Thank you for attending our Blindness and Mental Health Webinar on Friday, September 29! Please read on for the full transcript from the webinar.
Hi, everyone.
My name is Alexandra and welcome to our blindness and mental health webinar. I am the vice president of business.
Development and communications with Accessible Pharmacy Services. We are so excited to have these incredible presenters speaking with us today about mental health and the blind and low vision community.
Mental health is incredibly important to all of us. And I firstly want to give a huge, huge thank you to everyone for attending.
We had close to 2,000 registrants for this webinar and we are positively overwhelmed with the response.
If you do need to leave this webinar anytime throughout or if you can't stay for the whole time.
We are recording it and we will be sending out that recording on Monday. Because of how huge of a response we received, we are already planning on doing a second session, a second mental health session in the spring.
If anybody has any presenters or unique topics that you would like to have included in that second session in the spring, please reach out to us and let us know.
And for those of you who are joining us for the first time, we are accessible pharmacy services. So welcome.
We are Home Delivery Pharmacy and we specialize in individuals with disabilities. However, we do accept all patients and we work with individuals from every type of background.
We are the only provider of its kind and we are the largest blind owned health care company in the country.
We are the pharmacy choice for individuals across 34 different states providing accessible medication management and diabetes management to our patients.
We've done a few of these webinars before. On various healthcare topics raging from eye drops to diabetes to glaucoma to breast cancer.
They've all been recorded. They're all available on our website and on our YouTube page. So if you navigate to our website accessible for pharmacy.
Dot com or if you go to our YouTube Accessible Pharmacy, you can find all of those recorded webinars on there.
Throughout this webinar, virtual VRI will be here to supply us with ASL interpretation. So I want to give a huge thank you to them.
This webinar will also have live closed captioning. After the webinar is over on Monday, we're going to be sending out a follow up email that email will have links to the video and audio recordings as well as a transcript from the webinar and it's also going to have some resources and links.
From our presenters as well as a chance for you to respond with feedback, which we really, really encourage and appreciate.
Before we get started, I really just wanna run through some quick announcements. The next webinar we have is really really soon.
It's only in a couple of weeks. It's on blindness and clinical trials. We have an All-star lineup for that webinar discussing all types of clinical trials, the process of signing up for one and more.
It's on Friday, October thirteenth at 12 pm. We're really excited about it.
We have speakers from the National Institute of Health, the Foundation Fighting Blindness, as well as a research optimology group called Vision, excuse me, Prism Vision Group.
We're super excited about it. It's free to attend. Registration is on our website. So please don't miss out on that.
Webinar on Friday, October thirteenth. October is also breast cancer awareness month. Breast cancer is incredibly important to us here at accessible pharmacy.
Last year we did a really really awesome webinar on breast cancer information for blind women and we had amazing speakers on it.
It was recorded. It's available on our website and our YouTube page as well. And we also have a standalone video from that webinar that's also available on our website and it's called How to Do a Breast Self Exam.
That video is narrated by Dr. Ken Quebec. She's an FDA certified radiologist.
And she's also serves on the board of directors for breast cancer. Org. The how to do a breast cancer self-exam has closed captioning.
It has an ASL interpreter on it and it's a wonderful resource. So please go and check that out.
It's available to everybody. I'm also so excited to ask you to register for our second annual blind health expo.
The Blind Health Expo is a completely virtual event. It's on Friday, December, the first.
From 10 am to 4 pm and it's like I said it's completely virtual it's simply an online expo of health care information, products, services, and medication for individuals in the blind.
Low vision and disability communities. An interesting part of this year's expo that we decided to incorporate are the Vision Health Care Awards.
We really wanted to acknowledge leaders in the blindness and the vision field that really do amazing work in their fields.
So we're gonna be announcing the winners in early November and then showcasing their achievements at the Blind Health Expo in December.
If you would like to attend for the day, it's free to register and you can find that registration link on our website.
And if you're part of an organization or company that's involved in the blindness or low vision community or the health community.
Please consider exhibiting. It's free to exhibit and we would love to have you. It's a great, it's a fun day.
Exhibitors are able to talk with attendees throughout the day. They can give presentations. They can showcase their products.
Their services and it's free to exhibit. So that registration link is on our website if you have any questions, we have some registration link is on our website. If you have any questions, we have some information sessions coming up.
So please just go send us an email. If you have any questions, we have some information sessions coming up.
So please just go send us an email if you have any questions and we can either talk one on one or you can attend one of the information sessions that we have coming up in October.
And lastly, if you are an organization that works with patients in the blind and low vision community and you would like us to train your staff on accessible medication management.
And diabetes management in the blind and low vision communities. We would love to work with you. We are scheduling training sessions in the winter in the spring and we can get that process started with you.
To train your team. So please just send us an email at info, INFO at accessible pharmacy.
Dot com. And we can start that process. And lastly, lastly, I know I already said lastly once, if you would like to become a patient of accessible pharmacy services, we would love to have you.
As I said earlier, we are the pharmacy choice for individuals in 34 states. So if you'd like to get started with us and join our community, it's really, really simple and it just starts with a conversation.
So just give us a call at 1 8 8 8 8. 6 3 3 7 0 0 7. Now I'm going to stop talking.
I'm done with my announcement and we can finally get into the webinar which I'm so so excited about.
We have such amazing speakers today to speak with you. And I'm so excited to introduce our first speaker for today.
As I mentioned before, they're absolutely amazing. So the first one is obviously amazing as well.
I'm so excited to introduce him. Sam Hendrickson works with the I to I peer support program for vision loss.
He has over 25 years of experience in New Jersey's public health system, or excuse me, public education system.
He facilitates support groups. And one-on-one peer support services for individuals in the blind and low vision community and he is a national and international speaker on disability, parenting and marriage topics.
Sams really an absolute rock star. It's my pleasure to know him. I just got to know him really recently.
And I, he's really, really amazing and it's my pleasure to introduce him today. He's here to tell you about himself and the I to I program and Sam I'm going to start sharing your slides for you but please go ahead and take it away.
Thank you so much, Alexandra, for such a Wonderful, welcome, an introduction.
I, and for this really special opportunity to be here with you all to share about the eye to eye peer support program for vision loss.
The slide that you're seeing now as the name of our program, the logo for the Rucker School of Health Professions and the I to I logo were based out of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Before I get into the I to I program, let me share with you just a little bit or expand a little bit on what Alexandra did.
