Tools to Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake: Substance Use Disorder Populations in Rural Communities

Our speaker is Mark Depman, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Central Vermont Medical Center. This presentation covers vaccine facts and talking points for people who are vaccine reluctant. It also covers the importance of COVID-19 vaccine uptake and the impact substance use disorders have on the disease course of COVID-19.

Learning objectives:​

1. Understand how the COVID-19 virus works and the role of variants
2. Understand how the COVID-19 vaccines work and the role of the booster
3. Understand that universal vaccine uptake is our greatest tool against the COVID-19 pandemic
4. Identify how substance use disorders are associated with increased morbidity and mortality from COVID-19
5. Describe determinants of vaccine uptake in rural communities, especially among those with substance use disorders
6. Discuss how misinformation spreads and how to utilize motivational interviewing to increase vaccine acceptance in rural communities

Speaker

Mark Depman, MD

Mark Depman, MD, has practiced Emergency Medicine since 1989. He moved from New Haven, Connecticut to Vermont in 2007 and has worked in the Emergency Department at Central Vermont Medical Center since then. He was Department Chair and Medical Director through 2015 and has managed concurrent federal and state grants in the area of substance use disorder in rural populations since 2013. He is currently Project Director for CVMC’s 3-year HRSA Rural Communities Opioid Response Program Implementation grant.