National Sickle Cell Awareness Month

September is National Sickle Cell Awareness Month. In 1975, the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc., and its member organizations began holding events throughout the month to address the needs of those living with sickle cell diseases and the need for education. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution introduced by the Congressional Black Caucus in 1983, officially launching Sickle Cell Awareness Month.

Resources:

Data, statistics, funding and more information from the Office of Minority Health.

What is sickle cell anemia? (from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute)

Help set the rural public health agenda for the next decade

Rural health policy makers and researchers are looking for your input on the most important health issues facing rural residents. Rural Healthy People 2020, is designed to identify what rural stakeholders see as the most significant preventable threats to the health of rural people, identify existing rural models for practice that address these threats, and to establish goals for reducing these threats. The starting point for this conversation is an online survey. http://edu.surveygizmo.com/s3/807374/Rural-Health-People-2020 You're invited to take the survey and to forward this link to people in your own networks so they can participate, too. The more broadly we distribute the survey, the more likely we are to get results that match the health concerns of all rural Americans. The survey link will be open through August 31, 2012.  Please take a few minutes today to go on-line, complete the survey AND share it with your networks. The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete and does not require professional background in health issues.   If you have any questions please contact  Dr. Jane N. Bolin, at jbolin@srph.tamhsc.edu or Dr. Gail Bellamy at gail.bellamy@med.fsu.edu

2010 U.S. CENSUS MAP

Remember about a year & a half ago you filled out a census form? Well here are the result of this process. What you will see is a Map of the US - not just the 48 states but all of the 50 states. Territories are not in the census - but they did provide information during this process. So let us say you are in Virginia, you can go by county & as you zoom in by city to see the increase or decrease & then you can see the changes of the various races within these cities. Look at places you know & also look at the map at the darker brown location.

You can zoom in & out to get the information on the places you know. Use your cursor can move map around & you can zoom in on specific counties to get current stats. It is very interesting!

Fascinating!!! Just glide your cursor over the map & it displays every county. Can't imagine how long it took to create this map!!
Amazing!!!
Click the "2010 US Census" Map Below.
2010 U.S. CENSUS MAP
http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/map?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1

Multicultural Healthcare Web Portal

Data & Resources
Find information about the state of your communities' health and wellbeing. Search below to get the customized results you need. Update web portal available with new data resources. Learn More

Appendicitis racial disparities mostly unexplained

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Poverty and unfavorable health insurance account for only a small portion of the gap in the number of white versus Hispanic or black children who end up with a burst appendix, according to a new study.

Some previous research has explained the fact that black and Hispanic children are more likely to have their appendix rupture by pointing to signs of poor health care access, including being uninsured, having public assistance insurance or having a low socioeconomic status.

But the latest report finds that the main reasons for these disparities "are anybody's guess," said lead author Dr. Edward Livingston, a professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas who analyzed more than half a million hospital admissions for appendicitis.

Read more about Appendicitis racial disparities

Affordable Care Act to improve data collection, reduce health disparities

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces new draft standards to improve the monitoring of health data by race, ethnicity, sex, primary language, and disability status, and begins planning for the collection of LGBT health data

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced new draft standards for collecting and reporting data on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language and disability status, and announced the administration’s plans to begin collecting health data on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populations. Both efforts aim to help researchers, policy makers, health providers and advocates to identify and address health disparities afflicting these communities.

“Health disparities have persistent and costly affects for minority communities, and the whole country,” Secretary Sebelius said. “Today we are taking critical steps toward ensuring the collection of useful national data on minority groups, including for the first time, LGBT populations. The data we will eventually collect in these efforts will serve as powerful tools and help us in our fight to end health disparities.”

Under the plan announced today, HHS will integrate questions on sexual orientation into national data collection efforts by 2013 and begin a process to collect information on gender identity. This plan includes the testing of questions on sexual orientation to potentially be incorporated into the National Health Interview Survey. The department also intends to convene a series of research roundtables with national experts to determine the best way to help the department collect data specific to gender identity.

“The first step is to make sure we are asking the right questions,” Secretary Sebelius said. “Sound data collection takes careful planning to ensure that accurate and actionable data is being recorded.”

Read the entire release at http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/06/20110629a.html

United Way Common Good Forecaster

Common Good Forecaster

The United Way and the American Human Development Project have created a tool to forecast how the outlook changes when educational outcomes are better. Users can enter their states and counties to see what factors such as high school and college completion can do to improve such areas as health, finance and community involvement.

A tool to estimate how educational attainment affects health, SES, and community involvement.

http://liveunited.org/sites/commongood/index.php/pages/common-good-forecaster

The Social Mission of Medical Education: Ranking the Schools

Medical Schools in the United States serve many functions, but one of their most basic purposes is to educate physicians to care for the national population.

64,043 active practicing physicians who attended medical school between 1999 and 2001, found substantial variation in the success of individual U.S. Medical Schools in recruiting and educating students to address the social mission of medical education, defined as graduating physicians who practice primary care and work in underseved areas and recruiting and graduating young physicians who are underrepresented minorities.