I lost my vision about 4 years ago and had the good fortune of being connect getting connected to this program as a participant receiving the services from the I to I program.
And after my time there had It was suggested and welcomed, they welcomed me as a volunteer.
And I do volunteer doing one on one support group work and a variety of other things including speaking events like this one this, the services of I, I find really near and dear.
I do a lot of volunteer work in this act of my life as I have come to know it. And most of my hours of volunteering are with I to I for the very special purposes that I think they really address.
Hey, Pam.
Alright, do you have access? I have a question. Do you have access to a computer?
Oh, sorry, excuse me. I go.
A unique need in the blind community. In that they address the I'm gonna pause here. Is that a question for me?
No, I'm not sure what that was. Go keep going.
Okay. So, as I was saying, this has been a very special part of my recovery from vision loss being not only early on as a participant but now being a volunteer and helping others along with their journey as well.
Slide 2, please.
Bye.
Okay, so who we are? Just that this slide shows the description of the eye to eye support program for vision loss.
So photo of a young woman standing in holding a phone in her hands and an older man on a couch.
Holding a phone in his ear. The eye to eye is free. It's a free phone-based peer support program.
Designed to help individuals and their families adjust to the challenges of vision loss. And while we're based out of Rutgers University, as I said previously here in New Jersey, our program spans across the United States.
I to I focuses on the shared experience of vision loss. As a powerful tool for connection emotional support and personal growth Callers to the program are paired with train peer support specialists.
Who have varied backgrounds and degrees of vision loss and who connect with their clients on a regular basis to provide that emotional support, tips and information.
Around the practical needs of visual laws as well as mentorship. Other community resources. Which I'll talk about in just a bit.
Our main focus is the one-on-one, what makes us, I think, very special, the magic.
Of the I to I program is the one to one peer support. That we offer in this phone-based environment.
Next slide, please.
Go ahead.
A little bit of a description here, this slide, includes a list of all of our services and a photo of a middle-aged man sitting on a bench talking again with a phone in his hand and a young woman sitting next to a window with a phone in her hand.
So we're illustrating the phone based service here as a peer support program Ida I offers emotional support, community connection, assessments of needs and well-being.
Goal setting, information and resources and against the practical side of vision loss as well. Referrals to different services.
Services for families and their caregivers. Virtual peer support programs. And we also offer services in Spanish.
One of the things commonly asked is how do we how do you introduce I to an end user, so to speak.
And I think in a very broad, if I may. I have defined the needs of the blind community into 2 very broad categories.
I don't mean to oversimplify this before purposes today. I think the needs are practical and emotional.
While the practical needs there's an abundance of in terms of mobility and orientation and there's a world of technology to help with your practical day to day living.
The emotional needs I found to be less abundant. And again, as I explained why I do the work with eye to eye.
I have found in bringing people forward to this work and introducing them to it when they understand that there's an emotional need that comes from vision loss and that you need to in some way live your life still and recover from vision loss.
I have found that the connection and the community aspects that Ida I offers are really the magic and the best way to bring people forward.
It's not work recovering from vision loss is simply I found not work that one can do by themselves.
Good.
You need connection with other people and you need community. Next slide, please. This is our final slide, includes information about how to reach us.
By phone or email or by social media accounts. We're on Twitter, Facebook. And we have of course our website is listed here.
We rely on grant support and general and general individual generous donations. To offer our unique and what I hopefully described as crucial peer support.
Free of charge to our clients. So I also want to take this moment. To note that next month during blindness or awareness month.
We're holding our annual crowd sourcing event. This year though, it's a little bit different in that we have a special challenge grant from the Readers Digest Partners for Site Foundation who generously will match any funds dollar for dollar that are raised in support of our Ida I program up to a total of $15,000.
So thanks for that plug. We do really rely on that. Grant funding to help keep us going and sustain us.
So, Alexandra and to the others on the call, thank you again for this special opportunity to be a part of this webinar and share our program with you.
I hope we do hear from some of the people and become a resource in helping people in what I call recovery from vision loss.
Thanks.
Oh, thank you, Sam. Let me stop sharing my screen. Okay, there we go.
Okay.
I cannot thank Sam enough for coming on and speaking with us. Hearing all of this information about eye to eye and just sharing all of that with us information about eye to eye and just sharing all of that with us. The I to I program is amazing.
I have the pleasure of knowing other individuals on their team and the entire program is full of incredible individuals. That last slide that has their contact information and their social media tags, all of that information will be available.
We're gonna send out a follow-up email on Monday. All of that information will be available on that.
We're gonna put that information will be available on that. We're gonna put that information on our website too.
So if you didn't catch it we will supply all of that stuff to you as well so you can get in touch with the program.
If you're interested. Thank you again, Sam, for sharing all of this with us. You are amazing and thank you for being here with us today.
Thank you so much. My honor.
Thank you. I want to next I want to introduce Dr. Jason Vera. He is our chief medical officer and he is our chief medical officer and he's a co-founder here at Accessible Pharmacy. He is our chief medical officer and he's a co-founder here at Accessible Pharmacy Services.
Jason is a licensed pharmacist and he's a licensed pharmacist and he's truly.
Jason is a licensed pharmacist and he's truly, truly unique at providing prescription medication and custom, truly unique at providing prescription medication and custom health care solutions to people with disabilities and he's truly, truly unique at providing prescription medication and customs medication and custom health care solutions to people with disabilities and individualized needs and custom health care solutions to people with disabilities and individualized needs and really helping them get the care that they need to
truly become health care solutions to people with disabilities and individualized needs and really get helping them get the care that they need to truly become healthier human beings.
He's a crucial, crucial part of our team here at Accessible Pharmacy Services. And today he's going to be speaking about genomic testing and its impact on mental health.
So go ahead and take it away, Jason.
Thank you, Alex. Thank you so much. And thank everyone who's taking the time. To be part of this webinar today.
It is such a great opportunity. To reach out to everyone and we're so thrilled to be able to do this as often as we do.
And bring sort of information that may not be in the mainstream or possibilities to provide care and assistance to patients across the spectrum.
So this is a real true honor for me as well and every part of what I do to support the accessible pharmacy team has been really the best work I've done in my life.
So getting that out of the way, let's talk a little bit about genomics. And medication management.
The appropriate use of prescription drugs begins with selecting the correct agent. For the most part, prescribers utilize a series of guidelines that have been established via large demographic studies.
You know, these results are established over time and for the most part they really look to grab a large percentage of efficacy or a high batting average if you will.
