The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs has created a set of 500 freely available icons that can be used to present information quickly in a disaster.  These icons can be used in signage and other publications to provide timely information on:

• relief locations and supplies
• types of disasters
• specific populations

To access the symbols and to learn more: http://bit.ly/QYzXBI

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has created a resource guide for National Preparedness Month (September).  Resources include fact sheets for parents, youth, school staff and community leaders on Coping in Hard Times. Also included is a 6 hour interactive online course on Psychological First Aid, which allows participants to take the role of a provider in a disaster.

Access the resource guide: http://bit.ly/OK9g4t

The National Library of Medicine has compiled a list of mobile applications and mobile-optimized web sites for disaster preparedness and response.

Apps listed include:

• WISER: information for first responders in HAZMAT situations
• First Aid from the American Red Cross: life-saving first aid information, including how-to videos
• Apps from NLM, CDC, EPA, FEMA, and the National Weather Service

The full list: http://1.usa.gov/RMP4DD

Office of Minority Health Resource Center: September is Infant Mortality Awareness Month. Resources now available on their website. http://1.usa.gov/Olow6d

In honor of Infant Mortality Awareness Month, Health Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition is announcing the text4baby 2012 Fall Sign-up Contest - http://bit.ly/RMWxCJ  Text4baby is a free, nationwide texting service delivering critical health and safety tips and resoucres to pregnant womens and moms with babies under age one.  During the contest period of Sept. 1 through 30, anyone who enrolls in text4baby will be entered to win a year’s supply of baby products, courtesy of Johnson & Johnson, text4baby’s founding sponsor.  Moms can register online at : http://www.text4baby.org or by texting BABY (or BEBE in Spanish) to 511-411.  The Office of Minority Health is a partner of the text4baby campaign.

Save Babies Through Screening Foundation – New toolkit available for September’s Newborn Screening Awareness Month. The Newborn Screening Awareness Month toolkit. Available here: http://bit.ly/TYKWzF

Advancing Community Approaches to Reducing Infant Mortality.

Minority Infants die before their first birthday at rates as high as twice the national average.  In some urban and underserved areas, the rates of infant mortality among minority are even higher.  Across the country, community-based organizations serving African-American, Latino and Native American families are employing approaches that engage families, neighbors and peers in reducing infant mortality through education and outreach.  Learn about the success of two innovative organizations working to reduce infant mortality here: http://1.usa.gov/RP74Yj

The Office of Minority Health has launched a new online catalog search tool.  Now you can find books, reports, journals, media, articles and organizations related to the health status of racial and ethnic minority populations all online.  Contact the OMH Knowledge Center  by email ( KnowledgeCenter@minorityhealth.hhs.gov ) for guidance on searching the content.

Start searching the online library catalog here: http://1.usa.gov/QSHB62

2012 Alice S. Hersh National Health Policy Conference

AcademyHealth  - Provides 2 free registrations to the National Health Policy Conference (NHPC) and 4 free registrations to the Annual Research Meeting (ARM) to encourage professional and educational development in health services research and policy among student members.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: November 1, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/QYnGgB

Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program

A Kaiser Family Foundation  - An 11-week program that brings rising college seniors and recent college graduates to Washington, D.C., where they are placed in congressional offices and learn about health policy issues, with a focus on issues affecting racial & ethnic minorities.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: December 14, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/UP8uq5

Brownfields Cleanup Grants

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  - Provides funds to carry out cleanup activities at a specific Brownfield site owned by the applicant.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: November 19, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/RMAufr

Brownfields Assessment Grants

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  - Funding to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning (including cleanup planning) and community involvement related to brownfield sites.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: November 19, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/TYfe5q

Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grants

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  - Provides funding for a grant recipient to capitalize a revolving fund and to make loans and provide subgrants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: November 19, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/QIUPQG

Innovative Approaches to Improve Community Health

Kresge Foundation  - Supports promising new practices that serve vulnerable populations by advancing prevention, improving access, and integrating primary community and clinical care.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline:  Applications accepted on an ongoing basis

For more information: http://bit.ly/O1UudA

Dr. Alan J. Alley Health Research Award

University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health – Award to promising American Indian student health researchers.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: September 30, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/TYg5mL

HIV/AIDS, Drug Use, and Vulnerable Populations in the US (R21) Grant

HHS/National Institutes of Health – This grant encourages research to identify the role(s) that drug abuse plays in fueling the epidemic in vulnerable groups in the United States and to develop effective interventions to prevent new infections and to improve the health and well being of those living with HIV/AIDS.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: January 7, 2016

For more information: http://1.usa.gov/TY8zIC

AIDS-Science Track Award for Research Transition (R03) Grant

HHS/National Institutes of Health –  This funding opportunity  seeks to facilitate the entry of both newly independent and early career investigators to the area of drug abuse research on HIV/AIDS. This grant, AIDS–Science Track Award for Research Transition (A-START), encourages Small Research Grant (R03) applications to support research projects on drug abuse and HIV/AIDS that can be carried out in a short period of time with limited resources.

