A Basic Guide to Program Evaluation is available from the Free Management Library, which is a free, online library that includes information on fundraising, volunteers, public policy, and more. This publication provides guidance toward planning and implementing an evaluation process and covers many kinds of evaluations, such as goals-based, process-based, and outcomes-based. http://www.managementhelp.org/evaluatn/fnl_eval.htm
Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services
BRYCS (http://www.brycs.org/) is pleased to present our newest publication, Raising Children in a New Country: An Illustrated Handbook. http://www.brycs.org/documents/RaisingChildren-Handbook.pdf This booklet was created as a tool for refugee and immigrant serving agencies, as they help newcomer parents adjust to the different laws, norms and practices around raising children in the United States. See the Publications page http://www.brycs.org/brycs_resources.htm if you prefer to download the handbook in smaller segments. To order print or CD copies of the Handbook, please email info@brycs.org or call 1-888-572-6500.
Culturally Competent Practice With Latino Families
Culturally Competent Practice With Latino Families, a training curriculum developed for the Georgia Division of Family and Children's Services, provides participants with an introduction to the basic concepts of culturally competent practice, and specific skills and knowledge for culturally competent practice with Latino families. Upon completion of the training, participants will be able to identify the basic concepts of cultural competence, and understand the current demographics of Latino populations throughout the nation, the complexity of diverse Latino populations and the phases of the migration experience. (Description summarized from source.) http://tinyurl.com/2enhgr
A family-centered program that improves parent-child dynamics and family functioning is more effective at discouraging Hispanic youth from engaging in risky behavior than programs that target specific behaviors, according to a study published in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. http://tinyurl.com/2obhgt National Institute of Mental Health Science Update December 20, 2007
The Fall 2007 issue of NIH MedlinePlus magazine is available online at http://www.fnlm.org/magazine/fall07.pdf. The cover story on asthma features Wynonna Judd.
How people use the internet, libraries, and government agencies when they need help
Leigh Estabrook, Professor Emerita, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
Evans Witt, CEO, PSRAI
Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project
“This report emerges from a national survey that looks at how people use a variety of
information sources to help them address some common problems that could be related in some way to government agencies and programs. The problems about which we queried included: dealing with a serious illness or health concern; making a decision about school enrollment, financing school, or upgrading work skills; dealing with a tax matter; changing a job or starting a business; and getting information about major programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.” http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/Pew_UI_LibrariesReport.pdf
The Wyoming Library Roundup is published through a partnership between the Wyoming State Library, the Wyoming Center for the Book, and the Wyoming Library Association. The Fall 2007 issue foucses on library services for and with Native Americans in Wyoming. http://www-wsl.state.wy.us/roundup/index.html
For many of us, the health care system is confusing and difficult to understand. To help make it easier to make health care choices and decisions, the U. S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed a series of bylined advice columns that address questions many people have. The columns are written by AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy, MD. She is one of the country’s top experts on research about consumer health issues. Dr. Clancy is a general internist, researcher, and an authority on involving consumers in their health care. http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/cc.htm
As a result of a Department of Labor and Office of Refugee Resettlement collaboration, three new fact sheets on recertification/re-licensing of refugee professionals are now available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/resources/ref_emp_collaboration.htm [posted on the HMONGHEALTH listserv]
Families USA has released a new report, Too Great a Burden: America’s Families at Risk. This report reveals the numbers of Americans who are in families that will spend more than 10 percent, and more than 25 percent, of their pre-tax income on health care costs in 2008. http://www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/reports/too-great-a-burden.html [Fmailies USA Minority Health Initiatives]
Significant Progress in Nation's Public Health Preparedness, But Critical Gaps Persist
Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Disease, Disasters and Bioterrorism
The fifth annual "Ready or Not?" report—produced by Trust for America's Health with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—finds that important progress has been made, but critical areas of the nation's emergency health preparedness effort still require immediate attention. In addition, the continuing trend of annual cuts in federal funding for state and local preparedness activities threatens the nation's safety.
Read the news release at http://tinyurl.com/25f7yf
Download full text of the report http://tinyurl.com/yt9g5h
View webcast http://tinyurl.com/yq93br [posted on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation email update]
Reaching for a Healthier Life; Facts on Socioeconomic Status and Health in the U.S.
Nancy Adler (director) and Judith Stewart (network administrator) with Sheldon Cohen, Mark Cullen, Ana Diez Roux, William Dow,
Gary Evans, Ichiro Kawachi, Michael Marmot, Karen Matthews, Bruce McEwen, Joseph Schwartz, Teresa Seeman and David Williams.
Available online as PDF file [52p.] at: http://www.macses.ucsf.edu/News/Reaching%20for%20a%20Healthier%20Life.pdf
“……Reaching for a Healthier Life is the result of a decade of work by the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on SES & Health. This multidisciplinary group of scientists has examined the pathways by which socioeconomic status “gets into the body” to affect health and longevity. There is no single pathway by which this occurs. Rather, resources associated with where people stand on the social ladder shape multiple aspects of their lives in ways that affect their health and well-being. ……”
Focus on Basics http://www.worlded.org/WEIInternet/publications/focus_on_basics.cfm is a "publication of the US Division of World Education. Focus on Basics presents best practices, current research on adult learning and literacy, and how research is used by adult basic education teachers, counselors, program administrators, and policy makers." The theme for the latest issue is learning disabilities http://www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/fob/2007/fob_8d.pdf
The 2007 Health Insurance Survey of Farm and Ranch Operators report is the first of a series based on a survey of farm and ranch operations in IA, MN, MO, MN, NE, KS, ND and SD. The report contains insurance status, health care access and medical debt for these families. Please note the 8-page PDF attachment. The Project Access webpage for this information is: http://www.accessproject.org/medical.html#md_rural [Kansas Rural Health Information Service (KRHIS)]
Making Your Printed Health Materials Senior Friendly is a new publication from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. The tip sheet offers suggestions for how to write and design health information to accommodate cognitive and physical changes that often accompany old age. It provides specific examples and includes resources for more information. Print copies of Making Your Printed Health Materials Senior Friendly are free and available in bulk while supplies last. It is also available online. To preview, download or print Making Your Printed Health Materials Senior Friendly go to: http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/srfriendly.htm
NEW!!! ¡NUEVO! OMH en español
OMH’s Spanish language website is now live! It provides health information and resources to address the specific needs of Latinos in the U.S. Take a quiz, check you BMI, or read about any health topic…en español. http://www.omhrc.gov/espanol/
Hey, We Are Blogging!
