Calif.)

Multiple aspects of mental health will be explored in sessions on:

Mental health in communities and what advocates are doing to improve it

The impact of the pandemic on teen substance use

What the pandemic taught us about the importance of social connectedness among the aging

How the conversation has changed about kids’ access to mental health services

The mental health/physical impact of COVID-19 on nurses

What’s happening in maternal mental health

What journalists should know about reporting on suicide

How to untangle the complicated roots of vaccine hesitancy

How mental health/substance use care is being provided in primary care settings

What educators and researchers are learning about building resilience in physicians

The promise and limitations of telehealth, apps and mental health technology

How psychedelics and MDMA are being used in treatment.

Check this page for updates and additions to the program as they are finalized.

Host

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Sponsors

The Commonwealth Fund

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

2021 Global Conference on Health and Climate Change
2021-11-06 01:00 - 2021-11-07 01:00
2021 Global Conference on Health and Climate Change, November 6-7, 2021 Glasgow

A Conversation with Admiral Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health
2021-11-04 01:00
When/Where: 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET, Thursday, Nov. 4 (Virtual)
Description: This is an online on-the-record briefing for reporters with Admiral Rachel Levine, M.D., assistant secretary for health for the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The Alliance for Health Policy will host the briefing for credentialed reporters and Alliance President and CEO Sarah J. Dash will moderate. Go to the organization’s website to register.

State Health Officials Discuss COVID-19 Pfizer Vaccine Approval for Children and J&J/Moderna Booster
2021-11-04 01:00
When: 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021 (Virtual)
The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) will convene public health leaders to discuss how states will work to vaccinate the children ages 5-11, ongoing efforts to address vaccine hesitancy and health equity, how states are working to administer booster shots to J&J and Moderna recipients and more. Speakers who will be available to talk to the media include: ASTHO President director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Nirav Shah, M.D., J.D.; chief medical officer for the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Anne Zink M.D., F.A.C.E.P; Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health Jose Romero, M.D., a pediatrician; as well as Director of the District of Columbia Department of Health LaQuandra Nesbitt, M.D., M.P.H.
Go to the organization’s website to register.

Obesity in America: A Dire Health Equity Crisis
2021-11-03 01:00
Obesity is one of the direst health equity issues impacting the Black community, especially amid the rising Delta variant. Nearly half of Black Americans are living with obesity, one of the leading comorbidities for severe cases of COVID-19. In fact, 78% of people who were hospitalized, placed on a ventilator or died from COVID-19 were overweight or suffered from obesity. Yet, outdated Medicare rules block access to safe and effective treatment options and perpetuate dangerous and discriminatory stigmas. Congress must act now to modernize policies and provide obesity care to those who need it most.
When/Where: 7:00 PM EST, Nov 3, 2021 (Virtual)
Go to this website to register.

American Medical Informatics Association annual meeting
2021-10-30 01:00
October 30 — AMIA 2021 Annual Symposium, San Diego

The annual meeting of the American Medical Informatics Association for health care informatics professionals will be a hybrid of some live events in San Diego and some live-streamed sessions. For press registration, contact Lisa Gibson at lisa@amia.org or 301-657-5909.

Debating COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters
2021-10-29 01:00
Debating COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters: Public Health Strategy in a Shifting Landscape
Friday, October 29, 2021 Noon – 1:30 p.m. Central time
Hosted by the University of Minnesota’s Consortium on Law & Values in Health, Environment & Life Sciences
Public health authorities in the U.S. are analyzing data on the long-term effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and debating the need for vaccine booster shots. This webinar will bring together experts in public health with different points of view. They will consider recommendations from the CDC that some populations receive a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine booster, the potential necessity for Moderna and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine boosters, and vaccination of children. Panelists include: Eric Topol, MD, Director & Founder, Scripps Research Translational Institute, Sarah S. Long, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Drexel University College of Medicine, Yvonne Maldonado, MD, Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Stanford University School of Medicine. Moderated by: Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), University of Minnesota.
Register here: https://umn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bqoTYud7wsyWxOC

Health Journalism 2021 postponed
2021-10-28 01:00 - 2021-10-31 01:00
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AHCJ staff have been monitoring the emergence and spread of the Delta variant closely over the last few weeks. With the guidance of the board of directors, we have made the difficult decision to once again postpone our in-person annual conference scheduled for October 28-31 in Austin. While we were planning to offer some conference sessions virtually, recent COVID-19 developments have made it unwise to ask our members to travel for an in-person meeting.
A little over a month ago we were optimistic about vaccinations and excited to gather in person, and we had great planning meetings on-site in Austin just a few weeks ago. We are still committed to bringing the annual conference to Austin and are working hard to find appropriate dates to gather in 2022.
Continue reading →

Photo: Rob Stalnaker via Flickr

Call for ideas
AHCJ is gathering ideas for conference workshops and panels. Please submit suggestions before March 19.
Click here for your opportunity to submit ideas for consideration.