So when you say that boy this drug is 75 or 85% effective in treating most patients that's a really good thing unless of course you're the other 10 to 15%.
And then maybe it's not such a good thing. So the process itself is often necessitates a trial and error of agents and dosing to achieve the desired effect.
And during this adjustment period, the patient may be exposed to unnecessary side effects and a bunch of drugs they may not need and loss of time and quality of life and frankly even money that they pay for the drugs.
That may or may not be the best ones for them. So you might be thinking is there a better way to select medications?
Maybe a way that's a little bit more personal or specific to each patient's needs as opposed to that 75 or 80%.
That are mostly you know, affected well. The fact is there is a way to make drug selection more precise.
There is a way to determine what medications are best for an individual using information gained by their own unique genetic makeup.
That ways by incorporating pharmacogenomic testing and monitoring, also known as PGX.
Pharmacogenomics or PGX is the science of how personal genetics affect drug response.
The term itself, Pharmaco and genomics, is the combination of pharmacology and genetics.
And PGX analyzes the genetic makeup of a patient's Ability. To utilize medications and the effects of their response to the drugs themselves.
PGX aims to optimize drug therapy. Achieve the best. Results while minimizing side effects.
Preventing the most possible adverse events. And really providing the patient the shorter distance to gain the outcome desired.
Thus improving their quality of life and decreasing the time it takes for them to feel better. By using genomics to guide drug selection, we can avoid the one size fits all mentality that's usually, utilized.
And eliminate some of the trial and hour in prescribing, allowing physicians to. Taking consideration the patient's personal genes, the functionality of these genes.
And how it affects the efficacy of the patient. For their current and even future medications going forward.
We're going to talk about that in a little bit of detail in a moment. It's important to consider this.
Not only are we able to use pharmacogenomics to assist with issues that you're faced with right now.
We're also able to take the knowledge gained to provide guidance going forward. We can in fact have a plan specific to each patient for a number of issues that they may face in the future.
This is one of the many benefits of PGX, an individual genetic makeup doesn't change over time.
We are who we are today and for the rest of our lives. That's part of the beauty of PGX.
You only need to perform the test one time. So once we had the information, we're able to use it to guide the choice of medications for any new necessity going forward.
In fact, it might even be possible to use PGX to look back at previous drug selections to explain why they worked or maybe why they were a failure.
So you're probably wondering, how do we get this information? How does someone find out what their personal PGX makeup is?
Well, the fact is PGX is a laboratory test, similar to a number of tests performed by a diagnostic lab.
The PGS test itself is non-invasive. There's no blood to be drawn.
There's no finger prick. It's a very simple swab or a large Q-tip that's rubbed on the inside of your cheek.
And some of the cells that are loose are then put into a solution. The solution is sent off to a lab.
If they're short period of time, the labs the results. Of your personalized genomic makeup.
Now the results reveal different enzymes that are created in your liver that your body uses to break down medications to their active form and also to clear the medications from your system once they've had their effect.
It's these processes that we use to determine which medications to select for you. Because if you're lacking a certain enzyme or if you don't have enough of it to break the drug down.
To its active form, then the drug's probably not going to work for you, or at least it's not going to work as well as another drug could.
The drug would be more specific to your personalized enzymes. In the same respect, some of these enzymes are utilized to break down the medication.
And clear them from your body once they've done their job. If you're not able to clear medications and and move them out of your system, You may accumulate side effects.
They may be more significant at adverse events if you simply choose then if you would simply choose the medication that's more specific to your personal makeup.
The results of the tests are kind of widespread in terms of the variations of your personal enzymes.
There will be results that have very useful information to examine the medications that you're currently taking. And there will be also results that we can have in the bank, so to speak, so that going forward any kind of new challenge that you would have or a new diagnosis.
Could be treated with medications that we know are more specific to your genetic makeup. As we said earlier, once we have the test, we can create a, in fact, a blueprint.
Of what to do now and what to do in the future. And so it's really a thought process that you can move forward with this test nostrils for the moment that you have the results.
But then again, if you're a faced with something new. This is where accessible pharmacy services come in.
Our clinical experts know exactly what the results of the tests say about you. Thank you, provide very useful information when it comes to drug selectivity.
And in fact, help you and your prescribers make the best choices today. And for the rest of your life.
So a lot of you might be thinking, wow, this is really exciting. This is amazing. And it is.
The fact that we can utilize your particular genetic makeup to guide the selection of medications can and can be more accurate and limit the necessary side effects and the potential reverse effects is a breakthrough.
This is all true, but having said that, it's not every drug that is affected by the enzymes in the PGX test.
There are a number of drugs that have no PGX relevance whatsoever. But. The ones that do are incredibly important and can be really very problematic if they're not utilized in the optimum.
Matter. Some of the medications that benefit from PGX testing are those that we use for blood thinning.
Those medications that we would use if someone were at risk for heart attack or stroke. These are particularly difficult medications to manage, especially if you're in crisis.
So youizing PGX for this kind of drug can be a great benefit and value to both patients and prescribers.
But PGS is also effective in making selections for other issues that may not be as significant as sending your blood, but frequently experienced by large populations.
An example of these drugs are statins, statins used for cholesterol and they all have PGX relevance.
And while Staten is and is necessarily concerning as a blood thinner, many people use them every day to prevent high cholesterol.
From having an effect on your heart and other things going forward. Drugs used for reflux called proton pumpin hipters also have genomic significance and again I mean, there's challenging as blood thinners.
Many people take these medications and because of that They may be experiencing unnecessary side effects or poor drug performance because they simply don't have the genetic makeup to use the drug they've been prescribed.
It could be very unpleasant to have reflux. It can be very unpleasant to have those side effects.
So it might be a good idea to know which drug works best for you. But a particular interest in regard to the use of PGX testing.
Is to assist in the selection of drugs used for behavioral and mental health. As well as pain. Pain control is a very hot topic these days.
The whole world would like to do better at this. The misuse of pain medications can cause tremendous issues with patients lives, dependency, diversion, waste are all considerations when choosing a pain medication.
If you have a generic test on board, prescribers can narrow the choice of pain medications from the very beginning to avoid the kind of poor selectivity that made lead to adverse effects.
They madely to what looks like drug dependency or the misuse of pain medications when in fact it was simply the wrong choice from the beginning.
And even if you don't have the need for pain control today or at the moment. You've had genomic testing because you're interested in how it would affect your other medications like for heart or some other issue.
