Medical Matters Weekly Welcomes Leading Addiction Researcher on September 28
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Medical Matters Weekly Welcomes Leading Addiction Researcher on September 28

BENNINGTON, VT—September 21, 2022—The next guest on Medical Matters Weekly is Stephen T. Higgins, PhD, a national leader in addiction research and the director of the Vermont Center on Behavior & Health (VCBH) at the University of Vermont (UVM). The show airs on Facebook Live at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, September 28.

The show is produced by Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) with cooperation from Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV). Viewers can view on facebook.com/svmedicalcenter and facebook.com/CATTVBennington. The show is also available to view or download as a podcast on svhealthcare.org/medicalmatters.

Dr. Higgins is principle investigator on multiple National Institutes of Health grants on the general topic of behavior and health, including a National Institute of General Medical Sciences’ Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) award, a National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA)/Food and Drug Administration’s Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) award, and a NIDA institutional training award. He is the Virginia H. Donaldson Endowed Professor of Translational Science in the departments of psychiatry and psychological science at UVM and serves as vice chair of psychiatry.

Dr. Higgins’ research centers around behavioral economics and behavioral pharmacology to investigate tobacco, substance use, and other health-related risk behaviors in vulnerable populations. His projects focus on examining mechanisms underpinning vulnerability to tobacco and other risk behaviors, treatment interventions to reduce them and improve health outcomes, and regulatory science. He is the author of more than 425 journal articles and invited book chapters and editor of a dozen volumes and therapist manuals in behavior and health.

VCBH is an interdisciplinary research center committed to investigating relationships between personal behavior patterns (i.e., lifestyle) and risk for chronic disease and premature death. Their work has historically focused on health disparities for the most vulnerable populations, particularly among the socioeconomically disadvantaged where these risk factors are overrepresented.

Medical Matters Weekly features the innovative personalities who drive positive change within health care and related professions. The show addresses all aspects of creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle for all, including food and nutrition, housing, diversity and inclusion, groundbreaking medical care, exercise, mental health, the environment, research, and government.

The show is broadcast on Facebook Live, YouTube, and all podcast platforms. After the program, the video is available on area public access television stations CAT-TV (Comcast channel 1075) and GNAT-TV's (Comcast channel 1074), as well as on public access stations throughout the United States.

About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, healthcare system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.

Southwestern Vermont Health Care is among the most lauded small rural health systems in the nation. It is the recipient of the American Hospital Association’s 2020 Rural Hospital Leadership Award. In addition, SVMC ranked fourth nationwide for the value of care it provides by the Lown Institute Hospital Index in 2020 and is a five-time recipient of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence. The health system is fortunate to have the support of platinum-level corporate sponsor Mack, a leading supplier of contract manufacturing services and injection molded plastic parts based in Arlington, VT.

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.

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Cautious Entertaining

After almost 3 months of staying home and with the weather getting nicer, many of us are itching to invite friends over and catch up. While this is a natural inclination, it should be approached with significant caution. COVID-19 is still circulating. If you are planning to host, follow these helpful tips for a safe gathering at your home.

Keep the numbers small. Invite as few people as possible. One-on-one meetings are safer than group gatherings. The recommendations from Vermont Governor Phil Scott recommend 25 or fewer. I would still aim for fewer than 10, especially depending on the size of your entertaining space.

Choose invitees carefully. You should know almost everything about the socializing habits of the people you are inviting. Your guests should be as careful in their social interactions as you are in yours. You should also trust that your guests would be cancel if they were feeling ill, as should you if you are suddenly symptomatic. Those at high risk, due to age or a medical condition, should be very careful about hosting or accepting invitations.

Stay outside. Outdoor air movement disperses aerosolized particles more readily than indoor environments. And plenty of space outside allows guests to stay distanced. UV light, like the rays found in sunshine, may also provide some small benefit. It has been shown to decrease the viability of the virus on objects, but it is not yet clear how intense the light must be and for how long the object needs to be exposed in order to kill the virus.

Keep it short. Duration of exposure to others has been identified as a key risk factor. The longer you are near someone shedding the virus, even if they don't have symptoms, the greater your likelihood of catching it yourself. While it is awkward to say that you are inviting people over for a 10-minute chat in the driveway, this is certainly among the lowest-risk types of socializing.

Clean beforehand. If you expect guests to touch anything, the arms of patio chairs, for instance, wipe them down in advance. Ask everyone to sanitize or wash their hands as they arrive, if they touch their face, and about every hour or so.

Stay distanced and masked. People standing tend to drift. Place chairs 6 feet apart so that people will be more likely to stay apart. Unless you are eating, keep your masks on. Share this expectation in advance, so your guests bring their masks with them.

Limit contact points. If you are preparing food, be sure to wash well before cooking and ensure everyone has a portion of his or her own. Forget about platters of vegetables or bowls of chips everyone shares and even buffets, where people share spoons and tongs.

Clean after. Wipe down anything your guests may have touched after they leave.

Keep track. Be sure to take note of who was there, the date of the social event, and each guest's contact details. If any one of the attendees becomes ill with COVID-19 or learns that they may have been exposed at the time of the event, they will be able to reach out directly to the others and to share information readily with contact tracers.

With these tips, you can host a relatively safe get-together and relieve some of the social isolation of the past several weeks. Do know, however, that no party—regardless of how careful—is risk free. Weigh the risks, decrease those you can, and then, try to have fun.

Donna Barron, RN, is the infection preventionist at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

 

 

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