Visit our National African Health Initiative (NAHI) Blog to learn about what organizations like yours are doing to enhance the culture of health prevention, education and care among the African refugee and immigrant communities through advocacy, outreach and research. http://www.omhrc.gov/templates/content.aspx?ID=5661&lvl=2&lvlID=66
Request for Applications from Community-Based Organizations
The NACDD is receiving applications from community-based organizations to conduct a project to explore the relationship and consequent impact of acculturation and certain mental health conditions on chronic diseases among Latino immigrants. Deadline January 11, 2008. http://www.chronicdisease.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3614
[posted on OMHRC E*NEWS FLASH! http://www.omhrc.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=3&lvlID=297]
A new, electronic newsletter focusing on emergency preparedness and response is now available for health educators. Produced biweekly by the Society for Public Health Education, “Emergency Preparedness and Response News U Can Use,” highlights the latest information on both natural and man-made disasters. Whether you are working directly on an emergency response team or not, this newsletter will be relevant to all health educators, helping them to be ready to respond to their constituents in an emergency. The e-newsletter is available to both SOPHE members and non-members alike at: http://tinyurl.com/2dw48z
If you are interested in being added to the newsletter list – or learn more about what SOPHE is doing related to emergency preparedness and response — contact Tanya Maslak, MPH, Director, Environmental Health Promotion, Society for Public Health Education at: tmaslak@sophe.org
See a list of core public health journals, put together by members of the Medical Library Association' Public Health/Health Administration section. http://publichealth.yale.edu/phlibrary/phjournals/v2/ The list includes information about the publisher, a link to the online version of the journal and pricing information.
Senator Coleman plans to introduce legislation for the National Health Literacy Act of 2007 within the next few days. This much needed federal support to advance our public's health literacy has bi-partisan support for introduction from Senator Harkin. You can read the draft of the bill at the following link: http://foundation.acponline.org/
The American College of Physicians Foundation hosted its Sixth Annual National Health Communication Conference, Advances in Health Literacy, on November 28, 2007. The conference was co-sponsored by the Institute of Medicine and held at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, DC. http://foundation.acponline.org/hl/hcc2007.htm
"On a recent fall afternoon at the Kim Yerton Memorial Library, in Hoopa Valley, library branch manager Kristin Freeman described over the phone the scene inside the warm, wood structure which is shaped to resemble a xhonta, a traditional house of the Hupa people. A carved wood eagle perched in the round window, through which early winter sunlight slanted. More light flooded down from skylights onto the tables." Read the complete article at http://www.northcoastjournal.com/112907/news1129.html [posted on Digest for IndigenousNewsNetwork@topica.com, issue 1021]
The December issue of NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter bringing you practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research, is now online at http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/. In this issue:
Raise a Toast to Healthy Holidays: Celebrate the Season Without Risky Drinking
If you’re celebrating the holidays with family and friends, there’s a good chance alcohol will be part of the picture. People drink for many reasons, but if you overdo it there’ll be little to celebrate the next day.
Dealing With Hearing Loss:Hearing Aids Can Help
Hearing loss can be frustrating. It can make it hard to understand and follow a doctor’s advice, to respond to warnings and to hear doorbells and alarms. But there are ways to treat hearing loss. The most common is to wear a hearing aid.
Health Capsules:
Lack of Sleep Disrupts Emotional Controls
Diabetes Rates Increasing Among Youth
Featured Web Site: Aging and Health en Español http://www.nia.nih.gov/Espanol
The University of California- Berkeley’s School of Public Health released a report “Immigration, Health & Work: The Facts Behind the Myth,” dispelling misperceptions held by the public regarding health status, use of public health services, and exposure to hazardous occupations by immigrants in the U.S. The report also offers policy considerations to address these issues. http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/uc-report-on-immigration-myths_1.pdf [posted in Minority Health Connection: November 2007]
"Nearly two of five Americans struggle with high medical expense burdens, with the problem most severe in rural areas and the South, according to a new study supported by The Commonwealth Fund. As reported in Overburdened and Overwhelmed: The Struggles of Communities with High Medical Cost Burdens, an estimated 38 percent of people in the United States are saddled with high medical cost burdens relative to their income. http://tinyurl.com/yqkl5s The PDF of the report is available online at http://tinyurl.com/yrtjaf [posted on The Commonwealth Fund eMail Alert]
"A growing number of health care stakeholders are recommending that we look across the Atlantic to explore the health systems in countries that cover all of their citizens. In a new column, Health Care Solutions Without Borders, Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis highlights the findings of The Commonwealth Fund's recently released 2007 International Health Policy Survey, which shows that we have much to learn from such countries on issues of affordability, safety, and access to care. The survey found, for example, that financial barriers prevent many U.S. adults from getting the care they need. Thirty-seven percent of all U.S. adults surveyed skipped medications, did not see a doctor when sick, or did not obtain recommended care because they could not afford it. By contrast, only 5 percent of adults in the Netherlands and 8 percent in the U.K. reported problems accessing care due to costs." Read the complete column online at http://tinyurl.com/34usfl [posted on The Communwealth Fund email alert]
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has a web page about the Journal of Genreal Internal Medicine supplement issue with studies on the consequences of language barriers to non-English speaking patients. http://tinyurl.com/23n9u2
"Patients in the United States who speak little or no English are less likely to receive all recommended health care services than English-speaking patients, a new report finds. Non-English speakers are also less likely to have received documentation that provides informed consent before they undergo invasive procedures, according to studies published in a special supplement of the Journal of General Internal Medicine." Read the complete news story at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_57786.html [posted on MedlinePlus Health News, Tuesday November 20, 2007]
A new report is available that examines health insurance coverage among non-corporate farm and ranch operators in the Great Plains. While these operators have higher incomes and net worth than the general population, and the majority do carry health insurance, they still appear to be financially burdened by health care expenses and have medical debt rates comparable to the general population. The Access Project report (*NEW REPORT* 2007 Health Insurance Survey of Farm and Ranch Operators, 8 pages) is available at: http://www.accessproject.org/ [posted on Kansas Rural Health Information Service (KRHIS)]
Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer Featuring Cancer in American Indians and Alaska Natives
The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer shows a continuing decline in cancer death rates and includes a special section on cancer in American Indians and Alaska Natives. http://www.cdc.gov/Features/CancerReport/ The PDF file is available at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/116330621/PDFSTART
Pre-graduate School Programs
Graduate Horizons is offering a pre-graduate school program for Native American, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native students. The program is a four-day "crash course" for Native college students, master's students or alumni to help prepare them for graduate school. It will take place from July 12-15, 2008 at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. Complete program cost is $150 (includes tuition, room, meals, transportation to and from Tucson airport). Students are responsible for their own airfare, but substantial funds are available for travel and tuition assistance (in 2007, 72% of our students received travel awards). To learn more about the program, see http://collegehorizons.org/index.php?page=graduate-horizons
[posted on [NS_Education] Digest Number 586]
Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Health Care for American Indian and Alaska Native Elders
http://www.uppermidwestrhrc.org/pdf/policybrief_native_elders.pdf
Policy brief reporting findings from a study assessing health insurance coverage and access to health care among American Indian and Alaska Native elders (Native elders), using data from a national survey that included more than 8,300 Native elders.
Organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
National Trends in the Perinatal and Infant Health of Rural American Indians (AIs) and Alaska Natives (ANs)
Have the Disparities Between AI/ANs and Whites Narrowed?
http://depts.washington.edu/uwrhrc/uploads/RHRC_WP111_1Pager.pdf
Brief overview of findings from a study examining trends in prenatal care receipt, low-birthweight rates, neonatal and postneonatal death rates, and cause of death among rural American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) and whites between 1985 and 1997.
Organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
[posted in Rural Assistance Center Health Update]
Native American students living on Arizona’s Hopi and Navajo Indian reservations are spending summer vacations discovering their vocation in life while providing hope for their communities.The Indigenous Pride Health Worker (IPHW) program exposes high school students to professional health careers with the aim that they will eventually return to serve their people on the reservation. http://www.raconline.org/newsletter/web/fall07.php#iphw [posted on New Issue of the Rural Monitor]
Your Diabetes Is My Diabetes: A Bilingual Family Matter
http://www.omhrc.gov/templates/content.aspx?ID=5742&lvl=3&lvlID=287
Back in his native Venezuela, Manuel Hernandez was working for a company which required a mandatory annual physical examination among its employees. It helped him find out about his diabetes.
At Risk Asian Americans Battle Diabetes in New Ways
http://www.omhrc.gov/npa/templates/content.aspx?ID=43&lvl=2&lvlid=4
People come to the National Alliance to Nurture the Aged and Youth to attend a workshop or class. Sometimes, they end up on "the couch," the one elders rest on when they have unexpected dizzy spells brought on by diabetes, as someone calls for help.
[posted in the OMHRC E*NEWS FLASH!]
Information outreach to a local public health department: a case study in collaboration
Maxine L. Rockoff, PhD, Diana J. Cunningham, MLS, MPH, AHIP, Marie T. Ascher, MSLIS, AHIP, and Jacqueline Merrill, RN, MPH, DNSc
Journal of the Medical Library Association, 95(3): 355-357
"The delivery of essential public health services depends on the effective use of relevant information by public health employees. Yet, despite the importance of information to the practice of public health, the complex information needs of the public health workforce are not well met. This paper describes how the New York Medical College Health Sciences Library and School of Public Health (NYMC) and the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) successfully collaborated in collecting data for two separate projects that addressed the information needs of employees in the Dutchess County Department of Health (DCDOH) in New York's Hudson Valley. NYAM additionally partnered with researchers at Columbia University in the Department of Biomedical Informatics and School of Nursing." http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=17641776
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has just published, "Accessible Health Information Technology (IT) for Populations with Limited Literacy: A Guide for Developers and Purchasers of Health IT." As most health information technology (IT) developers have little knowledge of populations with limited literacy and of the technical standards and aspects of accessible health IT design, this guide and checklist provide a structure, strategies, and other resources for the development of these technologies. Similarly, purchasers of health IT (e.g., heath plans, pharmaceutical companies, foundations, and other non-profit organizations) that desire to make technologies available to limited-literacy adults, can use this guide and checklist to evaluate a health IT product. For those purchasers who contract out the development of their product, this guide can be used to direct and validate the developer's work. For more information, go to http://tinyurl.com/26eo38 Open the PDF file of the report at http://tinyurl.com/2c9zpn [poted on HealthLiteracy 1476
Consensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Education, November 2006
MMWR Weekly, October 19, 2007 / Volume 56 / No 40
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5641a5.htm
The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has recommended that all undergraduates have access to education in public health (1). To implement this recommendation, a Consensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Education was convened November 7--8, 2006, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Conference attendees agreed that undergraduate public health education can help produce an educated citizenry that is better prepared to cope with public health challenges ranging from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome to aging, avian influenza, and health-care costs. Conference working groups recommended that two introductory courses, Public Health 101 and Epidemiology 101, be offered by all U.S. colleges and universities to fulfill undergraduate social science and science distribution requirements, respectively. The groups further recommended that high-quality minors in public health should be developed, with core courses, experience-based learning, and focus areas such as global health. The full recommendations from the conference have been published online by CCAS at http://www.ccas.net
A report released ... by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC) describes the diverse views of stakeholders from across the United States regarding the certification of health care interpreters. Amid the growing clamor for national certification for health care interpreters as a means to improve the quality of health care services for patients with limited English proficiency, the report reveals the complexities of developing a credible and technically sound certification process. A free copy of the report can be requested via email (joyconnell55@aol.com). More information, including National Standards of Practice for Interpreters in Health Care and other working papers on related topics, are available at http://www.ncihc.org [posted on CLAStalk-list]
HHS Announces Project to Help 3.6 Million Consumers Reap Benefits of Electronic Health Records
Oct 31, 2007 -- In a move that will improve health care for millions of Americans, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced a five-year demonstration project that will encourage small to medium-sized physician practices to adopt electronic health records (EHRs). http://www.raconline.org/news/news_details.php?news_id=7530
Broadband Enables Better Health Care at Reduced Cost for More Americans
Oct 25, 2007 -- Business Wire article reports that the expansion of broadband internet service has facilitated the development of telemedicine technologies improving healthcare to more Americans at a reduced cost, according to a new study commissioned by the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA). http://tinyurl.com/yrxw49
Healthy Start Initiative-Eliminating Racial/Ethnic Disparities
Application deadline: Dec 6, 2007
Under this program, grants will be awarded to address significant disparities in perinatal health indicators. http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=1721
Healthy Behaviors in Women
Application deadline: Dec 7, 2007
Grants to develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate novel approaches that concurrently address the relationship between women's healthy eating and mental health during the perinatal period. http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=1722
Grants for Native Americans and Native American Caregiver Support Program
Application deadline: Jan 22, 2008
Funding for programs to increase home and community based services to older Indians, Alaska Natives and native Hawaiians, which respond to local needs and are consistent with evidence-based prevention practices. http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=1724
[posted on Rural Assistance Center Health Update]
Our cities, our health, our future: Acting on social determinants for health equity in urban settings
Chair and Lead Writer: Tord Kjellstrom
Report of the Knowledge Network on Urban Settings, WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health
Prepared by the WHO Centre for Health Development, Kobe, Japan - 2007
Available online as PDf file [70p.] at: http://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/knus_report_16jul07.pdf
“…..A conceptual framework for urban health was suggested by Vlahov et al. (2006, 2007) and was adapted for the report (Figure 4). The core concept is that the social and physical environments that define the urban context are shaped by multiple factors and multiple players at multiple levels. Global trends, national and local governments, civil society, markets and the private sector shape the context in which local factors operate. Governance interventions in the urban setting must consider national and municipal determinants and should strive to influence both the urban living and working environments as well as intermediary processes that include social process and health knowledge." [posted on PAHO/WHO Equity listserv]
Devon Greyson of the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research in Vancouver, British Columbia, offers a brief review of intellectual freedom issues with teen-oriented graphic novels containing gay themes in Canada and the United States. Collection Building 26, no. 4 (2007): 130–134 http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00011777/01/DGreyson-GLBTQContentinComics.pdf [posted in American Libraries Direct]
New AHRQ Report Recommends Use of Existing Call Centers To Expand Communications in Public Health Emergencies
http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2007/callctrpr.htm
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released Adapting Community Call Centers for Crisis Support: A Model for Home-based Care and Monitoring, a new report that recommends expanding the capabilities of poison control centers, nurse advice lines, drug information centers and health agency hotlines to assist persons at home or in public shelters in the event of public health emergencies such as biological attacks or pandemic influenza.