You'll know exactly what medications are the right ones to choose if you ever in fact did need pain medication.
If you ever were faced with a surgery or some other kind of injury or just pain that comes about from, you know, the breakdown of soft tissue.
I spoke earlier about using PGX to guide the selectivity medications in the area of cholesterol and statins and reflux with proton pump inhibitors.
But in many ways it's relatively easy to determine if these medications are in fact working and resulting in unnecessary side effects.
If if you're using a statin, we can measure your cholesterol. That's kind of, that's a known clinical indicator.
If your cholesterol is high, you're prescribed the drug, we can test it.
And later on, we can determine whether or not it's working. Buy that test. We also know if you're experiencing side effects, right?
If the side effects, which are known for statins, are worse for you. Then it might not be the right drug.
It might be a good idea to try a different one. So with or without genomic testing we can kind of narrow down these.
Drugs. It seems to have trucked on pump inhibitors, right? You will know if you're feeling better if you've had relief from reflux and you also know if your side effects are really designer, undesirable.
But when you use the same kind of thought process to consider medications for mental health, We don't have the same kind of clinical indicators.
That we do in the areas of cholesterol reflux. It can be difficult to measure the response that you have to drugs used for some of the more significant mental health issues.
There these issues such as anxiety, depression, or personality disorders don't come with a lab test to determine whether or not your treatment is working as well as it could.
How do you measure if you're less anxious or less depressed than the day before you took the bill, right?
The other thing that's a challenge in regard is that many of these medications take some time before they reach the level.
In your body that's necessary to deliver the desired outcome. For example, drugs like Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, often used for depression usually require a week or 2.
Before they can be evaluated for success. Now for that 2 weeks before you can really determine whether drug is successful, you're probably going to experience some side effects.
And very frequently are told to be patient during this period of time. If you're 2 weeks, you're still not feeling as well as you could.
The prescriber may choose to increase your dosage and wait another 2 weeks to determine whether or not the new dosage is working.
If you had a partial effect he may raise again your dosage or wait for another 2 weeks while you're experiencing all those side effects.
And while you're having poor quality of life and frankly why you've paid for a bunch of drugs at me may not have needed.
This can go on and on. The trial and error can go back and forth between a number of different medications all while you're experiencing all of the ill events from this.
The fact is if we had PGX test on board and results before we need these medications, we'd really be able to narrow the choice based on your personal genomic makeup.
Just think of how much better via we would be able to pick those medications for you based on what we know about the enzymes.
That your body requires. To activate those drugs and then to clear them out of your system. These medications really have no specific clinical indicator to determine whether or not they're succeeding or Other than how you feel.
Prior to any diagnosis, this would have a remarkable effect on how We would treat you your quality of life.
And your success going forward. The same can be used for sent for drugs that are used for anxiety. These medications are often controlled substances such as Xanax or Valium.
These medications have with them a number of side effects such as drowsiness or dizziness, disorientation, which you're really very undesirable.
Would it be a better idea to avoid a trial and error with those drugs? Medications utilized for attention deficit disorder are also governed by enzymes.
Revealed by a PGX test. I mean, how often have we heard children or even adults suffering from attention deficit disorder going through a number of drugs one by one to try and find the one that's best for them.
Again, these agents have a lot of undesirable effects. That are experienced throughout their use. Having a PGX test on board and the results would dramatically reduce the exposure to necessary drugs.
For tension deficit and relief. Patients of some of the side effects along the way.
If you're caring for a child having difficulty focusing or at school, knowing exactly what medications to choose is If faced with attention deficit would be a tremendous relief to parents the teachers and the children that are suffering.
The same if true of adults. Attention doesn't disorder affects adults as well. But perhaps the greatest challenge in behavioral health and mental health is treating patients experiencing personality disorders.
It's even more difficult to assess the success in the effectiveness of these medications. And for focusing on suffering though from those suffering from personality disorders every moment of the day can be anguish.
As you can imagine. The understanding of the effectiveness of these medications is a tremendous challenge. The side effects of the drugs used to treat personality disorders can be very undesirable.
In fact, lead to patients discontinuing the medications and giving up altogether. So in essence, PGS testing for mental health issues as we've spoken of here.
Is it an amazing and effective tool? To help patients and prescribers avoid some of the stigma associated with them.
We've talked a lot about the process of the test itself. It's a simple cheek swab followed by a laboratory examination, then a series of results that come back.
But how exactly does a person get a PGX test? Well, the truth is, it's a clinical test.
And it must be ordered by a physician. Your doctor has to order the test. The test then goes to a lab and hopefully your insurance will pay for it.
The physician may be required to provide your insurance with information about you and your diagnosis. To get the test covered.
Medicare pays for the test under a number of conditions. The first step is to speak with your physician. Let them know you're interested in genomic testing.
Give him some of the information we've provided you here today. Yes, and the write the order for the test and work with your insurance to get the test covered.
Once this has taken place, ask. That the results of the test be sent. To accessible pharmacy services.
As your pharmacy provider, we will provide you with a comprehensive evaluation of the test and guidance going forward for any potential new issue that would benefit by the analysis.
All accessible pharmacy clients are provided with a comprehensive clinical evaluation of their medications, including an examination of their relevance.
In regard to PGX testing. Becoming a client of accessible pharmacy services will provide patients with access to a number of surges is such as PGX examination that are not necessarily available to them in other circumstances.
If you're one of our clients, we can assist you through the process of getting the test. We can contact your physician, we can explain the process to your physician.
And we can help evaluate. The results of the test and share them with you. PGX testing and PGX evaluation and consultation is just a very small part of what we do on a daily basis.
There are a number of other things in consultation and upkeep. Discussions with your prescribers and continuity.
That provide real assistance in addressing mental health issues. Especially for those patients that are affected by mental health, but also other internal medication issues such as diabetes and cholesterol.
And heart disease. That's really the thing to focus here is that If you have a mental health issue, it doesn't forgive you from other things.
People that have depression, they still have cholesterol too. People that have anxiety won't, you know, they still have blood pressure issues too.
And it's a very important thing that we provide is the continuity of bringing all of these thoughts together so that you have a comprehensive solution and the assistance that you need.
Both in the perspective of how we pack your medications. How we provide them to you and how we interact with your physicians.
To make sure that you're put in the best position to succeed. It's been a pleasure to discuss pharmacogenomics with you.
And the benefits it has to its mental health. Accessible Pharmacy Services is here for patients.