Sponsorship team

Hosts
University of Texas Dell Medical School
Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
St. David’s Foundation
Arnold Ventures

Endowing sponsors
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Sponsors
The Commonwealth Fund
Episcopal Health Foundation
The Kresge Foundation
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The John A. Hartford Foundation
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
New York State Health Foundation
Health Care Foundation of Western & Central New York
California Health Care Foundation
Missouri Foundation for Health
Colorado Health Foundation
Rhode Island Foundation
The JAMA Network
Millbank Memorial Fund
Burroughs Wellcome Fund

Online master class in outlining and structure
2021-10-28 01:00
Oct. 28, 9:30-11:30 a.m. EST
Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) is holding an online two-hour master class for its members on how to create a story outline, highlighting both story structure and framing. Instructor Matt Apuzzo from The New York Times will discuss common writing pitfalls, plus offer tips for seamless editing. The cost to attend this member-only event is $35.

Virtual PitchFest
2021-10-27 01:00 - 2021-10-28 01:00
Editors from some of the top magazines and newspapers are going virtual to meet you! Bring your best ideas to the AHCJ Virtual PitchFest.
This session has been created to give you an opportunity to pitch your ideas virtually one-on-one with editors from selected publications.
To participate, you will register for three time slots with the editors of your choosing and pay a flat fee of $45, nonrefundable. Appointment times will be available on Oct.15, noon ET.
At noon ET, Oct. 21, if we have Virtual PitchFest editor spots available, even if you have already selected three appointments, we will open the remaining spots until filled.
Learn more about the Virtual Freelance PitchFest and the editors who will be participating.

Transformational New Approaches to Mental Illness
2021-10-26 01:00
Our Aggressive Plan to Fast Track New Therapies for Depression, PTSD, Schizophrenia and More
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Tuesday, October 26, 2021 10:00-11:00 AM EST
Psychiatric disorders are among the most devastating of human diseases, making up about one-third of the global burden of disease. Here at Mount Sinai and The Friedman Brain Institute we understand it is imperative to further research needed to treat and support the patients and their families affected by these debilitating disorders. Please join us to learn about how our four new centers are conducting novel research for urgently needed therapies and are revolutionizing the way mental illness is treated.

The Jeff and Lisa Blau Adolescent Consultation Center for Resilience and Treatment

Center for Computational Psychiatry

Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research

Center for Affective Neuroscience

Please RSVP by Friday, October 22nd. Please submit any questions you would like our panelists to address and we will do our best to get them answered.
Register here
Upon RSVP’ing you will receive Zoom information

Leading Age Annual Meeting Expo
2021-10-24 01:00 - 2021-10-27 01:00
October 24 – 27 (in person)

Leading Age Annual Meeting Expo ”¨ Atlanta, GA”¨

LeadingAge represents more than 5,000 nonprofit aging service providers, including nursing homes, assisted living and other long-term care entities, with a focus on research, advocacy, education, and community-building.

For press registration, contact Lisa Sanders at lsanders@leadingage.org.

Meet AHCJ President Felice Freyer
2021-10-21 01:00
Thursday, Oct. 21, 7-8 p.m. ET
Join fellow AHCJ members in welcoming new AHCJ President Felice J. Freyer. Two, one hour sessions will be offered for our members.
Bring your questions, goals, and vision for the future of AHCJ and let’s get to work.
Join Zoom Meeting

PitchFest Perfect: How to give your best pitch on Zoom
2021-10-21 01:00
Oct. 21, 1 p.m. ET
On October 27-28, freelancers will participate in a virtual version of our popular PitchFest, where they will have a few minutes to meet editors and present ideas.
In this preparatory Zoom panel, two editors — Ingrid Wickelgren of Spectrum and Kyung Song of WebMD — and journalist Laura Beil will offer advice on how to make the best use of those virtual one-on-one meetings and walk away with assignments.
Panelists will share insights about how to frame a pitch that editors want. Should you pitch about COVID, or not? How much time should you spend explaining your background and experience? How much detail do editors want about ideas? How should you follow up?
Bring your questions to the webcast, and we’ll answer them. Moderated by Michele Cohen Marill of the freelance committee.
View the recording