2008 Health Education Advocacy Summit
http://www.healtheducationadvocate.org/Summit/
March 15-17, 2008, Washington, DC
National Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit
http://www.nationalaidshousing.org/HousingandHIV-AIDSResearchSummit.htm
March 5-7, 2008, Baltimore, MD
[posted on PHPartners http://phpartners.org/ - New Links for the week of Nov 02, 2007]
The Third Edition of Medical Home Primer for Community Pediatricians and Family Physicians provides an overview on the medical home approach and is followed by a step-by-step approach to improving the care provided in a medical home practice. In addition to descriptions of approaches to evaluating the degree of “medical homeness” offered by a practice, the publication suggests strategies to improve quality, negotiate contracts with health plans and use proper CPT codes for appropriate reimbursement. The online version includes a section with "Diagnostic Modules" containing information for managing 13 pediatric medical conditions by the primary care physician. Over 150 links to web-based references are included.
The Medical Home Primer is available online at http://internet.dscc.uic.edu/medhome/mhintro.asp
A PDF version is available at http://internet.dscc.uic.edu/forms/medicalhome/MedHomeCMEMonograph.pdf
The newly revised Medical Home Primer is a publication by the University of Illinois at Chicago Division of Specialized Care for Children (DSCC)—in collaboration with the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians, the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (ICAAP), and Illinois Health Connect (a program sponsored by the Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services).[posted on Kansas Rural Health Information Service (KRHIS)]
Hablamos Juntos is pleased to announce the Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM) published a special supplement on language barriers today. The supplement is sponsored by Hablamos Juntos, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to 1) highlight state of the art research about the effects of language barriers on access, quality and cost of health care; 2) provide insight for clinicians, educators, researchers, administrators, and policy makers on addressing language barriers in healthcare settings; and 3) draw attention to unexplored areas of research and education. You can now access the online version of this supplement here: http://tinyurl.com/278l3w [posted on Hablamos Juntos eBrief November 2007]
Urban Indian Health Commission Report Reviews the Prevalence of Depression, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease
Nearly seven out of every 10 American Indians and Alaska Natives live in or near cities, and that number is growing. This change in lifestyle has left many in dire circumstances and poor health. Unfortunately, this patient population is seemingly invisible to health care providers and federal and state policy-makers and yet faces significant health care disparities.
A new report, Invisible Tribes: Urban Indians and Their Health in a Changing World, released by the Urban Indian Health Commission, a select group of leaders convened by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Seattle Indian Health Board's Urban Indian Health Institute, examines the health care issues currently facing millions of urban American Indians and Alaska Natives. Find more information at http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=23195&pid=1142&c=EMC-CA133 Download the report at http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/uihc2007report.pdf [posted on RWJF Content Alerts]
HHS Releases New Health Literacy Tool for Professionals Who Serve Older Adults
As part of Health Literacy month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a new health literacy tool for people who serve older adults. The Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults is designed to provide useful strategies and suggestions to professionals who work with older adults to help bridge the communication gap between professionals and older adults.
In a national assessment of health literacy, only three percent of the older adults surveyed were found to be proficient in health literacy. Persons with limited health literacy have more adverse health outcomes including less frequent use of preventive services, higher hospitalization rates, and more emergency room visits. For older Americans, difficulties with health literacy can complicate already challenging health problems since as many as 80 percent of older Americans have at least one chronic disease. For more information visit: http://www.health.gov/communication/literacy/olderadults/default.htm. [posted on HealthLiteracy 1465]
KIDS COUNT Data Book (The Annie E. Casey Foundation 18th annual), a national & state-by-state effort to track the health, academic, & economic status of children throughout the nation plus a special section on children in immigrant families http://www.kidscount.org/sld/compare.jsp
Know Your Health Care Rights (Joint Commission) to help pts understand their rights & to encourage them to become active participants... http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/SpeakUp/sp_rights.htm
The Prepared Patient, a series from the Health Behavior News Service (HBNS) to help Americans participate more fully in their health care. Effective Patienthood Begins With Good Communication is the 3d issue with links to the previous issues in the Archives. The Prepared Patient can be re-published with a source citation for the Health Behavior News Service. http://www.cfah.org/hbns/PreparedPatient/Prepared-Patient-Vol1-Issue3.cfm
Health Literacy Special Query Page for PubMed http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/health_literacy.html
1, Click on MEDLINE/PubMed health literacy search to run a PREFORMULATED search of daily updated MEDLINE 2. SET LIMITS and re-run the search 3. Explore other resources QUESTIONS/COMMENTS to zornm@mail.nih.gov
Promising Practices PandemicPractices.org is a database that allows information exchange to improve pandemic plans with compilation of searchable info http://pandemicpractices.org/practices/article.do?page=home
Readyness.gov page http://www.ready.gov/america/index.html
HEALTH COMM Web sites for September 2007
compiled by Marcia Zorn, MA, MLS
Lists are archived by the Coalition for Health Communication at http://www.healthcommunication.net/Online_Resources.html
Information and Resources for Families of Children with Health and/or Mental Health Care Needs
The booklet – available online and in hard copy – in English and in Spanish, is designed to help parents of children who have been diagnosed with health or mental health care needs to learn about available resources and to develop a partnership with their children’s schools. The booklet’s content has been reviewed and validated by groups of parents, youth, and educators and is produced in partnership with the Council for Exceptional Children and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. The HSC Foundation, in partnership with George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development, conducted the original research on which the the publication is based. For more information, go to: http://www.hscfoundation.org/whatwedo/familysupports.php [posted on caphis listserv]
Megan M. Krischke, contributor
"In January 2007, the University of California-Davis Medical Center (UCDMC) launched its Transcultural Linguistic Care (TLC) nursing program under the leadership of Aida Calpo, RN, MS. The program, which has received rave reviews from doctors, nurses and patients, provides bilingual nursing care to patients in the three languages, other than English, that are most common among admitted patients." Read the complete article at http://www.nursezone.com/stories/SpotlightOnNurses.asp?articleID=16897 [posted on Hmonghealth listserv]
Strategies to improve health literacy for diverse populations should address literacy, language, and cultural barriers
Persons who find it difficult to obtain, process, and understand health information and navigate the health care system are considered to have limited health literacy. Racial and ethnic minority adults are more likely to have limited health literacy than white non-Hispanic adults. Several strategies have been developed to improve health literacy for individuals with limited health literacy, such as using simpler language and picture-driven media. However, materials should be relevant to the patient's language and culture as well.