Under any circumstance. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us and we'd love to have you as a patient.
Thank you all.
Thanks, Jason. Jason is awesome. I can't, I can't stress that enough. I'm gonna.
Put myself back on. Perfect. Thank you, Jason. Again, everything about genomic testing is incredibly, incredibly important.
Jason is incredibly important. He's an integral part of our team. We would not be accessible pharmacy services without him and we are so thankful for the amazing work he does.
Every day. He's absolutely brilliant. And like I said, genomic testing is so, so important.
And if you have any questions, we are here. Please do not hesitate to contact us to reach out to us.
We would love to talk with you more about genomic testing and answer any questions that you may have.
Next I would like to introduce Pam Shaw. Pam Shaw is great. She's with the.
Council of the Blinds Mental Health and Wellness Committee. Pam is unfortunately though she's she's on Zoom.
She does amazing work with the American Council of the Blind. I'm so excited for her to share about the their mental health and wellness committee.
So let me make sure that she is spotlighted and then Pam you can go ahead and take it away.
Okay, thank you so very much. What an honor and a privilege to be here this afternoon and share with you during this webinar.
Now I've got 5 min to tell you a lot, but don't worry, whatever doesn't get finished here, this is just the beginning.
And I hope you know that this is a momentous beginning. And today by being here. Everyone who is here, everyone who is listening to the replay, you are making history because we come together to talk about blindness and mental health but particularly the area of consumerism and what we can do.
As people who are the recipients of prement concerned about our loved ones or do this professionally. We're here.
A little over a year ago, the American Council of the Blind took a bold step. In establishing our mental health and wellness committee.
We understood that blind people were experiencing the results of the pandemic, but we also knew that even before the pandemic, there were challenges in this field.
And so the idea was what could we do? What should we do? That's because and out of that was born the mental health and wellness committee.
Now this committee identifies areas of needed advocacy. And proposes solutions that will pass that will positively impact the lives of people who are blind or people we fish in law.
The mental health and wellness committee also. As the goal of sharing information about mental health and wellness.
With while actively helping people and also getting rid of the stigma arounding prevention. I diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.
Distribution of resourceful information in accessible formats is another goal that we are working on. This could include hotline numbers and information on state and federal resources.
You'll be hearing about the 9 8 8 system and in addition in addition we will play attention to the treatment needs of people around us.
It is easy. Often to sit back and complain. But I think you would agree that it's when we stand up for ourselves and support others, everyone benefits.
So what end do we need to focus on? Well, we focus on participating in prevention. Yes, it is possible.
And certain instances. To avoid the onset of the mental health. Mental illness but it takes time effort and energy.
I think that the other thing that we have to be aware of is there are people always around us in need.
We need to be tireless in our efforts. Good night when there's making diagnosis and treatment.
We need to make it better and more appropriate to meet our needs. And that we need to be seated with the table where decisions are made legislation is passed.
And policy is set forth. It's been fourth period. I don't know. About you.
But I know that today we have just only been able to tack the surface. But we're going to be there to continue the effort and we invite you to, we'll keep you informed to promote what we're doing and also to join us in making sure that mental health and wellness as a primary consideration for people who are blind and visually impaired.
And that there is an organization committed to making life better for us. Thank you so much for having me and we will be in touch.
Back to you, Alexander.
Awesome. Thank you, Pam. All of the information about the American Council of the Blondes Mental Health and Wellness Committee will also be shared in our follow-up email on Monday and on our website.
Monday as well. So you'll have information about how to contact them and how to get involved. Pam, I cannot thank you enough for sharing that information.
You are a joy to speak with and all the light you bring to the world is absolutely amazing. So thank you for coming on and speaking with us.
Next I'm so happy that I get to introduce Megan. Megan is the founder of Jem Consultants.
It's a creative brand agency that was hired by 9 8 8 to help with outreach. She does an amazing job.
9 8 8 is a free, 24 h, 7 day a week lifeline offering mental health support and intervention in times of need, emotional distress, and crisis.
Megan is amazing and she has helped individuals know about and understand 9 8 8 as a resource. So I'm so happy she's here to tell you about it.
So please, Megan, go ahead and take it away.
Hi, I'm sorry, do I have screen sharing ability?
Or no. I think you're on mute now.
Now you should, sorry about that. Okay.
Okay, let me see.
It doesn't show up.
I'm so sorry. You know what? I'm having a hard time with screen sharing, so unfortunately, no one's going to.
Be able to see the presentation, but I will talk through it and hopefully be just as fascinating because I thought our slides were kind of cool.
Thank you so much for for having me. I really appreciate it. This is an amazing conversation.
I'm particularly obsessed with the genomic testing. So that was very cool to hear. As stated, my agency is called Jim, where strategic communications and creative agency were based in Philadelphia.
Our mission is to craft beautiful creative that manifests purpose and inspires audiences. Impact is embedded in our brand strategy, messaging and design work at every touch point and it's pretty much reflected in our values and our people.
As also mentioned, we're working with the city of Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services and Scatter Good Foundation.
To develop a citywide awareness campaign to promote 9 8 8. A very important lifeline to support people who may be experiencing a crisis and or need mental health resources.
This 3 digit number is an alternative to 9 1 one when you or someone you know or see is having a mental health crisis and our need of emergency intervention.
As I mentioned, 9 8 8 is a lifeline that offers 24, over 7 access to trained crisis counselors who can help people who need information about local mental health resources, are experiencing suicidal thoughts or feelings.
Are an emotional distress. Battling substance use and or having a mental health crisis. It's a federal number.
And it was built in response to post George Floyd and ensures that the response will be received by care units rather than police.
And it's available not only for people who are experiencing crisis, but also for people who have loved ones.
Or are witnessing. Health crisis. There are a lot of reasons to call 9 8 8.
Lot of immediate reasons whether you're feeling anxious or battling anxiety. You're experiencing feelings or thoughts of wanting to harm yourself for others.
Experiencing feelings of helplessness or worthlessness. Having difficulty dealing with life stresses or having thoughts of suicide.
It's also an amazing place to just access resources because we also know that accessing resources can be a very complicated endeavor.
So if you are, if you are a loved one or experiencing a suicidal crisis or emotional distress, you should call 9 to 8.
How do you use 9 8 8? You can call 9 8 from your cell phone or landline. You'll reach a trained crisis line operator.
