In Crisis, Remote Access
New York TImes
By JULIE BICK
Published: November 10, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/649kby
“..Aside from a few satellite phones and even fewer working cellphones, the area was isolated as relief workers scrambled to assess the security situation and address the vast humanitarian needs.

On the ground, Mr. Lopes unpacked a contraption made of circuits, chips and wires, pointed it at the sky and rolled out a solar mat, which turns sunlight into energy, to power it up. Aid workers plugged their laptops into the device, which offered the first stable Internet connection since the disaster had hit a week earlier.”

Assessing the Nation’s Health Literacy: Key Concepts and Findings of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/367/hl_report_2008.pdf
Describes the outcomes of the federal study, NAAL, and how its implications affect the health care of patients with limited health literacy.
Organization: American Medical Association
Date: 2008

Children in Central Cities and Rural Communities Experience High Rates of Poverty
http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/FS_RuralChildPoverty_08.pdf
Reports on new data that indicates more than 13 million children are living in poverty, 22 percent of rural children and 25 percent of children living in central cities.
Organization: Carsey Institute
Date: 2008

Place Matters: Challenges and Opportunities in Four Rural Americas
http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/Report_PlaceMatters.pdf
Presents the results from a survey that examined issues facing rural Americans focusing on economic changes, challenges, and realities; migration and demographic changes; religion, trust, and civil institutions; environment, natural resources, and energy; infrastructure and changing populations.
Organization: Carsey Institute
Date: 10 / 2008

Religion, Politics, and the Environment in Rural America
http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/IB-ReligionPolitics08.pdf
Provides data from a survey of rural Americans across the United States regarding their religion, politics, community, and environmental views.
Organization: Carsey Institute
Date: 2008

American Indian and Alaska Native Programs
http://aianp.uchsc.edu/index.htm
Works to promote the health and well-being of American Indians and Alaska Natives through research, training, continuing education, technical assistance, and information dissemination.

Assisted Senior Living
http://www.assistedseniorliving.net/
Strives to help seniors and caregivers locate adequate care and senior living facilities. Site includes options to search by state and type of facility and provides resources for gathering more information on this topic.

[Posted in Rural Assistance Center Human Services Update]

Network, Learn, and Rally for Health Justice
October 23-24, 2008
Washington, DC
Join a gathering of clinicians and students from across the country to explore cutting edge solutions, rediscover professional excitement, and be a vital voice in healthcare justice. Visit http://www.allclinicians.org/home.php to register and learn more about the summit. [posted on the CBPR listserv]

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) issued “At-risk populations and influenza pandemic: Planning Guidance for State, Territorial, Tribal and Local Health Departments.” This 126-page document has links to a variety of resources offering guidance including how to partner with “at-risk” populations and providers, identifying at-risk populations in the community, and involving people with varying abilities in preparedness planning and data. Among other topics, it also covers continuity of operations plans during a pandemic, home care during a pandemic, evaluation of preparedness, and mapping populations in a community. See the document at: http://www.astho.org/pubs/ASTHO_ARPP_Guidance_June3008.pdf

A Successful Model for Reducing Violence Among Young People
http://tinyurl.com/6fpubp
Violence is the No. 1 cause of death among young people in many cities, and minority groups are disproportionately affected. But violence doesn’t have to be part of the status quo in inner-city neighborhoods. That’s where CeaseFire http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/ comes in.
Launched in 2000 under the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention, CeaseFire engages the community to work with young people at high risk of being involved in violence to provide on-the-spot alternatives to shooting and change social norms about gun violence. By mobilizing the community in CeaseFire zones, CeaseFire’s executive director Gary Slutkin, M.D., and the outreach staff have witnessed lower rates of gun violence, even as neighborhoods with similar demographics and base crime rates saw an increase in the number of shootings. [posted on RWJF Content Alerts ]

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) has released the draft version of At-Risk Populations and Pandemic Influenza: Planning Guidance for State, Territorial, Tribal, and Local Health Departments for public comment. Under a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ASTHO was asked to develop model guidance on the protection of at-risk populations in an influenza pandemic. Read the draft and get instructions on how to provide comments at http://www.astho.org/index.php?template=at_risk_population_project.html [posted on CLAStalk list]