Health literacy strategies must be integrated with those targeted to culturally diverse individuals and those with limited English proficiency (LEP), recommend Dennis P. Andrulis, Ph.D., M.P.H., of Drexel University School of Public Health, and Cindy Brach, M.P.P., of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in a recent paper. See "Integrating literacy, culture, and language to improve health care quality for diverse populations," by Drs. Andrulis and Brach, in the American Journal of Health Behavior 31(Suppl 1), pp. S122-S133, 2007. Reprints (AHRQ Publication No. 07-R079) are available from the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/order.htm#clear [posted on CLAS-talk]
AMA's new second edition "Office guide to communicating with limited English proficient patients."
This handy updated version of the previous brochure now includes more questions and answers, more tips for working effectively with interpreters, more resources, and a brief guide for when to use different interpretation resources. The guide is available at
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/433/lep_booklet.pdf
This guide provides information and resources that physicians and health care staff can use to provide better care to patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). With the LEP population rising in both rural and urban areas of the United States, language gaps between physicians and patients are increasing. This guide offers detailed information on the ways LEP can affect patient care and effective strategies to address the language needs of patients in a culturally, linguistically and ethically appropriate manner. [posted on CLAS-talk]
"In a victory for libraries, the Senate on October 23 passed an appropriations bill that included a mandatory public access directive for research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Despite heavy lobbying from publishers against the public access provision, as well as White House opposition and the threat of two last-second amendments to gut it, the legislative battle culminated yesterday with overwhelming approval of the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill (75-19). If enacted with the NIH language fully intact, the law would require NIH researchers to deposit their papers in the NIH's PubMed Central database to be publicly available within a year after publication." Read more at http://tinyurl.com/yrvbdm [posted in Library Journal Academic Newswire]
Dorjsuren Bayarsaikhan & Jorine Muiser
World health Organization WHO, 2007
Available online as PDF file [25p.] at: http://www.who.int/health_financing/documents/dp_e_07_4-health_promotion.pdf
“…..Health promotion is a complex, multi-sector activity. Within the health system, it is organized vertically in the form of public health campaigns or integrated in other health care interactions. Furthermore, health promotion can be encouraged on the health care market, for example through the introduction of financial incentives.
This paper advocates for health promotion in any form as a necessary intervention for improving and maintaining population health. It is considered equally relevant for developed and developing countries, although different countries may want to employ different strategies. While still under-funded in many high-income countries the lack of funding for health promotion is generally most notorious in middle and low-income countries. In many of the latter groups, health promotion is also not included in health system financing arrangements. [posted on PAHO/WHO Equity list]
The delivery of health care services in a manner that is respectful and appropriate to an individual’s language and culture is more than simply a patient’s right, but is, in fact, a key factor in the safety and quality of patient care (Schyve, 2002). Hospitals, Language, and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation is a three year cross-sectional qualitative study funded by The California Endowment designed to explore how 60 hospitals across the country provide health care to culturally and linguistically diverse patient populations. See the October 2007 project update at: http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/HLC/
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of India, have entered into a bilateral agreement to develop low-cost health-care technologies aimed at the medically underserved. The agreement is based on a shared commitment to improve the health and well-being of the people of both countries by encouraging collaborations and cooperation on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic medical technologies that are inexpensive and operate at the initial point of physician contact, or point of care. Read the rest of this NIH News Release is available online at: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/oct2007/nibib-17.htm
Dr. Librarian: Physician adds literacy to health care mix
Katie Dean — 10/18/2007 9:59 am
Pediatric resident Dipesh Navsaria has a novel way of measuring his young patients' development during checkups: He puts a book in their hands and watches their reaction. http://www.madison.com/tct/entertainment/251688
Innocenti Insight - November 2006
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Florence Italy
Available online as PDF file [60p.] at: http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/insight-hiv-eng.pdf
“……Explores the options for the care of children in communities affected by the AIDS pandemic. Beginning with the premise that the parent-child bond is the basic building block of child development and that the family is the basic unit of society, the report first looks at ways to keep parents alive and the family together as long as possible. It then explores alternative care arrangements beyond the immediate family.
Settings range from care by the extended family, through different forms of fostering in the community, to adoption and placement in residential institutions. The report highlights ways in which actors from outside the immediate community can help to sustain and improve the capacity of households and communities to care for the children left behind….” [posted on PAHO/WHO Equity listserv]
The Experience of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games
Edited by: Agis D. Tsouros and Panos A. Efstathiou
The Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization - 2007
Available online as PDF [402p] at: http://www.euro.who.int/document/e90712.pdf
“….Large-scale mass gatherings, such as the Olympic Games, represent significant challenges for the entire health sector of host countries. Emerging global public health threats of natural or deliberate nature increase considerably the health and safety vulnerability of mass gatherings. [posted on PAHO/WHO Equity list]
Patients Turn to the Internet for Health Information
by Joseph Shapiro
Morning Edition, October 11, 2007 · "The Internet is changing not just the way patients get medical information, but the way they interact with doctors, their families, and even with strangers." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15166387 Also, listen to the NPR broadcast of the story.
I was lucky enough to hear Dr. Daniel Blumenthal speak at Creighton University Medical Center last week, and want to recommend his article "A Community Coalition Board Creates a Set of Values for Community-based Research" as an example of a community case study in which the community truly is responsible for setting the research agenda. You can read the full text article, printed online in Preventing Chronic Disease, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2006 at http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2006/jan/05_0068.htm
The Northern California Indian Development Council is pleased to publish the Active NDN newsletter. This program is funded by a special grant from the California Department of Community Services and Development (CSD). The newsletter is written for staff working with American Indian Youth to give them current information that can be helpful in promoting solutions to health risks caused by youth obesity. Please download and distribute this newsletter to appropriate staff and families at: http://www.ncidc.org/obesity/newsletters.html. There you can also find further articles that you can copy and paste into your own tribal newsletters. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for future editions please contact us at activendn@ncidc.org [posted on [NS_Education] Digest Number 584]
Getting the Word Out: Effective Outreach to Cultural Communities
http://www.medtronic.com/downloadablefiles/outreach_brochure.pdf
published by the Medtronic Foundation
"Getting the Word Out is a guide to effective outreach for health organizations. In particular, this guide is intended for patient support organizations that would like to make their information, referral, support and advocacy services more accessible to people from a variety of cultural communities." [posted on CLAStalk-list]
Racial Categories in Medical Practice: How Useful Are They?
Vol. 4(9) September 2007 The PLoS Medicine
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040271
Racial Categories in Medicine: A Failure of Evidence-Based Practice?
Vol. 4(9) September 2007 The PLoS Medicine
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040287
"President Bush on Wednesday vetoed legislation expanding a children's health insurance program by $35 billion over five years." Read the complete article at CNN http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/bush.veto/?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail
The October issue of NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter bringing you practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research, is now online at http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/. In this issue:
Feature Stories:
The Perils of Peers — How Social Networks Affect Your Health and Giving Germs the Slip — Soap and Shots Can Protect Your Health
Health Capsules:
Early Childhood Program Shows Benefits and Seeking Health Information
If you're an editor who wishes to use our material in your publication, please see http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/about.htm for information.