Who will offer you compassion support and direction in your time of need. Philadelphians who are deaf or hard of hearing can use your preferred TTY relay service or dial 7 1 one then 9 8.
You can also text your chat, 98 from your cell phone, computer, iPads or any devices offering those features.
The text or chat feature will reach the national 9 8 8 support line. Those operators will connect you you to Philadelphia based services and or resources.
Who should use 9 8 8? Everyone should use 98. It's important that all Philadelphia, lifelong residents, new residents, youth, adults, seniors, everyone understands that this resource belongs to the people.
Language support is available in Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, French, and Mandarin.
What will you experience when you call 98? Well, you're gonna reach a compassionate trained professional.
You will receive counseling, guidance, assessment, and or referrals, warm transfers to other services as needed.
So what is our relationship to 9 8 a. We began our work with D bids. We call that's a debate department Bay of rural health.
I don't think they even like us calling them debates and the scatter good foundation in the winter of 2022.
This is the interpreter. Can you just talk a little bit more slowly? Thank you.
We were contracted to develop a comprehensive awareness plan to embed the 9 8 8 number in the psyche Oh, I'm sorry.
Okay.
So if you could talk a little bit more slowly, that'd be awesome. Thanks.
We were selected for this major undertaking because of our intentional approach to prioritize the input and experience of our clients target audience.
We commit the time to learn how people consume information, engage with the issue, and navigate their world.
As a minority owned women led agency, we collectively have a demonstrated Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.
Just got. Sorry.
Demonstrate a history of concepting and executing meaningful engagement strategies. For a variety of clients including institutions across Philadelphia for the last 20 years.
Our team views multicultural markets in the general market as one in the same. With the focus of never getting truly comfortable with knowing what's best for an audience.
We understand that assumptions and bias are dangerous and the diversity speaks to a far larger range than culture. Jim is a unique creative agency because our work is grounded in community.
We take the time to identify and connect with community leaders. Trusted voices, residents of all ages, and others who are willing to share experiences.
We try to produce creative, transformative, provoking awareness plans, informational products, and beautiful collateral that is informative.
Hopefully inspirational and makes people feel good.
So our approach to community connections. Is rooted in the knowledge and lived experience of our intended audiences, speaking with people rather than at understanding the demo assumptions or outdated and too linear and accepting the communication preferences are also evolving.
And are essential components to our approach. We start many of our engagements with authentic and compassionate conversations with diverse audiences throughout Philadelphia and beyond.
Where trust has been built through our authenticity and commitment to respect and being members of the community. We establish culturally competent platforms and empathic focused methodologies.
That don't assume how people absorb and process information. We develop inclusive strategies that take into account the true diversity of audiences and recipients providing pathways.
For collective understanding. Particularly on our 980 project we connected with over a thousand Philadelphians.
From this community, we interviewed Andy, one of our hosts today, and Lynn Heights, president of National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania.
We held one on one conversations, small group conversations. And developed a questionnaire. Which was translated into 5 languages.
We sought out interviewees via existing relationships, partner connections, and cold emails to people whose input we needed for this vital initiative.
This level of detail is what we deliver on all of our projects. And every year we learn something new about connecting with people.
9 8 8 the way that we're trying to spread the word as we do for any projects we've developed an integrated awareness plan to put 900, and 88 on the radar of all Philadelphians.
As we work to shift the culture around mental health, we recognize that people must have multiple touch points with a campaign to begin the process of embedding new information in their psyche and changing how they approach and engage with the issue.
The 9 8 8 plan is founded in investing in community-based organizations and service providers that are directly supporting the people.
We're creating unique 9 88 collateral from posters to magnets. Stickers, key chains and custom print and electronic info pieces.
We're working with Philly institutions from Comcast to Septa and the school district of Philadelphia to local restaurants, community festivals, and mid to large scale community events like 5 K races and bike rides.
Our responsibility is to find where the people are and meet them there. We're committed to touching people where they work, shop, play, ride, learn, pray, and walk in with a beautiful campaign that reflects the insights of the people with whom we connected.
And we invite you all to work with us. Our work to spread the message about 9 8 8 is just beginning and we are open to partnerships.
This resource belongs to the people of Philadelphia and our goal is to ensure people know it is here. You are invited to contact my team at Hello at little giant creative.
Com. Thank you. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much for listening to me and really hope that.
I conveyed how important 9 8 8 is as a resource.
Awesome. Thank you, Megan.
Awesome. Just switching the spotlights. Megan, that was absolutely amazing. You did an incredible job at conveying how important 9 98 is.
We're so thankful to have you here with us and we're so, so grateful to have you working on the 98 project and overall making sure everybody knows how important 9 8 8 project and overall making sure everybody knows how important 9 8 8 project.
And overall making sure everybody knows how, important 9 8 8 is as a resource and sharing all the information about it, making sure everybody knows how, important 9 8 8 8 8 is as a resource and sharing all of the information about it today and, sharing how to, how to use it, how it works, who it's for, how to get in contact with it today and.
sharing all the information about it today and, sharing how to, how to use it, how it works, who it's for, how to, about it today and, sharing how to, how to use it, how it works, who it's for, how Next and finally I'm so excited to introduce our final speaker.
Kimberly Dobbs. So Kim is an owner and a therapist at intuitive counseling and wellness in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
She has training in dialectical therapy. Excuse me, dialectical behavioral therapy, emotionally focused therapy, and sensory motor and somatic therapy.
I cannot stress enough how incredible I think she is. We're so so thrilled to have her here with us today.
And without further ado, I will let her take it from here.
I'm gonna, I forgot that I had muted you. So I'm asking to unmute you now.
I think you might have to do it.
Kim, you might need to unmute it. I apologize.
Yeah, there you go. Perfect.
Hi, how's that? Okay. Perfect. Okay.
You want it?
Yes, everything's perfect.
Can you see me too? Because I just move the phone. Okay, fantastic. Well, thank you so much for that beautiful introduction.
First, I've been to quickly describe myself. I have short curly brown hair, blue eyes, fair skin.
I have a nose piercing in my right nasal and I'm wearing a cream colored sweater sitting in a white chair with a bookcase behind me.
So as Alexander said, I'm a mental health therapist. I have a group practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and I also co-posed a weekly podcast with another mental health therapist, a colleague of mine, and it's called intuitive choices.
When I asked to be a part of today's webinar, I was. Really honored.
Very excited. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't overwhelmed. Because the topic of mental health is so broad.
And I really wanted to speak about mental health in a way that felt meaningful. For the people in my community and I say my community because I am blind.
