Rankings in Action: What Works for Health
Sponsored by County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
Tuesday, February 19, 2013 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM CST
For more information and to register: http://bit.ly/Xa2wmz

County Health Rankings Methods and Measures
Sponsored by County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM CST
For more information and to register: http://bit.ly/Xa2KtT

Utilizing the Village – Effective Reengagement and Recovery Programming in Rural Communities
Sponsored by U.S. Department of Education
Thursday, February 28, 2013 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM CST
For more information and to register: http://bit.ly/Xcdg2s

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  – Provides information about health issues unique to the border region, CDC’s border and binational programs and activities, the Technical Guidelines for United StatesMexico Coordination on Public Health Events of Mutual Interest, and resources for colleagues working on border/binational public health issues.  http://1.usa.gov/UnQV3k

National Eye Institute (NEI): A 20-page large-print booklet and a series of videos to help people adapt to life with low vision are now available. Living with Low Vision: What you should know. Available for free here: http://1.usa.gov/YvYim4

Office on Women’s Health (OWH): A new heart attack awareness campaign has been launched targeting Spanish-speaking women age 50 and over. The Haga La Llamada, ¡No Pierda Tiempo!campaign builds on OWH’s successful Make the Call, Don’t Miss a Beat campaign. Available here: http://1.usa.gov/Vj7tc6

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association: New patient toolkit available. The Empowered Patient Online Toolkit, is designed by experienced pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients and healthcare professionals to help patients create their own PH-specific medical binder. Available here: http://bit.ly/X8Jb3S

AHRQ: New online toolkit released, Preventing Falls in Hospitals: A Toolkit for Improving Quality of Care.

Each year, somewhere between 700,000 and 1,000,000 people in the United States fall in the hospital. A fall may result in fractures, lacerations, or internal bleeding, leading to increased health care utilization. Research shows that close to one-third of falls can be prevented. Fall prevention involves managing a patient’s underlying fall risk factors and optimizing the hospital’s physical design and environment. This toolkit focuses on overcoming the challenges associated with developing, implementing, and sustaining a fall prevention program.

Available here: http://1.usa.gov/12Pf3j3

The studies reveal new infection data, some of it available for the first time, for the eight most common STIs — chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B, HIV, and trichomoniasis. The studies, which estimate infection rates and medical costs related to STIs, were published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

To read an article about the studies: http://nbcnews.to/11Jf4Wr

The CDC has a website where you can learn more about STIs as well as search by zipcode for a clinic that offers STI testing as well as HIV testing the HPV vaccines.  To search visit here: http://1.usa.gov/VUwEEl

The CDC also has an interactive atlas for informaiton on STIs and other diseases.  The NCHHSTP Atlas was created to provide an interactive platform for accessing data collected by CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP).

Currently, the Atlas provides interactive maps, graphs, tables, and figures showing geographic patterns and time trends of HIV, AIDS, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and primary and secondary syphilis surveillance data. Available here: http://1.usa.gov/XGq2Ya

February is National Condom Month!  Learn more about that as well as other sexual health topics from the American Sexual Health Associations website. http://bit.ly/Z0LW7E

The Prevention Institute takes a broad, comprehensive approach to systematizing prevention as a distinct discipline — not simply an educational message. It infuses a community and policy orientation into prevention practices, and it emphasizes the importance of quality prevention strategies that are well designed and achieve far-reaching outcomes. Their new resources addresses the question, “How can we start paying for things that make people healthier, instead of just treating them when they get sick?” and includes ways to redirect community funds to pay for prevention: http://bit.ly/VV5xDS

Health Outreach Partners is a national non-profit organization providing training, consultation, and information services to community-based organizations striving to improve the quality of life of hard-to-reach populations.

“Including Outreach Workers and Community Health Workers in Health Center Emergency Preparedness and Management”, a new tip sheet, has been released. This tip sheet provides an overview of emergency preparedness and identifies strategies on how to involve outreach staff in planning for, during and after an emergency. The strategies provided can be applied to organizations serving underserved populations, such as farmworkers, people experiencing homelessness, public housing residents, seniors, low–income individuals, and immigrants.

Health centers have an important role in emergency preparedness, and outreach and community health workers are essential to health center emergency preparedness and management, especially for underserved populations. By involving these workers, health centers can ensure that their plans and policies are rooted in the community’s needs and respond adequately in times of an emergency. http://bit.ly/12zUKBJ

The American Medical Association’s Commission to End Health Disparities has issued a new report, “Promoting appropriate use of physicians’ non-English language skills in clinical care.” The report was written by a multidisciplinary team and is meant assist clinicians, organizations, and policymakers in enhancing quality of care. It provides practical guidance to clinicians, care delivery organizations, and health care systems. It also provides a framework for future research on how physicians can best use their non-English language skills to provide safe, high quality care for patients with Limited English Proficiency: http://bit.ly/X8EpkS.

Promoting Adolescent Health Through School-Based HIV/STD Prevention and School-Based Surveillance

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  - Funding to implement health programs in schools designed to educate and provide health services for students, advocate for policy change, and collect research related to HIV/STD prevention.

Deadline: April 26, 2013

For more information: http://bit.ly/V1yosC

Grants to Enhance Culturally Specific Services for Victims of Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking Program

Office on Violence Against Women  - Funding for culturally-specific, community-based organizations to address the needs of women who have experienced sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.

Deadline: March 27, 2013

For more Information: http://bit.ly/UFJmXl

AHRQ Health Services Research Projects (R01)

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality – Funding for large research projects that can be used by policymakers and health system and community leaders to reduce unnecessary health care costs while maintaining or improving health care quality.

Deadline: June 5, 2013

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

AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC) for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants

Health Resources and Services Administration  - Funding to establish nurse practitioner and physician assistant HIV/AIDS primary care education programs.

Deadline: March 22, 2013

For more information: http://bit.ly/X9QxoD

Tribal Passenger Transportation Technical Assistance Program – Long Term Technical Assistance

Community Transportation Association of America  - Provides technical assistance to help Native American tribes enhance economic growth and development by improving transportation services.

Deadline: February 28, 2013

For more information: http://bit.ly/122EdWt

Rural Passenger Transportation Technical Assistance Program – Long Term Technical Assistance

Community Transportation Association of America  - Provides transit planning assistance for facility and service development and expansion.

Deadline: February 28, 2013

For more information: http://bit.ly/11sIhoo

Schools and Libraries Program Universal Service Fund

Universal Service Administrative Company  - Provides discounts to help schools and libraries obtain affordable telecommunications and Internet access.

Deadline: March 14, 2013

For more information: http://bit.ly/X9Rk9a

Targeted Capacity Expansion-Peer-to-Peer

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration  - Grants to deliver peer-to-peer recovery support services that help prevent relapse and promote sustained recovery from alcohol and drug use disorders.

Deadline: March 15, 2013

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

New Access Point Grants

Bureau of Primary Health Care  - Grants to support the establishment of new health service delivery sites for underserved and vulnerable populations.

Deadline: February 27, 2013

For more information: http://bit.ly/14Vv2f0

Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program (SHIP)

Office of Rural Health Policy – Provides funding to small rural hospitals to help them do any or all of the following: pay for costs related to the implementation of PPS, comply with provisions of HIPAA, and reduce medical errors and support quality improvement.

Deadline: March 15, 2013

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