The National Library of Medicine and the American Library Association want to show you how to find the information that will help you achieve good health.

The site introduces the resources of the National Library of Medicine and provides information that helps communities of color in rural settings make good health decisions. Visit http://olos.ala.org/goodhealth/ today! [da]

Taken from the article After the Storm-Disaster Evacuees and Rural Communities http://www.naccho.org/topics/emergency/AHPIP/upload/Prep-Brief-Feature-November-2008.pdf

The online map based planning tool developed by WNYPHA and its partners, the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago and the Pennsylvania State University Center for Environmental Informatics (PSUCEI), is the central element of the APC’s set of tools. This online tool http://www.cei.psu.edu/evac [note: registration is required] is predicated on the assumption that when a disaster strikes an urban area, a significant number of residents will selfevacuate to surrounding rural communities.

Intended to give local officials a framework around which to focus their planning efforts, the online tool
enables users to select a city of interest and model how surrounding counties (within a 150 mile radius) might be impacted by the spontaneous evacuation of urban residents following one of three scenarios: a dirty bomb explosion, chemical incident, or influenza pandemic. Users may explore each county’s resources, such as number of hospital beds or hotel rooms, and display maps delineating the numbers of evacuees received by each of the surrounding counties and their resulting population changes. Detailed scenario descriptions give users a means by which to visualize each disaster precipitating the evacuation. The information contained in this tool gives planners the ability to anticipate how many evacuees their community might receive, how this influx compares to the county’s existing population, and what resources the region might leverage to respond to evacuee and resident needs. [scb]

Beth Potier
603-862-1566
UNH Media Relations
July 16, 2008

A new report from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, based on a comprehensive survey of 8,000 Americans from 19 rural counties, identifies four distinct, often disparate, rural Americas. The data-rich report presents a complex picture of the economics, demographics, politics, and values of people in rural America. http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2008/July/bp16rural.cfm

To download the complete report, go to http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/Report_PlaceMatters.pdf To watch a video of Mil Duncan describing the “four rural Americas” concept, go to http://bbvideo.unh.edu/content/milduncan/lecture.wmv. [scb]

There are many definitions for rural, but the programs administered through the Office of Local and Rural Health often use the eligibilty process established by the Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP). A new web page is now available to determine eligibility for ORHP programs. It is online at: http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/RuralAdvisor/

You can search by whole county or by address.

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The July 16th Breezing Along with the RML recording is available here:

https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p41554068/

Jim Honour, Wyoming Liaison, discussed rural areas in the MidContinental region. Do they have unique problems with access to biomedical information? How may librarians assist? Are we on the frontier?

Dana Abbey, Colorado/Consumer Health Liaison, reviewed the NIH mandate for researchers to publish in PMC, and the role of the library in an open access environment. [SD]

Join us for this month’s Breezing Along with the RML on Wednesday July 16, 2008 at 10am MT, 11am CT. Meet Wyoming Liaison, Jim Honour. Jim will be discussing rural areas in the MidContinental Region — Do they have unique problems with access to biomedical information? How may librarians assist? Join us to help answer these questions as we also answer the question: “Are we on the frontier?” Dana Abbey, Colorado/Consumer Health Liaison, will review the NIH mandate for researchers to publish in PMC, and the role of the library in an open access environment. All it takes is a click on our link http://webmeeting.nih.gov/mcrupdate to participate! /ch

The MCRML has identified several ways Network members who are working towards earing MLA Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) points can also work along with the MCRML. If you are working towards or renewing your AHIP or would just like to find out how you can get involved in some of the exciting yet interesting MCRML projects, please visit http://nnlm.gov/mcr/advocacy/ to learn more.

The Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Program is specifically designed to meet the educational and health care needs of rural America through the use of advanced telecommunications technologies. In the Grant Program, the focus is on funding end-user equipment that operates via telecommunications to connect students and teachers or medical providers and patients in separate rural locations. http://www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/dlt/dlt.htm [posted on Grants.gov Opportunities Posting Update] scb

The Rural Health Resource Center, a national non-profit organization based in Duluth, Minnesota, serves as a knowledge center for rural hospitals, providing technical assistance, information, education and other resources to rural health care providers and their communities. Primary areas of focus are performance improvement, health information technology, health care work force, organizational development and community health initiatives. The Center is supported by federal and state contracts, private foundations and (where applicable) service fees. The Resource Center has an extensive listing of educational and training opportunities for rural hospitals. Scroll down to see the topic list on The Rural Health Resource Center web page. Please visit the Rural Hospital Performance Improvement site to get additional information: http://www.ruralcenter.org/?id=rhe [posted on Kansas Rural Health Information Service (KRHIS)] scb

Join WebJunction on January 24, 12:00 noon MT/ 1:00 pm CT for their next FREE, one-hour Rural In Focus webinar, “Collaborating with Your Community.”

Wouldn’t it be great to collaborate in 2008? Join Bonnie McKewon, Director of Northwest Iowa Library Service, as she presents a “Top 10″ list of ideas to reinvigorate cooperation among libraries. Ideas like shared programming, shared staffing, board and staff development days, countywide wikis, and more will be discussed. For more information, see http://webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=13496
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