Hepatitis C (HCV) Current Initiative Prepares New Trainers

Meet the Trainer: Jess Draws

Maureen Fitzgerald
Great Lakes ATTC

Back/Middle Row from left: Cindy Christy, Erin Winstanley, Joe McAdams, Kurt Begaye, Brian Hartzler, Hannah Eckes, Jace Dyckman, Lucas Piper, Diana Padilla (master trainer), Ed Johnson, Chris Harsell, Grant Hovik, Al Hasson, Maxine Henry, Robert Peralta, Holly Hagle, Robert Jope

Front row from left: Tammy Wenz, Ahani Valenzuela, Jess Draws, Taylor D’addario, Jude Dean, Kelly Reinhardt, Jayce Dykeman 

More than 20 team members from across the ATTC Network gathered in San Diego in April for the HCV Current Initiative Training of Trainers (ToT). The three-day training was led by master trainer Diana Padilla of the Northeast and Caribbean ATTC, who prepared the group to present the new and updated HCV Current curriculum—soon to be available on the ATTC Network website.

Jess Draws of the Great Lakes ATTC was among the group of trainers-in-training. Jess joined the Great Lakes ATTC team in November 2018 as a technology transfer specialist for the Opioid Response Network, covering Ohio. Jess earned an MSW in 2017 from the UW-Madison School of Social Work. Previous work experience includes youth restorative justice, phone counseling for sexual assault survivors at the Dane County Rape Crisis Center, and student services and advocacy work for LGBT students. With an interest in learning more about the opioid epidemic and related health issues, Jess jumped at the chance to attend the HCV Current ToT.

Before attending, Jess took the online course, HCV Snapshot: Introduction to Hepatitis C for Health Care Professionals, available on HealtheKnowledge. “The HCV Snapshot course helped me prepare for the ToT and gave a good overview of hepatitis C prevention, treatment, and recovery,” says Jess.

Interactive Training Tapped In To Participants’ Expertise

Arriving at the training, Jess was impressed by the expertise of the fellow participants. “The group included doctors and nurses with 10 to 15 years of experience working with people with hepatitis c,” Jess explains. “I felt a little bit like a fish out of water, but knew that this would be a great learning opportunity.”

The first day of the session, Diana Padilla took the group through the HCV Current online and face-to-face training content.

“Diana’s training style is very interactive, and she really tapped in to the expertise in the room to bring in insider knowledge from the perspective of a nurse, addictions counselor, or physician,” says Jess.

Jess also noted how Diana deftly folded the participants’ knowledge into the training modules, as well as into the revision of the HCV Current curriculum.

“Every time someone had a question we stopped and talked about it, so we could learn how to teach to various audiences,” says Jess. “Diana talked about nuances of the information for those of us who would be teaching families or other social workers rather than nurses or physicians,” adds Jess. “Stopping to take in everybody’s perspective as a presenter is something that I hope to incorporate into my training style.”

Jess’s Top Three Take-aways

1. Personal Take-away: Attend a Training of Trainers, even if you don’t consider yourself a subject matter expert (SME). “I felt out of place at first, but left with a higher level of confidence after watching others and getting tips and great feedback during the teach-back. Even though I came to the ToT without the technical expertise on hepatitis C, I was able to make meaningful contributions to the content based on my knowledge and experiences. So even if you are not an SME and think you never will be, remember that we always need to hear from different voices who can translate the content in terms that are relevant to a specific audience."
2. Take-away about hepatitis C: “Many may not be aware of the advances in HCV treatment. It used to require taking medication with truly debilitating side effects for a year or longer, with a cure rate of only 30 to 50%. But today, HCV treatment is considered one of the miracles of modern science—it is the only viral infection that is curable.”
3. Take-away for health care professionals: “We, as trainers, are hoping to get physicians and addiction treatment counselors to make testing for HCV more accessible. Because there are so many factors that elevate the risk of infection, include information about HCV prevention, treatment, and recovery along with information on HIV and sexually-transmitted diseases. “Patients could check a box on a form, asking “Would you like to be tested for hepatitis C today?” Substance use disorder professionals could add this question to the intake process. Health care professionals also need to share the message getting tested and treated for hepatitis C can radically improve a person’s quality of life and life expectancy.”

HCV Current Updated Content

Jess is looking forward to putting her new skills to use with the newly revised HCV Current curriculum. The updated content includes the latest information on HCV treatment options, along with information on the intersection between the opioid epidemic and increase in HCV infection rates.

World Hepatitis Day: July 28, 2019

The World Health Organization has designated July 28 as World Hepatitis Day, dedicated to increasing awareness of viral hepatitis prevention, treatment, and recovery. It’s a perfect time to explore HCV Current. Interested in setting up an HCV Current face-to-face training? You can find Jess Draws and other HCV Current trainers on the ATTC Network Trainer Registry!