Global Fact 8: International fact-checking conference
2021-10-20 01:00 - 2021-10-23 01:00
The International Fact-Checking Network at the Poynter Institute is hosting a conference on fact-checking worldwide. Each day of the summit will feature seven hours of sessions to inspire lively discussions of the important role facts play in society. More than 70 speakers will discuss the fight against misinformation, especially during the pandemic, and what should be done in order to protect people from harmful misinformation. Those expected to speak include fact-checkers in countries around the world including officials from the World Health Organization, who will discuss their collaborative efforts in vaccine safety communication with the fact-checking community. The International Fact-Checking Network’s Director Baybars Orsek will facilitate a conversation to discuss the third-party fact-checking program with participants from Facebook about its five-year fact-check program; and former Buzzfeed News duo Craig Silverman (ProPublica) and Jane Lytvynenko (Shorenstein Center) will offer an extensive and updated training session for fact-checkers.
Learn more about the agenda and register online.

Advancing NIH Research on the Health of Women: A 2021 Conference
2021-10-20 01:00
In response to a congressional request to address NIH efforts related to women’s health research, the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), in conjunction with the Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health (ACRWH), will be hosting Advancing NIH Research on the Health of Women: A 2021 Conference. The key topics to be discussed, as identified by Congress, are (1) clinical practices related to rising maternal morbidity and mortality rates; (2) increasing rates of chronic debilitating conditions in women; and (3) stagnant cervical cancer survival rates. Learn more about these issues here.
Read the welcome letter here and view the agenda here.
Date: October 20, 2021; 9:00am – 4:30pm EDT
How to Attend:
Register here.
Find more information about the event here.

World Osteoporosis Day
2021-10-20 01:00
World Osteoporosis Day

One in three women and one in five men 50 years and older around the world will suffer an osteoporotic fracture, potentially leading to chronic pain and long-term disability. This observance from the International Osteoporosis Foundation is designed to raise awareness of maintaining bone health and preventing fractures.

Children and COVID-19: A Virtual Conversation with Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, Mayo Clinic
2021-10-20 01:00
Nipunie Rajapakse, MD, is a pediatric infectious diseases physician at Mayo Clinic.

Check the organization’s website for registration details.

JAWS annual Conference And Mentoring Program
2021-10-15 01:00 - 2021-10-17 01:00
At this year’s Journalism and Women Symposium’s annual Conference And Mentoring Program (CAMP), journalists will find inspiring speakers, training to further careers, educational panels and networking opportunities.
“Panels will explore misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories; newsroom leaders, racial inequities and DEI action; climate change embedded into beats; health inequity, online harassment and more,” according to the organization’s website.
Training will focus on “freelance editing; SPJ’s Google News Initiative and Facebook for Journalists; career pivots for all ages and career pivots after 60; overseas reporting – and, yes, more!”
Organization: Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS), which “brings together working journalists, journalism educators and researchers from across the country to share resources, support, training and information about issues that affect women in our field,” according to its website.
Dates: Oct. 15-17
Where: Online
Price: $99 for members and $120 for non-members
For information: https://tinyurl.com/5jnv356h
Registration: https://www.betterunite.com/jaws-jawscamp2021

Meet AHCJ President Felice Freyer
2021-10-15 01:00
Friday, Oct. 15, noon-1 p.m. ET
Join fellow AHCJ members in welcoming new AHCJ President Felice J. Freyer. Two, one hour sessions will be offered for our members.
Bring your questions, goals, and vision for the future of AHCJ and let’s get to work.
Join Zoom Meeting

Reaching the Vaccine Hesitant Young
2021-10-14 01:00
Thursday Oct. 14, 2021, 1-2 PM EDT
Virtual Panel Discussion, hosted by the Pulizer Center and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Nearly 25 percent of young people are hesitant to get vaccinated putting them at risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Hear three panelists discuss: How can public health officials reach adolescents and young adults? What messages on social media and elsewhere resonate with them? How are journalists reaching younger audiences? Speakers include Caleb Hellerman, medical journalist and director of Race for the Vaccine, Janet Tobias, executive producer of Race for the Vaccine, Rupali Limaye, director of behavioral and implementation science, International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Nick Moran, associate director of audience development at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
To register click here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_e3N21hX9THuwLXko9VJlnw

A Virtual Conversation with Nancy Segal, author of Deliberately Divided
2021-10-14 01:00
Nancy Segal’s book takes the first in-depth look at the New York City adoption agency that separated twins and triplets in the 1960s, and the controversial and disturbing study that tracked the children’s development while never telling their adoptive parents that they were raising a “singleton twin.” A professor of psychology at California State University, Fullerton, she will also talk about the film Three Identical Strangers, which told this story.

