August 2026 Work Force Newsletter

Health Care

Workforce Updates

August 2026

Featured Course: Reimagining mental health care through anti-racist lens

Join with the Healers’ Village to gain certification in Indigenous Psychotherapy™ and Anti-Racist, Culturally Competent Treatment for Black Families. This program provides a supportive environment where you’ll learn culturally responsive healing methods. Perfect for practitioners committed to anti-racist practices, this course offers essential skills for promoting wellness in communities of color. Apply today to start your journey in transformative mental health care!

The fall cohort begins September 10. Learn more and apply.

Northern Area Health Education Webinar: More Than Memory: Mood, Meaning, and Connection in Dementia Care, August 14, 2026, 12 p.m.

People living with dementia may experience changes in mood, behavior, and communication that deeply affect quality of life for both individuals and caregivers. This session will help healthcare professionals better understand these moments as mental and behavioral health needs, not simply problems to manage.

Through a person-centered case vignette, participants will learn how to interpret behavior as communication, respond to unmet needs, support family caregivers, and use meaningful creative and social engagement as part of care. The session will also address dementia, delirium, and depression, including when to screen, refer, and take next steps.

Learn more and register for this Zoom course.

Free CareQuest webinars on timely topics offer 1 CE credit, August 13, August 27, and September 10, 7 p.m.

Looking to strengthen your skills and stay current on timely oral health topics? CareQuest Institute is offering a series of free, 60-minute webinars designed for oral health professionals and partners. Each session begins at 7 p.m. ET, includes an interactive Q&A, and is eligible for 1 free CE credit.

Upcoming webinars include:

• August 13—Prevention and De-escalation Strategies for Challenging Patient Situations
• August 27—Serving Those Who Served: Community Solutions to Support Better Veteran Oral Health
• September 10—Medicaid Changes: Guidance for Oral Health Teams

Learn more and register.

Registration open for fall 2026 nonprofit management courses begin September 10 and September 17, 2026

Human Resources Management: This course provides a broad overview of human resource management, including the Employee Experience and Employee Life Cycle, Talent Acquisition & Onboarding, Total Rewards & Compensation, Fair Employment Law & Employee/Labor Relations, Employee Development & Performance Management, and Emerging Trends and Challenges.  

• Classes begin Thursday, September 10, 2026, 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. 
• To learn more, visit the online catalog here.

Leadership Communication Skills: This course gives an overview of necessary skills such as exploring communication needs, understanding your audience, decision making, creating a communications plan, management styles and resolving conflicts, and getting the message and media right. The course will also explore crafting your elevator speech (and how and when to share it), recognizing unconscious bias in your messaging, the growing use of AI and how you can use it to your benefit, telling a relevant story (even in crisis), and being a captivating communicator.

• Classes begin Thursday, September 17, at 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. 
• To learn more, visit the online catalog here.

Annual Resilience Symposium, September 23, 2026, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Canandaigua, NY

Join Catholic Charities Steuben/Livingston, The Institute for Human Services, Inc., and ProAction of Steuben and Yates, Inc. for the Annual Resilience Symposium on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Hotel Canandaigua.

This full-day professional development event will focus on workplace stress, trauma, burnout, psychological health, and sustainable approaches to helping professions. The symposium will feature keynote speaker Françoise Mathieu, MEd, RP, a recognized expert in secondary traumatic stress, burnout, empathic strain, and organizational well-being. Attendees can choose from direct service and executive leadership tracks throughout the day, with topics including compassion fatigue, neurodiversity in the workplace, mental fitness, leadership, and secondary traumatic stress responsive workplaces.

The cost is $100 per person, which includes a catered lunch. 5.5 hours of continuing education credits are available.

Register today to reserve your spot.

Earn an official certification from Mental Health First Aid USA, September 30-October 1, 2026, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This course teaches participants to identify the risk factors and warning signs of a variety of mental health challenges common in adults—and how to help them in the moment.

Learn more and register.

New online course offered for care coordination standards

The Camden Coalition Learning Center, in partnership with Uncommon Solutions, just released a new self-paced, online course!

You'll gain knowledge and skills for practicing the four core processes of effective care coordination: engagement, assessment, support, and connection.  

These processes support consistent, person-centered care across roles, settings, populations, and delivery models, and they are grounded in research-backed strategies to improve outcomes and are ideal for care coordinators, case managers, care navigators, community health workers, trusted care partners, and more. 

Learn more.

Short-term healthcare training programs available

Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES Center for Workforce Development is offering short-term healthcare career training programs in Dental Office Assisting, Phlebotomy, Nurse Assisting, and Registered Dental Assisting. Flexible schedules, hands-on training, and scholarship opportunities are available for eligible students.

Learn more and register.

Your Next Great Hire Could Be a CPT Program Participant

Participants in the Career Pathways Training (CPT) Program are completing education and training programs and preparing to enter New York's health, behavioral, and social care workforce. Eligible employers can connect with this growing talent pipeline by becoming a Qualified Service Commitment Site. Service commitment sites gain access to a pool of CPT Program participants seeking employment opportunities that align with their required three-year service commitment.

Learn more and register for an upcoming info session by visiting our CPT Program for Partners website.

Collaborating with the Enemy: How to Work with People you Don’t Like or Trust

In our increasingly polarized world, collaboration has become both more important and more difficult. To tackle the issues that matter most—from climate change to workplace conflict—we often must work with people we disagree with, dislike, or distrust. To do so, we need a fundamental shift in how we think about and approach collaboration. Drawing on over 30 years of global experience, Adam Kahane challenges the myth of harmonious teamwork and offers a revolutionary approach that embraces discord, experimentation, and genuine co-creation.

• Check out the book. 
• Want to learn more? Take a free Webinar, Thursday, September 17, 2026, 2 to 3 p.m. 

Please share your health care workforce updates

If you have workforce updates to share, or any feedback or ideas for this newsletter, please contact Melissa Wendland at melissa.wendland@commongroundhealth.org.

Please share this newsletter with others in your organization who might benefit and encourage them to sign up to receive it. 
https://www.commongroundhealth.org/newsletter-sign-up