Geographic Coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: September 7, 2015

For more information: http://1.usa.gov/PefP08

Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant Program

HHS/Office of Rural Health Policy – The purpose of the Network Planning Program is to promote the development of integrated healthcare networks in order to: achieve efficiencies; expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of essential health care services; and strengthen the rural health care system as a whole.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: October 15, 2012

For more information: http://1.usa.gov/Peg37D

DELTA FOCUS (Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances, Focusing on Outcomes for Communities United with States) Grant

HHS/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: – The purpose of the program is to promote the prevention of intimate partner violence (IPV) through the implementation and evaluation of strategies that create a foundation for the development of practice-based evidence.

Geographic Coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: Letter of intent – September 26, 2012

Application – November 5, 2012

For more information: http://1.usa.gov/QYkCB2

Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program (HTPCP)

HHS/Health Resources & Services Administration – The purpose of HTPC is to increase the number of innovative community initiated programs that promote access to health care for children, youth and their families nationwide, and employ preventive health strategies

Geographic Coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: September 21, 2012

For more information: http://1.usa.gov/SgXVZj

NEA Foundation Nickelodeon Big Help Grants

National Education Association  - Grants for K-8 school projects that relate to environmental awareness, health and wellness, students’ right to a quality public education, and active community involvement.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: October 15, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/QISmG3

Incentive Grants for Practitioner Innovation in Pharmaceutical Care

American Pharmacists Association Foundation – Incentive grants offer pharmacists seed money to implement or support an existing patient care service within their pharmacy practice.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: November 15, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/RMyLXs

Funding is available from Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) for small, non-profit organizations to attend this conference, which is primarily for members of community-based efforts (coalitions, grassroots organizations, etc.) and nonprofit organizations that use data to advance their health equity or health disparities work and are willing to learn and share their experience with others: http://bit.ly/UKUu0K

Conducting a thorough assessment of a community’s needs, resources and demographics serves as one of the first and most important steps for anti-drug coalition development. Coalitions can then use this qualitative and quantitative demographic data to guide evidence-based initiatives to address their unique local conditions and target audiences challenged by substance abuse. Community-based organizations can learn to better use this data and other sources of knowledge to promote health equity and address health disparities by attending the National Health Equity Data Conference, entitled “Knowledge for Equity: Using Data to Address Health Disparities,” from Nov. 13-14 in Silver Spring, Md.

“Knowledge for Equity: Using Data to Address Health Disparities” will be designed to support community based efforts to access, analyze, and use existing national, state, or local data. In addition to CADCA, conference partners include Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, The Prevention Institute, PolicyLink, the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, and the Community Indicators Consortium. The conference will be held in conjunction with the annual conference of the Community Indicators Consortium (CIC) in College Park, Maryland, on Nov. 15-16.

The Lesbian Health Fund (LHF), a program of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality, was established in 1992 to define, study, and educate lesbians and their health care providers about lesbian health issues. LHF’s mission is to improve the health of lesbians, other sexual minority women (SMW) and their families through research.

Research areas include:

• Understanding social, family, and interpersonal influences as sources of stress or support
• Eliminating inequalities in health care, including barriers to care, and improving quality of care and utilization rates
• Development and testing of interventions to address mental and physical health needs of lesbians and other SMW, including but not limited to depression, identity related issues, eating disorders, substance abuse, obesity, cancer risks, cardiovascular disease and sexually transmitted infections
• Sexual and reproductive health, including family & parenting issues

The deadlines for receipt of applications are May 15 and October 15:  http://bit.ly/TL6Wzw

The American Medical Association has developed measures of cultural competency and identified steps that health care providers can take to improve the situation: http://bit.ly/QjPWeK

The National Quality Forum (NQF) has endorsed a dozen new quality measures on the issues of health disparities and cultural competency. Seven of those measures approved by the Washington-based standards-setting organization came from the American Medical Association.

The official NQF seal of approval for these measures, which comes only after a rigorous review by national quality experts, opens the door for them to be used to evaluate efforts to eliminate disparities.