Mentoring Children of Prisoners: Caregiver’s Choice Program
Caregiver’s Choice makes it possible for many more kids across the country to have mentors, and for many more families to enjoy all the benefits of mentoring. This program is unique because it gives the child’s caregiver the power to choose—to look at the possibilities and decide on the best mentoring program to meet their needs and the needs of the child. Through Caregiver’s Choice, you can: - Access funding to serve more children; - Tap into federal funds; - Manage your participation level; - Leverage national efforts to recruit children of prisoners; and - Benefit from cutting-edge training and tools. For more information visit, http://www.mentoring.org/find_resources/caregiverschoice/

National Diabetes Education Program
The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) is now taking pre-orders for a diabetes primary prevention kit designed for community health workers and promoters that work with African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos. Toolkit components include: a flipchart, user’s guide, activities guide, resources guide, photo journal, Step by step: Moving towards prevention of Type 2 Diabetes (CD/DVD), NDEP food and activity tracker, NDEP fat and calorie counter, and The Road to Health Supplemental CD-ROM. Interested organizations can pre-order the toolkit by emailing emx4@cdc.gov To learn more about NDEP visit http://www.ndep.nih.gov

Initiatives to Educate State Officials and Policy Makers about Priority Public Health Issues Related to the Prevention and Control of STDs, HIV, and AIDS
Secretary’s Forecast Summary CDC-RFA-PS08-813 CDC’s Procurement and Grants Office has published a program announcement entitled, “Initiatives to Educate State Officials and Policy Makers about Priority Public Health Issues Related to the Prevention and Control of STDs and HIV and AIDS.” Approximately $140,000 will be available in fiscal year 2008 to fund one award. The purpose of the program is to fund a national organization to provide education on accurate, comprehensive, and timely public health information for state Governors, legislatures, policy makers and those involved in state efforts to protect the public’s health. The estimated funding date is prior to July 1, 2008. Community and faith-based organizations may apply Applications are due May 12, 2008 AWARD AMOUNT: $140,000 CONTACT: PGOTIM Phone: 770-488-2700 or email pgotim@cdc.gov
FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/PS08-813.htm

[posted on Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Weekly Update April 18, 2008]

Big Cities Health Inventory (BCHI) - The Health of Urban USA
US National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Metro Forum. 2007
Available online as PDF file [150p.] at: http://www.naccho.org/topics/crosscutting/documents/BCHI07COLORFINAL.pdf
“…… a compendium of health status indicators produced in a comparative format for the 54 largest metropolitan areas in the United States.

Data on the health of our communities are probably more widely available at this time than at any point in the past. The Internet has become a vast repository of statistics on a variety health conditions. But less progress has been made in turning these raw data into usable information, especially for the nation’s largest urban areas which face higher rates of poor health status and racial/ethnic disparities in illness and access to health care services.

Several key principles of public health practice depend on having reliable and current information regarding the health status of the community. The most obvious of these principles is evidence-based decision making and the core science of public health, epidemiology, is grounded in the collection and analysis of data.

Perhaps an even more fundamental principle is social justice and the recognition that eliminating health disparities is critical to improving the health of the overall population. For highly diverse urban populations, understanding the root causes of health disparities, including the synergistic interplay of social and environmental stressors that contribute to the erosion of resiliency in many of our nation’s urban communities, is necessary to accomplish this goal….” [posted by PAHO/WHO Equity Listserv}

In the NN/LM MCR region, cities covered include, Omaha, NE; St. Louis, MO; Denver, CO; Colorado Springs, CO; Kansas City, MO; and Witchita, KS

Strategies for Reducing Spending, Improving Care of the Chronically Homeless Report
Release: From The National Academy for State Health Policy
There is evidence that homeless people, especially the chronically homeless, incur high health care costs, much of which may be paid for with Medicaid funds. There is also evidence that health care costs are reduced when homeless people with intensive medical needs enter supportive housing, which combines affordable, stable housing with care workers who assist residents in managing health, mental health, substance abuse, and employment issues. This evidence, along with evidence that the proportion of homeless people who are chronically homeless is small, provides a potential opportunity for states to reduce Medicaid costs by increasing their investment in housing. http://tinyurl.com/2zr64z [posted on Kansas Rural Health Information Service (KRHIS)]

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]