Telehealth Certification Institute

We've invited Kanton Salifu Issifu, the executive director of the Community Development Alliance in Ghana, to share his insights and experiences with addressing healthcare and wellness needs in Ghana.

First, Mr. Issifu shares that Ghana is one of the most stable countries in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. Unlike nearby Mali and Burkina Faso, Ghana has remained stable with a democratic government and a peaceful environment. However, despite this stability, Mr. Issifu notes how Ghana struggles with implementing healthcare needs across the region, which is where The Community Development Alliance (CDA) steps in to fill in those gaps. CDA is an independent, not-for-profit community organization that addresses the need for supplies and services across the region, particularly in poorer communities. CDA also examines the barriers to positive healthcare outcomes and strategically collaborates with both organizations and communities to ensure both buy-in and success of their strategic efforts.

The International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (IsfTeh) has endorsed three of TCI’s training programs.

We've invited Dr. Mollie Gordon, Associate Professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, to share her insights on clinical care approaches for people who have been victims of human trafficking and how telehealth services can improve both training and access to such services.

Who holds accountability in our profession? Most automatically think therapists and counselors, which is true, but they are not the only ones. Clinical supervisors support the ongoingness of the field by training the next generation of professionals to ensure the welfare of the public and support standards of care. Supervisors are also responsible for evaluating and gatekeeping for the profession. There are standards and ongoing requirements to ensure high standards of care, and yet, there are still grievances in our field.

Every year, the month of March is recognized as Social Work Month. Social Work Month is a time to not only honor the past achievements and successes in the field but also to serve as a call to action for the work ahead of us still left to do. The 2023 theme for Social Work Month is “Social Work Breaks Barriers”. Every day, social workers, and our allied health professional colleagues, help to break down barriers that prevent people from living more enriched, fulfilling lives. In addition to the direct services we provide to individuals, families, couples, and groups, we also work to advocate at a systems level to ensure that laws and policies are adopted so everyone can live safely and to their fullest potential. This year’s Social Work Month theme recognizes that there continues to be barriers of all shapes and sizes that prevent people and communities from thriving. A prime example of these barriers is seen within the lack of cultural competency for providers working with LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Agender/Asexual, and other members of the community who identify with a sexual orientation or gender identity that isn’t included within the LGBTQIA acronym) clients and the socio-political environment surrounding transgender and non-binary individuals, especially youth, in our country.

We’ve invited Dr. Whitney Wall, psychologist, and instructor, to speak about pursuing higher education options in psychology and counseling. While there are many options to pursue this work, researching and following these options can be daunting. Increased virtual learning programs create even more options and choices.

We've invited Natalie Kemp to talk with us about her observations of the decrease in adolescent resiliency following the COVID-19 pandemic and how to increase resiliency factors for today's youth. Natalie is very involved in community work and is passionate about working with young adults and adolescents and is part of the REACH program in her community, which stands for Resilience Education: Awareness for Coping & Hope.

Technology in Couple and Family Relationships

I can remember the first time I ever used the Internet. I was just starting high school and my parents had gotten a computer with something called “Prodigy”, an online service allowing dial-up connection to the Internet. I can still hear the sound of the modem waiting for the screen to come up; the anticipation of when the connection would be made; and being amazed I could write a report without looking up something in the musty, nearly-complete set of Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia in the dank and webby basement. No disrespect to Funk & Wagnalls, but there was something more magical about being able to have information with the satisfying click of a keyboard.

Fast forward 30 years: I have built a career on investigating how that little click of a mouse and the buzz of a modem coming to life has impacted nearly everything we do in our relationships. The speed with which we have adopted our technologies is unlike any other advances in modern life including the Industrial Revolution. The world has exponentially adopted Internet technologies at an astonishing rate. For example, Asia has the highest number of Internet users with close to 3 billion. Closer to home, nearly 94% of the North American population is connected (Internet World Stats, 2023).