AUTHOR GW NURSING
The Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement last fall launched the Health Policy Leadership Lecture Series, which brings to campus notable leaders in the health care field.
U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams visited GW’s Foggy Bottom campus in October as the series’ first speaker. Dr. Adams discussed the nation’s opioid epidemic and identified stigma as the number 1 killer.
“As members of the most trusted profession, nurses can help alleviate that stigma and encourage patients to seek recovery,” Dr. Adams said. “There is nothing more powerful than a nurse armed with the correct information.”
Mental health, opioid abuse and obesity are just a few of the stigmatized health issues. The stigma keeps people in the shadows and prevents them from getting help, Dr. Adams said.
Victor Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine, also spoke this past winter as part of the series.
Currently, health and health care are the most prolific areas for technological advancement, Dr. Dzau said during a wide-ranging discussion on the burgeoning innovation in health care. Despite a political climate in which research budgets have been cut, health care is relatively safe because it is so clearly critical, he said.
This spring, Terry Fulmer, president of and chief strategist for the John A. Hartford Foundation, visited the campus as part of the series to discuss age-friendly health systems.