Visit the organization’s website to register.

On the Front Lines: Health Care Reporting in a Pandemic
2021-10-13 01:00
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 • 6 – 8 p.m.
Virtual Event
(Zoom link provided in confirmation email after registration)
Join health care reporters from around the country as they discuss their experiences covering the pandemic, and how it has changed health care journalism.
Register online

Author explains how to push back on high health care costs
2021-10-12 01:00
Recorded Oct. 12, 1 p.m. ET
This past summer, Penguin Random House published Marshall Allen’s book, “Never Pay the First Bill,” promoting it as “the guerilla guide to health care the American people and employers need.” On Tuesday, Oct. 12, Allen will explain why he wrote this important consumer guide to the high and rising costs of health care and outline the steps journalists and patients can follow to push back.
View the webcast

Marshall Allen is the author of “Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win.” A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and recipient of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, Allen spent 15 years investigating the health care system as a journalist, including a decade as a reporter for ProPublica. He has also taught investigative reporting for more than a decade. He now works for the Office of the Inspector General for HHS and runs the Allen Health Academy to help boost the health care literacy of working Americans.

Joseph Burns is the health reform topic leader for the Association of Health Care Journalists who writes about efforts to make the nation’s health care system more equitable and affordable for all and how health systems and health insurers can reduce costs and improve patient outcomes. He has written for The New York Times, Hospitals & Health Networks, Managed Healthcare Executive, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Business Coalition on Health, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and the National Quality Forum, among others.

Marshall Allen

Joseph Burns

Long Haulers and COVID-19: A Virtual Conversation with Dr. Greg Vanichkachorn, Mayo Clinic
2021-10-05 01:00
7:00 p.m. EST, October 05, 2021 (virtual)
Greg Vanichkachorn, M.D., M.P.H., is an occupational medicine specialist who works with post-COVID-19-syndrome patients at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Check the organization’s website to register.

A Conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Fowler of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
2021-10-04 01:00
12:00 p.m. EST, Tuesday, Oct. 5 (virtual)
During this exclusive on-the-record briefing, Elizabeth Fowler, director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will provide opening remarks and respond to audience questions.
Check the organization’s website to register.

Yale Law School’s “Access & Accountability 2021: Seize the Day”
2021-10-01 01:00 - 2021-10-02 01:00
The issue of censorship through federal government and other public information officers will be one of the main topics at Yale Law School’s “Access & Accountability 2021: Seize the Day” conference on October 1-2 via Zoom.
https://law.yale.edu/isp/initiatives/floyd-abrams-institute-freedom-expression/access-accountability-conferences/aac-2021
A session called “Censorship by PIO” at 9:45 a.m. EST on Oct. 2 will address the CDC and issues of particular relevance for health care reporters.
The opening speaker for the conference is Floyd Abrams, who won the landmark Pentagon Papers Supreme Court case.
The conference is free, open to the public and on Zoom. However, registration is required at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/access-and-accountability-2021-tickets-166964773131

Stopping the Next One: How two journalists covered the race to prevent the next pandemic
2021-09-29 01:00
Fall 2021 Smith/Patterson Science Journalism Lecture
6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29Smith Forum, 200 RJISimultaneously live-streaming on the J School Facebook page
Journalists Harriet Constable and Jacob Kushner will discuss their six-part multimedia series for BBC, “Stopping the Next One,” which explores six diseases that could cause the next global pandemic and the scientists working to keep that from happening. Their stories cover a bat-borne virus in Asia, a super-spreader mosquito that has crossed from India to North America, African camels carrying Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), swine flu in Europe, monkeys with yellow fever in South America, and possums carrying flesh-eating bacteria in Australia.
“The time to stop the next pandemic is now,” Kushner said. “As journalists, it’s our job to lead the way toward a solution by highlighting the public policies governments can enact to enable scientists to discover future, pandemic-possible diseases — before it’s too late.”
“I hope the audience comes away seeing that there’s a great deal we can all be doing – on a personal, local and global scale, to put ourselves in a safer position for the future,” Constable said.
Jacob will be here in-person from Nairobi, and Harriet will attend via Zoom from London.
Attend in-person (with masks) or watch live on the J School Facebook page.

Sciences Writers Annual Conference 2021
2021-09-28 01:00 - 2021-10-08 01:00
Sept. 28-Oct. 8, 2021Online
The National Association of Science Writers (NASW) and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing are hosting their annual conference for science writers, with an agenda designed to appeal to both the newest writers and seasoned professionals.
The cost depends on your membership status and affiliations, as explained on the registration page.
