Tully Hill Resumes ACR Health Patient Presentations

Tully Hill has once again teamed up with Syracuse-based Aids Community Resources (aka ACR Health) to provide hour-long, weekly group educational sessions that focus on strategies for achieving positive health outcomes.

ACR Health’s sessions – which resumed at Tully Hill November 2, 2021 – are curricula-based and emphasize rudimentary HIV-related knowledge, treatment education, health literacy (e.g., understanding blood work results and treatment regimens, self-advocacy with medical providers), building support systems, and transmission prevention.

Presented by ACR Health HIV Early Intervention Specialist Victor Jaskula, the weekly sessions will cover such topics as Narcan / Overdose prevention, Hepatitis C, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and Harm Reduction Bingo. That latter activity, an interactive group educational session, duplicates the popular game of chance with each participant’s Bingo card space displaying questions related to various substance use disorder use and abuse. Activity participants are tasked with pondering and answering the questions as quickly as possible.

In addition, at least one session each month will be on HIV/AIDS specifically.

“We are thrilled ACR Health will once again be with us each week to provide this invaluable information and education to our patient population,” said Tully Hill Director of Nursing Lee Anne Rhynders, BSN, RN, CARN. “Their presentations help fulfill our treatment and care mission of ensuring Tully Hill patients receive comprehensive care directly and indirectly related to substance use disorders.”

ACR Health’s education and risk-reduction sessions overall aim to enhance the knowledge base, health literacy, and self-efficacy of HIV/AIDS and HIV-infected persons in accessing and maintaining HIV medical services and staying healthy.