HealthTeamWorks

10/13/2026

Iowa Community Health Workers, join us on October 28 for our next CHW Learning and Network Collaborative!

Helping Clients Stay Housed: Understanding Tenant and Landlord Rights and Responsibilities

Housing stability plays an important role in health and well-being. CHWs are often among the first to recognize when clients are facing housing challenges and can play a key role in connecting them with support and resources.

Led by Carrie Woerdeman, Executive Director of HOME, Inc., this session will focus on Iowa tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities, common housing concerns, effective communication strategies, and practical resources CHWs can use to help clients maintain stable housing.

This session is presented by HOME, Inc., in partnership with Polk County Health Department and HealthTeamWorks.

The CHW Learning and Network Collaborative is made possible through partnership funding from MolinaCares, providing no-cost learning and networking opportunities for Iowa CHWs.

Wednesday, October 28, 2026
2:30–4:00 PM Central
Virtual via Zoom

Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/GpqWAh6gQCSYIgKJLrczwA #/registration
Learn more about HOME, Inc.: https://www.homeincdsm.org/

We hope you'll join us!

10/09/2026

As more older adults face housing instability and homelessness, stronger collaboration between aging services and homelessness service providers is becoming increasingly important.

A recent Shelterforce article explores how communities are bringing these traditionally separate systems together to help older adults access housing, health care, and supportive services. It also highlights the importance of early intervention to help older adults remain safely and stably housed.

Read more about these collaborative approaches and the communities putting them into practice:

Aging and homelessness service providers are building partnerships to fill the gaps between two systems that have long operated separately.

10/08/2026

In rural communities, health care providers often have limited time with patients, but even brief conversations can make a meaningful difference in preventing health problems.

A recent article from the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) highlights how brief conversations about oral health and sun safety during routine visits can help patients build healthier habits and reduce long-term health risks.

Read more here:

NRHA produces several digital and print publications to engage NRHA members and inform rural health professionals. These include our Rural Health Voices Blog, weekly newsletter NRHA Today, our quarterly magazine Rural Horizons, our quarterly Journal of Rural Health, and much more.

10/07/2026

A new national analysis from the American College of Surgeons and the UNC Cecil G. Sheps Center found that more than 15 million Americans live in one of 1,180 U.S. counties without a general surgeon. The study also found that 434 critical access hospitals are located in counties with no identified full-time surgeon, highlighting particular challenges for rural communities.

A new interactive Surgical Workforce Mapping Tool allows users to explore surgeon availability by specialty and geographic area across the country.

Learn more and explore the findings:

A new study maps surgeon supply across 12 surgical specialties and every US county, and a companion interactive tool visualizes the findings.

10/06/2026

The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) recently surveyed members of the primary care community to better understand awareness of APCM services, their potential benefits and the challenges organizations may face with implementation.

The findings offer insights into how APCM could support primary care, including care team expansion, whole-person care and behavioral health integration, while also highlighting potential barriers to broader adoption.

Read more about the findings from PCC:

Below is an excerpt from the PCC’s upcoming 2026 Evidence Report, APCM: Ensuring it Delivers Better Health. To learn more, join the PCC on October 29 for the release of our 2026 report by registering here. In 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched Advanced Primary Care...

10/02/2026

October is Health Literacy Month, a time to recognize the importance of making health information easier to find, understand and use.
The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion offers evidence-based tools and resources to help organizations strengthen health literacy and support clear communication.
Explore the resources and learn more: https://odphp.health.gov/our-work/national-health-initiatives/health-literacy/celebrate-health-literacy-month-resources-odphp -resources

10/01/2026

The latest NCQA Quality Matters podcast explores why age-friendly care is everyone’s future.
As America’s population ages, healthcare organizations are looking for ways to better align care with what matters most to older adults. The episode explores the 4Ms framework: What Matters, Medication, Mentation and Mobility, and how age-friendly approaches can improve outcomes, reduce harm and create better experiences for patients and caregivers.
Listen to the conversation here:

Learn how age-friendly care and the 4Ms framework help health plans and providers improve outcomes for older adults.

09/24/2026

In recognition of National Recovery Month, we’re highlighting an important conversation about alcohol use disorder, treatment, prevention and recovery.

In the latest episode of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s The State of Mental Wellbeing podcast, Dr. George Koob of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism discusses changing drinking patterns, treatment research and the future of prevention and recovery.

Learn more and listen to the full conversation:

Discover the changing patterns of alcohol addiction and its effects on mental health in the latest episode of The State of Mental Wellbeing.

09/23/2026

A new article from the Commonwealth Fund explores how AI and other digital health technologies could help improve health care access, quality, and equity. It also highlights the risks if these tools are not designed with underserved communities in mind.
Read the full article here:

If designed with underserved communities in mind, digital health technologies can help make care more accessible, proactive, and responsive.

09/22/2026

A new article from the Milbank Memorial Fund explores how states are working to strengthen the primary care workforce amid persistent shortages, particularly in rural and underserved communities.

See how states are using targeted GME investments, workforce data, and accountability measures to help train and retain physicians where they are most needed.

Read the full article:

In the absence of a national health workforce strategy in the United States, individual states, including Missouri, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, have developed and implemented state-level graduate medical education (GME) strategies to “grow their own” primary care workforce. The challenge will...