I went blind. About 10 years ago, fully like, you know, fully blind from a condition called retinitis pigmentosa.
So. What I ultimately landed on was speaking about mental health services, seeking them and obtaining them for us in the blind and low vision community.
And so I'm just gonna basically start with a story. I'm gonna get comfortable here.
So. About a year ago, I sought therapy for myself and I think I did what most of it do these days when we're seeking services of any kind which I.
Sorry about that guys. I am turn my voice over back on and so I just had to turn it off because it was going off.
So I thought there would be for myself about a year ago and I did what everybody I think does, which is I turned to Google and I started doing some searching.
And eventually narrowed it down to 2 different people and scheduled, a consultation with them, you know, that like do they fit kind of compensation?
And I was chatting with one particular therapist and the conversation was going really well. You know, I, you know, she seemed really nice and I felt comfortable with her.
I shared with her that I was blind and what I was looking for out of therapy. To get out of it and she shared with me but her approach was.
So we get to the end of the conversation and I say to her, look then, you know, I just want to be fully transparent.
I'm talking to you know another therapist and I'll certainly let you know by the end of the week, and I'll certainly let you know by the end of the week whether or not I plan to pursue working with you, whether or not I plan to pursue working with you, what would be your preferred method to pursue working with you, what would be your preferred method of communicating to you?
Would you prefer I text you or email you? And she said, Well, actually, I understand, but, oh, wait, but you probably can't email, right?
Pause for reaction. I obviously with a little taken aback by that and and quite frankly a little bit offended and I very politely did that you know I I'm I can email you.
And, they did not actually pursue working with this gal, but I'm bringing this story to you because I think it's incredibly important to first start with how universally hard it is to ask for help.
And if you are struggling with your mental health. To be able to like do the work to pick up the phone, do the search, get on the phone, even talk about what going on with you.
To a perfect stranger. Is really courageous and it takes the tremendous amount of strength. And so when I did this and was met with Not curiosity.
But an assumption. An assumption about the way that I operate in the world. I immediately was like, this, this, this isn't, this isn't a good fit for me.
And so the first thing I really want to stress because this audience today is diverse, right? I'm speaking to folks in my community, right, folks who are blind and have low vision and also folks who are supporting us, right?
Serving our community, caring for our community. And so I really can't stress enough the importance of leading with curiosity.
Acting open-ended questions because you know we We as in people who are blind and have low vision.
Asking for help for us is something that is a part of our day-to-day everyday experience, right?
Whether it's like, hey, do I have, did I get my car on my face when I was to find my makeup or like, hey, can you like read the instructions on this ripheroni box or hey can you help me fill out this check like this is the day-to-day thing for us and so to like ask for help when we're struggling with our mental health believe it or not is actually a choice
for us, right? So. Being able to present a phase that feels open to us so that we can feel more comfortable to have that conversation is so critical.
Okay. So let's assume that I started working with this gal and you know And we set up an appointment to work together, right?
The first thing that I just don't think gets enough air time when it comes to seeking mental health services and finding the quote unquote right provider for you.
Is you gotta like them. Okay. And there's nothing to say that like if you find a person and you feel informed about them to like not, you know, to not pursue mental services because you like don't like them enough.
But it is today that We are we are post pandemic mental health is at an all-time high and waiting lists are at an all-time high right access to actually getting in with somebody is really, really hard, right?
So. I think my point is like when you get in with somebody, you think there's this like a media like, finally, right?
I've been on this waiting list for 3 months for like this person had finally found somebody that like takes my insurance or oh if you know I wanted to see somebody in person and this person is physically acceptable for me.
We tend to maybe settle and I do want to say that connecting with the person that you're going to be having really intimate conversations with is really important.
And so we can't start that enough. Okay, so back to what I think about, you know, starting with the therapist.
It is standard procedure to for for any therapist counter social worker that colleges to. Provide what what's called intake paperwork, right?
These are forms that you have to fill out. Before you start working with them. You're like right when you start working with 70.
And let's let's just say you you bet with them and you get to that face you have this appointment with them and they send you a lot of it now online through portals and if you have dealt with this before you know that most of these portals are like not that accessible for us, right?
Not acceptable with our screen reader. So if you are a mental health provider and you're listening to this I really encourage you to take a look at your intake that's done right take a look at your medical at your your electronic electronic medical platform to see how accessible is this for assistive technology.
And if you are a person who is on the other side of this and you're receiving, and he's gonna take forms.
You know, I have a friend of mine who went to seek therapy and she got to the point where she said with appointment and the therapist sent over the intake forms.
And the intake forms she couldn't accept them with her screen reader and when she reached out to this to this provider to let her know I think very well-intentioned.
This therapist said, oh, don't worry about it. We can just build those. We can just build that out in session.
So I'm using this as an example to say, no, that is not an equitable accommodation.
And so if you are a provider, I really want you to take into consideration what is an equitable accommodation for my clients because in no universe Wait a sighted consumer client patient be expected to pay money to fill out paperwork.
And so and to my to my my blind and low vision community I say that you Feel confident and comfortable exercising your voice in it that you know I recognize because I I do it myself that like we we adopt a lot of our energy having to explain ourselves and I'm just gonna say that my lawn is being mowed right now and I'm not sure if you can hear it and I'm sorry if
it's distracting. But we spent a lot of time explaining ourselves and just describing ourselves and what our needs are and it is just a necessary evil of what our lives look like.
And so I really encourage you to to describe and explain some of these basic needs and and basic needs that will allow you.
To. Make this process a little bit easier for you. You know what, I, I stayed to my bike all the time.
Like. The last thing I want to do is create more anxiety for you. Right? This is supposed to be a face where you come and, and, and you, and you works for your anxiety, you work through your, right?
So. So I really want to start that, okay? The other, the other thing that I really wanted to talk about today is have.
Conversations with loved ones. Friends family because I think that We all have people in our lives that were like, yeah, You need some therapy.
And the first thing I really want to say is that if you are in a situation where you have a friend you have a loved one and they're like leaning on you really hard right Having that conversation is uncomfortable, but first no.
That you by sharing with them and like you know having that a little conversation about like hey maybe this is something that you want to take to a professional is an exercise of self care.
And while I'd love to like give you, the, you know, like, here's exactly what today and like, this is what would be helpful.
I don't have that, but I do have. You know, if you speak from a place of loving kindness, right, like it's coming from a place of love and kindness and compassion.
