H010 Increasing awareness of Huntington’s disease biology, prevalence, and clinical recommendations: offering continuing education credits to medical social workers

<h3>Background</h3> Healthcare providers are mandated by their licensing entities to be up to date on continuing education. The purpose of this program is to bring HD education to non-specialists, so that they can become more knowledgeable and better prepared to refer patients to specialty care. <h3>Objectives</h3> This program aims to provide Washington, DC area social workers with free education on Huntington’s Disease, including the biology, prevalence, diagnostic process, and guidance for providing services and care to individuals and families with Huntington’s Disease. The outcome of this program will drive development of future materials and programming, based on identified needs. <h3>Methods</h3> HD-CERC developed a 1-hour continuing education unit (CEU) titled ‘Huntington’s Disease 101: A Guide for Professionals’, approved by the Washington, DC Board of Social Work. This CEU was presented to social workers across the District of Columbia, at various healthcare institutions. After each presentation, a post-test was disseminated to participants to assess knowledge of HD and participants’ preparedness to engage with HD patients in clinical settings. <h3>Results</h3> To date, this program has been successfully presented to social workers of three Washington, DC-based hospitals (n = 50). All participants report benefitting considerably from the presentation. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Social workers play a vital role in connecting patients to available community resources. By providing easily-accessible and free education, the hope is that medical social workers who are unfamiliar with HD will be better equipped to care for HD patients and refer appropriately to specialty care.