A new issue brief from Speaking Together: National Language Services Network highlights how data are helping hospitals improve the way they provide language services to America's increasingly diverse patient populations. A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation national program, Speaking Together is helping 10 hospitals nationwide identify, test and assess strategies to effectively provide language services to patients with limited English proficiency. The hospitals are now shifting from tracking performance to implementing and testing innovations. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/2pwxlh Download the issue brief at http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/speakingtogetherbrief102007.pdf [posted on RWJF Content Alert]
The collection of data on patient race, ethnicity and primary language is helping hospitals improve the quality of their care and reduce racial and ethnic disparities, according to a new issue brief from Expecting Success: Excellence in Cardiac Care, a national program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/2a6cmd Download the report at http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/esissuebrief092007.pdf [posted on Robert Wood Johnson Foundation email alert]
The US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has recently posted 13 health brochures in KAREN and BURMESE on their website. http://www.refugees.org/article.aspx?id=1854 Other languages available on this site include Somali, Arabic, English, Kurundi, Russian and Vietnamese. All the brochures are available for download free of charge. [posted on the Hmonghealth listserv]
Together, the National Alliance for Caregiving and Easter Seals have produced a report, Caregiving in Rural America, to bring to light and support the demand to address the ever-increasing numbers and unmet needs of rural caregivers. Both organizations have a strong interest in caregiving, in the well-being of caregivers and care recipients, and in the challenges of providing care in special situations. In addition, both organizations have a commitment to exploring and addressing the unique needs and issues of rural Americans. Read more about the report at http://www.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=OPA_ruralcaregiving Download the report at http://www.easterseals.com/site/DocServer/Caregiving_in_Rural-saveas-compress.pdf?docID=49463
Nike unveiled Tuesday what it said is the first shoe designed specifically for American Indians, an effort aiming at promoting physical fitness in a population with high obesity rates.
The Beaverton-based company says the Air Native N7 is designed with a larger fit for the distinct foot shape of American Indians, and has a culturally specific look. It will be distributed solely to American Indians; tribal wellness programs and tribal schools nationwide will be able to purchase the shoe at wholesale price and then pass it along to individuals, often at no cost.
"According to the New York Times, the Standardized Chapel Library Project, an initiative of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, intends to bar access to library materials that, according to the Bureau of Prisons, ''discriminate, disparage, advocate violence or radicalize." The initiative was created in response to concerns that prisons were becoming recruiting grounds for militant Islamic and other religious groups. The policy requires chaplains to remove books from chapel libraries unless the book appears on a list of 150 approved texts. The program has resulted in the elimination of thousands of religious texts from prison chapel libraries that were purchased by the prisons, or donated by churches and religious groups.
American Library Association (ALA) President Loriene Roy called on the Bureau of Prisons to immediately halt its removal of religious texts from prison libraries and return removed books to the library shelves. "We are outraged to learn that the Bureau of Prisons is removing religious texts from prison chapel libraries based solely on whether or not the books are on a short list of ‘approved’ religious books. A government agency should not have the right to determine what religious texts are "appropriate" when our Constitution promises not only freedom of speech, but also freedom of religion. Moreover, it is illogical that the Bureau of Prisons is removing the very resources that may help incarcerated persons change their lives for the better. The idea that removing religious books will create better citizens is ridiculous, and goes against the democratic fiber of our society."
Read the complete press release from the American Library Association at http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/september2007/pll07.htm
[posted on ALA News for September 25, 2007]
Reducing Health Care Costs Through Prevention
According to a new report by Prevention Institute and The California Endowment, in consultation with The Urban Institute, prevention is the prescription for both physical and fiscal health. Reducing Health Care Costs Through Prevention - developed to inform the California legislature as they consider health care reform - demonstrates the value of prevention for saving health care dollars and presents new and compelling models for looking at prevention investment. Advocates and policymakers will also want to check out the policy recommendations written to ensure that prevention becomes central to any health care reform attempts. Download the report http://www.preventioninstitute.org/documents/HE_HealthCareReformPolicyDraft_091507.pdf or follow this link http://www.preventioninstitute.org/healthdis.html#InNews for more information on our approach to health care reform.
Community Health: A Critical Approach to Addressing Chronic Disease
Reducing health care spending through prevention requires community-oriented policies that strengthen community environments for good health. Written by Prevention Institute and published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's peer-reviewed journal, Preventing Chronic Disease, Community Health: A Critical Approach to Addressing Chronic Disease describes - from a chronic disease perspective - various community determinants of health that such community-oriented policies aim to strengthen. It also highlights a set of recommendations to facilitate the use of community indicator reports by advocates, community members, health departments, and other stakeholders. http://www.preventioninstitute.org/hdpubs.html#articles
[posted on Prevention Institution's New Resource Alert Joint the Network at http://www.preventioninstitute.org/update.html#SignUp
"Parish nursing, which is also called faith community and congregational nursing, has been around since the mid-1980s but it has grown recently to plug some of the health care gaps in a nation where 47 million people lack insurance." Read the complete article at http://tinyurl.com/2b2h8m
How Many Uninsured? A Resource Guide for Community Estimates is designed for community groups that are seeking to estimate the number of uninsured people in their communities. The report is a crash-course in Community Based Paticipatory Research (CBPR) and provides a step-by-step process for groups looking to find existing data, or collect new community-level data. The guide provides detailed analysis of different approaches to data collection, including cost estimates, sample surveys, and review of strengths and weaknesses of each method. Four case-studies illustrate how community organizations have effectively used CBPR to gather and use data to improve healthcare and access in their communities. How Many Uninsured? can be viewed online at http://www.accessproject.org/medicaid.html. Please feel free to download and print as many copies as you wish. [posetd on CBPR listserv]
The American Medical Association (AMA) released a report from top health care leaders which provides an ethical framework to guide health system reform...In the report, the group outlines four fundamental ethical obligations that are mandatory for successful access to health care in a just society. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/17986.html The Ethical Force Program report, "Improving Access to Health Care: A Consensus Ethical Framework to Guide Proposals for Reform," is published in the September/October 2007 edition of The Hastings Center Report, a leading bimonthly ethical journal on for issues in health, medicine and the environment. View the complete report at http://www.thehastingscenter.org/publications/hcr/hcr.asp Also learn about AMA's "Voice for the Uninsured" campaign, a three-year, multi-million dollar campaign to spur action to cover the uninsured at http://www.VoiceForTheUninsured.org [posted on Kansas Rural Health Information Service (KRHIS)]
Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH, Jessica Ruglis
Prev Chronic Dis Volume 4: No. 4, October 2007
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Available online at: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/oct/07_0063.htm
“……Good education predicts good health, and disparities in health and in educational achievement are closely linked. Despite these connections, public health professionals rarely make reducing the number of students who drop out of school a priority, although nearly one-third of all students in the United States and half of black, Latino, and American Indian students do not graduate from high school on time. In this article, we summarize knowledge on the health benefits of high school graduation and discuss the pathways by which graduating from high school contributes to good health. [posted PAHO/WHO Equity Listserv]
We Can Do Better — Improving the Health of the American People
Steven A. Schroeder, Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco.