I think that you just send it, you know. And very cliche therapy thing for me to say.
Events, right? You know, why sounds like you're really going through like a really hard time.
And this is outside my scope. Like have you considered talking to somebody about this? Because, you know, ultimately You know, it's really about, I think it was Pam that, that, that mentioned this idea of like, like, let's digitize, you know, and, You know, so, having that conversation, I think is a really, really, you know.
feel it's gonna feel uncomfortable, but you know, sometimes you gotta do it anyway. The last, the last thing I want to talk about are some resources.
Okay, so As I mentioned before, accessing mental health services right now, it is hard. It's hard to find somebody.
It's hard to get in somewhere. Obviously it's even more challenging. If you have some, you know, if physically accessing a place or state is an issue, right?
But I do think that. One of the things that I that I that I encounter a lot when people come to when seek services from my practice is the very first question I get is, do you take my insurance?
And so, I always encourage people start there, right? Do, you know, go online, you know, look at your, and you will, you will get a list of providers from your insurance company.
And so you can start there. And then the other thing that a lot of people really don't know about is what they're what what it's called, an out of network mental health benefit, right?
So what that means is you could potentially see somebody who doesn't take your insurance and that And depending on what your out of network benefit is, how high your deductible or low your deductible is, your insurance company might reimburse you a certain percentage of what that session fee is so that you can see that person that doesn't take your insurance.
A lot of people don't know that and if you're not comfortable, if you don't know necessarily how to check yourself, I check for potential clients all the time.
Like as a provider, a provider can contact your insurance company for you just to make life a little bit easier.
Another really great resource that I actually learned about maybe, you know, 6 months ago, a year ago, is a website called Open Pad.
Open Path is amazing. It's amazing because it has it basically is like a partnership with providers all over the country who are willing to take, willing to work on what's called a sliding scale.
And what that means is they will accept less than their regularly scheduled fee and so those providers for the most part from from the feedback I've gotten from people those providers that are listed are accepting new clients because oftentimes when people do check for their insurance and they and they look up those providers those providers are all full and so I really think that Open Pack is such a great, great resource.
And then the last thing is if you are, if you, if you work for an agency or, you know, whatever company you work for, check with your employer to see if they have what's called an EAP.
And employee assistance program. These are also fantastic. A fantastic resource because that means that your employer will actually pay for a certain amount of sessions that you can so that you can see, and seek mental health services like through this EAP program.
So. Those are just the resources that I that, that I, that I think are really great to like help you get in the door.
So I think that, you know, just to close, I think it's really important to just recognize that if you are seeking mental health services, right, like it is an exercise of vulnerability.
And if you are providing mental services, lead with curiosity, open up that conversation, allow for the space for for those potential clients to feel safe and comfortable.
Helping you know what they need to make their experience more comfortable. So that's pretty much all I have for today.
I want to say thank you so much to Accessible Pharmacy for including me in this.
Loved the spirit of all the panelists. I, for including me in this, to accessible pharmacy for including me in this.
Loved the spirit of all the, for including me in this, loved the spirit of all the, all the panelists.
I feel like really honored to be a part of
Awesome, thank you, Kim.
No problem.
All right, everybody. I just want to say thank you again to Kim. To absolutely no surprise, you were absolutely incredible.
Everything that you do and everything that you spoke about is really, really inspiring. We were so excited when you decided to speak with us at the webinar.
I know that we gave you a huge topic to speak about. Okay.
Yeah, I loved it. I loved it. It gave me really something and 2 on I so appreciate it.
Okay.
I also do wanna say if people wanna reach out to me, reach out to my practice, you know, maybe you can put that in the notes.
And check me out on you can always also check out my podcast if you're not in Pennsylvania.
Intuitive choice though
Perfect. Perfect. Yeah, all that information will be, will send that out and then it will also be on our website too.
So yeah, just thank you, thank you so much and you you handle that huge topic that we gave you with.
Okay.
No, it was perfect. And thank you for joining us and thank you for all that you do in sharing everything with us.
Thanks, Alexandra.
Of course, of course. With that said, unfortunately, that does conclude our webinar. I want to thank all of our presenters for speaking with us today.
Mental health is so, so incredibly important and I want to thank all of our presenters for being here and sharing all their resources and their stories with us.
We're so grateful for all of you for coming and speaking about mental health and a safe and open dialogue with everybody.
I also want to thank our ASL interpreters. We have a little bit of a mix up with them.
A couple of minutes ago, so I really want to thank them for being adaptable and helping us with the accessibility of this webinar.
As I mentioned earlier, I've also mentioned it a few times throughout this webinar, but we have, we will be sending out a follow-up email, but we have we will be sending out a follow-up email in the next few days and we're gonna be sending out a follow-up email in the next few days and we're gonna be sending out the recording of this webinar, the video, the audio and the
transcript will all be on that on that email. So you can go back and have access to the webinar in the future.
And other than that, you can also just find the recording for it on our website and also on our YouTube page.
Also, when we send that email, please go ahead and respond to it and give us your feedback about the webinar.
Give us your feedback on the topics that we discussed and also on the accessibility of it so that we can continue to make programs.
Like this more accessible in the future and continue to provide more topics for you. In the future as well.
Our next webinar is coming up on Friday, October thirteenth. It's on blindness and clinical trials.
Registration is available on our website and information for that will also be included in the follow-up email too, but I'm super, super excited for that webinar.
It's free to attend. Registration has already opened and you can also go and check out the information for the speakers for that webinar on our website as well.
Also, please join us on Friday, December first for our blind health expo. It is free to attend for the day.
It's also free to exhibit. If you have any questions about exhibiting or attending, please just send us an email to info I and FO at accessible pharmacy.
And I would just like to say before we leave, if you're not a patient of ours here at Accessible Pharmacy, we would absolutely love for you to join us.
We learn more about how to support our current patients. Or excuse me, we learn more about, you know, the community by listening to our current patients.
So if you, we would absolutely love for you to join our community and give us your feedback. As a patient so that we can learn more about how to be more accessible and about what other services we should be providing.
If you are a provider and you believe that you have patients that would benefit from our services, if you have a family member that you believe would benefit from our services, please don't hesitate to reach out to us as well.
We would love to hear from you. The easiest way to work with us is to simply call us at 18886337007.
Okay, thank you for attending our blindness and mental health webinar. We were so happy to put it together and have you all attend.
We'll be in touch with that follow-up email and have a great weekend.