Click here to learn more

$10 Million Available from OMH for Awards to Nonprofit Minority-serving Organizations

Health Disparities Grants
$2.3 Million Available for Health Disparities Umbrella Cooperative Agreements$2,275,000 is available from OMH for partnerships to address: access to care; achieving health equity by addressing social determinants of health; youth violence (including gang violence); work force development; and data collection, analysis, and evaluation.Deadline: August 2, 2010

Health Equity Community Based Grants
$4 Million Available for Health Equity Community Based Networks $4 million is available from OMH for community-based networks that employ evidence-based strategies; address social determinants and environmental barriers to access; and increase access to and utilization of preventive health care, medical treatment, and supportive services.Deadline: August 2, 2010

Prevention among College Students Grants
$1 Million Available for Prevention among College Students $1 million is available from OMH for partnerships seeking to improve the health status, relative to HIV/AIDS, of young adults in racial/ethnic minority groups.Deadline: August 2, 2010.

Resource Networks for Families Affected by HIV/AIDS Grants
$2.8 Million Available for Resource Networks for Families Affected by HIV/AIDS $2.84 million is available from OMH for Health and Social Service Resource Networks equipped to work with high-risk minority families who are affected by HIV/AIDS and are in transition from incarceration, domestic violence, and/or substance abuse treatment.Deadline: August 2, 2010.

Health Equity Tool launches, and letter to Secretary Sebelius

Prevention Institute http://www.preventioninstitute.org is pleased to announce the launch of the Health Equity & Prevention Primer http://www.preventioninstitute.org/tools/focus-area-tools/health-equity-toolkit.html which is full of effective tools for community-based prevention.

With the recent passage of health reform (HR 4872), our nation has made anhistoric investment in prevention and wellness to support coordinatedefforts to achieve equitable health and safety outcomes. This investment comes on the heels of ARRA funds to support Communities Putting Prevention to Work. As groups across the country galvanize efforts to improve health, *Prevention Institute is pleased to announce the launch of the Health Equity and Prevention Primer HEPP: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Xfdzv1MoMnc%2BB3oABdYuxJkfLwMH9tgX

The primer packages a number of our effective tools for community-based prevention--like the *Two Steps to Prevention* framework, *The Spectrum of Prevention* and *Collaboration Multiplier*--along with researchand case examples from across the country, into an easy-to-access, online training format. Informed by national leaders in health equity, public health department staff and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,the Primer provides a rich array of resources to support learning,exploration and implementation. Continuing education credits are available for each hour of self-directed training.

Take a look and let us know what you think: See more* http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?=2&c=xooCFyEMBv2CJgtaixnfrpkfLwMH9tgX

PI and Policy Link recommend next steps to Sebelius

Prevention Institute and Policy sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius with our joint recommendations for allocating funding under health reform's Prevention and Public Health Fund.

Read the letter and recommendations

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=dbq93lAkeqYaAgs%2BZu6sTJkfLwMH9tgX

Get Involved, Review Tools for NACCHO: This Week in the Local Health Department National Coalition for Health Equity

This week Coalition members have an opportunity to help their fellow health officials, Coalition members, and other public health professionals. You are invited to review the contents of NACCHO’s Health Equity and Social Justice Toolkit, part of the NACCHO Toolbox-- a free, online collection of local public health tools produced by members of the public health community. Tools within the Toolbox are materials and resources public health professionals and other external stakeholders can use to inform and improve their work in the promotion and advancement of public health objectives.

The Health Equity and Social Justice Toolkit is intended to help local health departments explore and tackle the root causes of inequities in the distribution of disease, illness, and death. It covers subjects ranging from social justice theory to public health practice, and includes journal articles, video clips, reports, PowerPoint presentations, book references, action guides, web sites, and more.

The goal of a reviewer is to ensure the quality of tools included in NACCHO’s Toolbox. As subject matter experts and thought leaders in the field, you are our ideal tool reviewers. If you would like to participate in this project please contact Ashley Bowen abowen@naccho.org, (202) 507-4282). Included below is a list of the tools currently in need of at least one reviewer, please indicate any preferences you may have.Thank you for volunteering your time and expertise to this project. Peer review is essential to the success of NACCHO’s Toolbox. We rely on you, our public health leaders, to help us curate this collection of tools.

For more information contact:

Ashley Bowen, MA Health Equity and Social Justice AssociateNational Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)1100 17th St NW, Seventh FloorWashington, DC 20036 (202) 507-4282 (direct)(202) 783-5550 (main) abowen@naccho.org NACCHO's Bookshelf includes popular (and fun) public health-related titles!

RWJF Slide Search and My Presentation Builder

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation offers a great new resource:

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) offers a variety of informational slides—many of them featuring illustrations, statistical charts and graphs, or multimedia elements—highlighting research findings and useful lessons drawn from the Foundation's work. Our slide search offers visitors a quick, easy way to access RWJF charts, graphs and other slides. They are available for download, as single slides or in complete shows or chart packs, to integrate into professional presentations or share with others.

Read more...