Special Article - Shattuck Lecture
The New England Journal of Medicine - Volume 357:1221-1228 September 20, 2007 Number 12
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/12/1221?query=TOC
“….The United States spends more on health care than any other nation in the world, yet it ranks poorly on nearly every measure of health status. How can this be? What explains this apparent paradox? The two-part answer is deceptively simple — first, the pathways to better health do not generally depend on better health care, and second, even in those instances in which health care is important, too many Americans do not receive it, receive it too late, or receive poor-quality care. In this lecture, I first summarize where the United States stands in international rankings of health status. Next, using the concept of determinants of premature death as a key measure of health status, I discuss pathways to improvement, emphasizing lessons learned from tobacco control and acknowledging the reality that better health (lower mortality and a higher level of functioning) cannot be achieved without paying greater attention to poor Americans. I conclude with speculations on why we have not focused on improving health in the United States and what it would take to make that happen….”
Also see:
Health Care for All?
M. Gregg Bloche is a professor of law at Georgetown University and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, both in Washington, DC, and an adjunct professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
The New England Journal of Medicine - Volume 357:1173-1175 September 20, 2007 Number 12
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/12/1173?query=TOC
[posted on PAHO/WHO Equity Listserv]
The National Kidney Disease Education Program (NKDEP), an initiative of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has created an educational brochure tailored specifically for African Americans at risk for kidney disease. The brochure - "Kidney Disease: What African Americans Need to Know" http://www.nkdep.nih.gov/resources/African_American_brochure.htm -- explains the connection between diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney disease, and encourages those at risk to talk to their health care providers about getting tested. African Americans are disproportionately affected by kidney failure due in part to higher rates of diabetes and high blood pressure -- the two leading causes of kidney failure. The brochure explains the blood and urine tests used to detect kidney disease in simple, easy-to-read language. It also outlines several steps to protect one's kidneys. Read the entire press release at http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2007/niddk-20.htm
Eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health is a major national objective, one of two overall goals for Healthy People 2010. A new synthesis of rigorous national studies examines the prevalence and causes of disparities in access to and quality of health care, and the policy implications of these findings. You can access the report Racial and ethnic disparities in access to and quality of health care at http://www.rwjf.org/pr/synthesis/reports_and_briefs/issue12.html?c=EMC-CA142 The Synthesis Project will host a Webinar briefing to present the results of the report on September 21st from 2:00 to 3:30 PM EDT. The Webinar will feature a presentation from the author and reactor comments from Nicole Lurie, MD, Director of the RAND Center for Population Health and Health Disparities and Romana Hasnain-Wynia, PhD, Vice President, Health Research and Educational Trust. To sign up, please send an email message with your name, organization and phone number to cwilliams@azaconsult.com [posted on RWJF Content Alerts]
Public libraries are sole source of online employment and education information for millions of Americans
Ever-growing patron demand for computer and Internet services in U.S. public libraries has stretched existing Internet bandwidth, computer availability, and building infrastructure to capacity, according to a new study “Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study 2006-2007,” conducted by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Information Use Management and Policy Institute at Florida State University (FSU)...To view the final report, please visit http://www.ala.org/plinternetfunding
Racial and Ethnic Diversity among Academic and Research Librarians
The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) announces the release of “Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity among Academic and Research Librarians: The Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement of Librarians of Color,” a white paper commissioned by the ACRL Board of Directors working group on diversity, chaired by Dorothy Washington of the Purdue University Black Cultural Center Library in Lafayette, Ind. The paper was authored by Teresa Neely of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M., and Lorna Peterson of the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y. The white paper and a companion piece authored by ACRL President Julie Todaro, of the Austin Community College in Austin, Texas, can be found online at http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/whitepapersreports.cfm
[ ALA News for September 18, 2007]
Nurses Taking Charge of Health Care in Rural Missouri
Aug 28, 2007 -- Associated Press article via Hays Daily News, (MO) tells how across rural Missouri, residents who once relied on the country doctor to treat their everyday aches and pains are increasingly turning to clinics owned by nurses with advanced training. http://www.hdnews.net/Story/k1021_BC_MO_RuralNurses_08_27_0798
Telepharmacy Provides Rural Hospital with 24-hour Pharmacy Services
Aug 15, 2007 -- Community and Rural Hospital Leadership Center article reports that many rural hospital struggle with onsite pharmacy coverage, but one solution by a Washington State hospital is 24-hour pharmacy coverage for its patients seven days a week through a telepharmacy program. http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/crhlc/view_news.cfm?content_id=91471
Rural Definitions
Provides tables, maps and methods to help the user identify and define rural.
Organization: USDA Economic Research Service
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/ruraldefinitions/
[posted on Rural Assistance Center Health Update]
Health Care 20 Years From Now: Taking Steps Today to Meet Tomorrow’s Challenges
This report contains highlights of a health care policy leadership forum convened by the U.S. Comptroller General and published by the U.S. Government Accountabilitly Office (GAO). It offers a broad-based perspective of future challenges facing teh health care industry. The full report is on the web at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071155sp.pdf [posted on Kansas Rural Health Information Service (KRHIS) listserv]
Doctors in Scotland are prescribing self-help books to treat such conditions as mild depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. Following a successful trial, the scheme was launched in East Lothian on September 10 to coincide with the start of National Suicide Prevention Week. Edinburgh City Council is also considering introducing the project.... Edinburgh Evening News, Sept. 8 http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1438782007
[posted in American Libraries Direct 9/12/2007]
Effective and Promising Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs for Latino Youth
http://www.teenpregnancy.org/works/pdf/Science_Says_32_latino_programs.pdf
Details six programs, some designed specifically for Latino teens, that have been shown through careful evaluation to either delay sex, improve contraceptive use, and/or reduce teen pregnancy.
Organization: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
Kids Count Data Book, 2007
http://www.aecf.org/upload/PublicationFiles/databook_2007.pdf
Provides national and state-by-state information and statistical trends on the conditions of America’s children and families. New this year is information on child well-being in Puerto Rico. Introductory essay focuses on supporting permanence for children in foster care.
Organization: Annie E. Casey Foundation
Health Care for the Homeless Information Resource Center
HCH Directory
http://bphc.hrsa.gov/hchirc/directory/default.htm
Intended to be a reference tool for programs and agencies serving the health care needs of homeless people in the United States. Its purpose is to foster collaboration and communication among people working in this field.
Organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
[posted on Rural Assistance Center Human Services Update]
The September issue of NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter bringing you practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research, is now online at http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/
Feature Stories: Is Baby Babbling on Schedule? and Spotting Autism Spectrum Disorders
Health Capsules: Can You Listen to Two Things at Once? and Mourning the Death of a Spouse
Achieving Health Equity: From root causes to fair outcomes
Website: http://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/
This is the Interim Statement of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health. It sets out the Commission’s vision and goals, the problems it seeks to ameliorate, and the intellectual foundation for a social determinants approach. In doing so, the Interim Statement is a resource for stakeholders concerned with social determinants of health and health equity, as they build towards a global movement.Recommendations for action, based on the evidence gathered across all the Commission’s work streams, will be made in the Final Report in May 2008.
Download the full statement [pdf 535kb] http://www.who.int/entity/social_determinants/resources/csdh_media/csdh_interim_statement_07.pdf
[posted on PAHO/WHO Equity listserv]
Prostate Cancer Education Program Targets Black Men in Barbershops
[Sep-07-2007]
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=47375
Providing black men with information about prostate cancer during visits to their local barbers has been an effective educational and screening tool, according to Virgil Simons, founder of The Prostate Net http://www.prostate-online.org/, a prostate cancer awareness organization, HealthDay/Forbes http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2007/09/06/hscout607992.html reports. Studies have shown that black men have a 60% higher risk of prostate cancer than whites and are almost 2.5 times more likely to die from the disease. The disparity has been attributed to a lack of access to routine health care.
Cultural Beliefs Affect New Immigrants' Use of Mental Health Services
[Sep-05-2007]
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=47287
The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR2007083101792.html on Tuesday examined how "cultural differences ... can have profound implications" on immigrants' access to mental health services. Francis Lu, a professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of California-San Francisco, said, "Often there isn't even a concept that a problem is a mental illness." Many immigrants are reluctant to seek early intervention for mental health issues, and it is more common for immigrants to experience treatment delays of months, which can lead to "a long-festering problem that has spiraled into a full-blown crisis requiring immediate hospitalization," according to the Post.
[posted on Kaiser Health Disparities Report: A Weekly Look At Race, Ethnicity And Health]
A new issue brief from the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), "From Policy to Action: Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities at the Ground Level," http://www.chcs.org/publications3960/publications_show.htm?doc_id=519202 outlines practical strategies that states and managed care organizations are implementing to address inequalities in care. It highlights the need for standardized collection of race, ethnicity, and language data; culturally competent approaches; and the participation and commitment of multiple stakeholders. The brief draws from CHCS' national initiatives, supported by The Commonwealth Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to identify realistic solutions to reduce health care disparities and improve quality. To download the issue brief and access other resources from CHCS, please visit: http://www.chcs.org. [posted on The Commonwealth Fund e-mail alert]
This new study is one of the most in-depth examinations ever made of the thinking of American Indians and non-Indians about each other. The research, based on 12 focus groups conducted in 2006 and 2007, explores Indians' perceptions of their place in contemporary American society and how non-Indians view American Indians, what they know (or think they know), the generalizations they make and stereotypes they hold, how their perceptions were formed and their interest in learning more. Download the full report and discuss the findings at: http://www.publicagenda.org/WalkingaMile/ [NativeStudies-l Digest, Vol 228, Issue 1]
The Summer 2007 issue of CAM at the NIH is now available online. This publication, focusing on complementary and alternative medicine, is produced by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. In this issue learn about the use of placebos in controlled experiments and an individuals response to those placebos that might enhance health and health care. http://nccam.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2007_summer/
Also, be sure to read the article on Lori Arviso Alvord, M.D, author of the autobiography The Scalpel and the Silver Bear: The First Navajo Woman Surgeon Combines Western Medicine and Traditional Healing . http://nccam.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2007_summer/perspective.htm
Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy's Library http://www.kpihp.org/publications/ includes several articles on health disparities.
Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Issue Brief – Kate Meyers, Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, Oakland, CA May 2007 http://www.kpihp.org/publications/docs/disparities%5Fhighlights.pdf
Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: Influences, Actors, and Policy Opportunities Kate Meyers, Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, Oakland, CA March 2007 http://www.kpihp.org/publications/docs/disparities.pdf
Reducing Disparities: Goals, Roles, and Opportunities Kate Meyers, Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, Oakland, CA Dec 2006 http://www.kpihp.org/publications/docs/disparities_summary.pdf
In addition to these articles, see this one from AARP: Racial and ethnic disparities in influenza and pneumococcal immunization rates among Medicare beneficiaries – 2007 (AARP) http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/health/ib83%5Fdisparities.pdf
HEALTH COMM Web sites Aug 2007, compiled by Marcia Zorn, MA, MLS
Lists are Archived by the Coalition for Health Communication at http://www.healthcommunication.net/Online_Resources.html
The Disparity Reducing Advances Project (the DRA Project) is a multi-year, multi-stakeholder project developed by the Institute for Alternative Futures (IAF) to identify the most promising advances for bringing health gains to the poor and underserved and accelerating the development and deployment of these advances to reduce disparities. With over 50 partners, the DRA Project has identified several important disparity reducing advances for the U.S. http://www.altfutures.com/DRA/
New AHRQ Resources Can Help States and Local Communities With Disaster Planning and Response Involving Nursing Homes
HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has just released Emergency Preparedness Atlas: U.S. Nursing Home and Hospital Facilities, which is intended to help local communities identify the health care facilities (hospitals and nursing homes) that could be available and prepared to provide assistance under emergency conditions in their communities. The Emergency Preparedness Atlas includes six case studies in North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, southern California, Washington, and Utah that each include a series of maps depicting the locations and capacity of nursing homes and hospitals as well as their geographic relationship to a variety of emergency management and bioterrorism preparedness regions, such as HAZMAT response regions, emergency management regions, and Red Cross chapters. The Atlas includes maps for all 50 states with the location ofhospitals and nursing homes in each state, and it displays the locations relative to the distribution of the elderly population in the case study states. Also see: Nursing Homes in Public Health Emergencies, Focus Group Discussions of Disaster Planning at Nursing Homes
Both can be found online at http://www.ahrq.gov/prep/nursinghomes/atlas.htm and http://www.ahrq.gov/prep/nursinghomes/report.htm [posted on Kansas Rural Health Information Service]
Find two reports on children's food products at http://www.preventioninstitute.org/sa/fruit/fruit.html
Where's the Fruit? : Fruit Content of the Most Highly-Advertised Children's Food and Beverages http://www.preventioninstitute.org/sa/fruit/wheresthefruit.pdf
Setting the Bar: Recommendations for Food and Beverage Industry Action http://www.preventioninstitute.org/sa/fruit/settingthebar.pdf
Note that the study, Where's the Fruit?' released in January by Prevention Institute and the Strategic Alliance, is currently featured in the August issue of Good Housekeeping magazine (p. 97) http://www.preventioninstitute.org/GoodHousekeeping.html [posted by Prevention Institute email]
National Resource Center on Native American Aging publications
http://www.med.und.nodak.edu/depts/rural/nrcnaa/pubs/
A list of publications from the National Resource Center on Native American Aging, established in 1994 at the University of North Dakota (UND) in Grand Forks, w