Events
New York State Association for Rural Health Symposium, Sept. 17-18, 2025
Decker College's nursing and public health divisions are among the sponsors for this year's New York State Association for Rural Health Annual Symposium, taking place Sept. 17-18 at the Lake Front Hotel in Geneva, N.Y. The symposium brought together healthcare, public health, health and human service, mental health, workforce development and mobility agencies, as well as representatives from government, community-based organizations, rural health networks and others interested in emerging innovations in rural health.
Decker Associate Professor Miesha Marzell, Division of Public Health, and Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program Coordinator Susan Glodstein presented a breakout session at the event, Beyond the Buzzword: Empowering Students to Advance Harm Reduction in Rural Communities.
Harm reduction is often misunderstood or stigmatized, particularly in rural communities where access to evidence-based substance-use services is limited. In this interactive session, we explore how a comprehensive and flexible approach to substance-use awareness can serve as a vehicle for building harm-reduction literacy among health science discipline students. We present a collaborative model between faculty and students that uses coursework, community engagement and clinical hours to prepare students to become trusted community partners in rural health.
Programs
The Rural and Underserved Service Track (TRUST)
The TRUST program brings together Binghamton University nursing, pharmacy, public health and social work students and SUNY Upstate Medical University students to provide care for rural and underserved populations through interprofessional teamwork. The O'Connor Office of Rural Health collaborates with faculty and students in the program.