AHECs are vitally important in the education and careers of health care workers. An AHEC might help a student interested in health occupations find enrichment activities and educational programs before high school graduation. Once the student enters a college or university, AHEC supports community-based student training. Health professionals working in Nebraska depend on their AHECs for continuing education opportunities.
Educational and training activities support the following five topic areas:
- Interprofessional Education (also known as interdisciplinary training), which supports a coordinated, patient-centered health care model that involves an understanding of the contributions of multiple health care professionals.
- Behavioral Health Integration promotes the development of integrated primary and behavioral health services to better address the needs of individuals with mental health and substance use conditions
- Social Determinants of Health includes five key areas [Economic Stability, Education, Social and Community Context, Health and Health Care, and Neighborhood and Built Environment] and their impact on health.
- Cultural Competency seeks to improve individual health and build healthy communities by training health care providers to recognize and address the unique culture, language and health literacy of diverse consumers and communities
- Practice Transformation aims to support quality improvement and patient-centered care through goal-setting, leadership, practice facilitation, workflow changes, measuring outcomes, and adapting organizational tools and processes to support new team-based models of care delivery. In short, targeting the specific skills and competencies needed for students and practicing health professionals to effectively practice in a transforming health care system.