AHRQ’s Superheroes Web site provides Spanish-speakers with:

• Tips on ways to stay healthy and talking with their doctor,
• Recommendations on preventive testing,
• Help in understanding prescriptions,
• A glossary of medical terms, and
• Links to other resources that provide health information.

The Web site is part of a public service campaign that urges Hispanics to stay healthy for their loved ones by visiting their doctor for regular screenings. AHRQ developed this campaign with the Ad Council based on research on what messages Hispanics respond to. The Spanish-language campaign features everyday mothers and fathers whose children see them as superheroes and encourages Hispanic adults to be more involved in their health care, especially preventive care.  Visit the Superheroes site at: http://www.ahrq.gov/superheroes/ [posted on Healthliteracy listserv]

The February issue of NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter bringing you practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research, is now online. http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/ In this edition:

Can Pets Help Keep You Healthy? Exploring the Human-Animal Bond
People have lots of reasons for owning pets. Now a small but growing body of research suggests that owning or interacting with animals may have the added benefit of improving your health.
full story

Thyroid Diseases: What You Need to Know
You can’t see it, you can’t feel it and most people have no idea what it does. In fact, most people don’t know about their thyroid unless they’ve been affected by the often-elusive symptoms of thyroid disease.
full story

Health Capsules:
•    Web Tool Predicts Colon Cancer Risk
•    Therapy Curbs Parkinson’s Symptoms
•    Featured Web Site: Aim for a Healthy Weight

The Hesperian Foundation http://www.hesperian.org/ is a non-profit publisher of books and newsletters for community-based health care. They have recently published two titles in Spanish: Un manual de salud para mujeres con discapacidad, the Spanish version of A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities and Helping Children Who are Deaf, Ayudar a los nios sordos. Packed with simple activities, this book is a great resource for parents, caregivers, health promoters, and others in teaching children who do not hear well how to communicate to the best of his or her ability.
Both titles can be downloaded and purchased from their new Spanish website http://www.espanol.hesperian.org/ and the online library with free downloads http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download.php

The January 2009 issue The IHS Primary Care Provider can be viewed on-line in .pdf format by going to http://www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/Publications/HealthProvider/Provider.asp and selecting the January link. The direct link is http://www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/Publications/HealthProvider/issues/PROV0109.pdf
In this issue, you can read “Native Health Database: One Stop for Native Health Information” written by medical librarian Pat Bradley. “The Native Health Database (http://hsc.unm.edu/library/nhd/) is a freely-available resource on the Internet forfinding health and medical information as it pertains to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Canadian First Nations.”

http://estudiabetes.com/
Thanks to a review done by librarian Maria Fernandez
Estudiabetes.com is a social networking site in Spanish dedicated to people of all ages with diabetes condition, and to the parents of children with diabetes. The main purposes is for them to share their experiences in dealing with the disease, as well as to offer to others, like them, information about diabetes that they have come across. The site also provides breaking news on diabetes.

Community Based Cancer-Control: A Seminar for American Indian and Alaska Native Community Health Advocates
March 8-13, 2009
Portland Oregon

All communities have unmet health needs. Sometimes it is hard to determine exactly what those needs are, and often it is hard to get programs funded. Researchers can help quantify health needs, but there is frequently a disconnect between what the community wants and what the researcher wants. That’s where a partnership between research and communities can help.

The goal of this program is to provide community members with the tools to approach researchers, identify research questions, write grants and collaborate on projects that address cancer health disparities.  This training seminar is open to tribal community members with an interest in improving cancer prevention, screening, and treatment in his or her community. Throughout the week, participants will become familiar with elements of writing a winning community-based grant. Seminar topics will cover the following grant-writing basics: where to locate funding sources, how to establish grant-writing goals and objectives, how to develop a budget, and more.

Successful applicants receive a scholarship covering travel, hotel, per diem meal allowance, and course materials.
Applications are due by February 6, 2009.

Please contact Jessica Kennedy and she can get an application form to you. Ms. Kennedys e-mail address is blarjesj@ohsu.edu and her phone number is (503) 494-1126.

[posted on CBPR listserv]

State of the U.S.A. Health Indicators
Committee on the State of the USA Health Indicators, Institute of Medicine, 2008
Available online at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12534
“………..Policymakers, the media, and the public should focus on 20 specific health indicators as “yardsticks” to measure the overall health and well-being of Americans, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
By providing information that can be compared over time, these 20 indicators will also help Americans track the nation’s progress on improving our health and the effectiveness of public health and care systems.
The indicators are intended for the health section of a new Web site that the nonprofit State of the USA Inc. (SUSA) http://stateoftheusa.org/ is building as a tool for measuring and monitoring the nation on several fronts. The site will aim to help people become more-informed and active participants in national discussions about important topics — such as health, education, and the environment — by giving them a way to measure national progress from year to year and to compare it to that of other countries. Until recently, only researchers and academics have had the capacity for this kind of analysis.
The 20 proposed indicators together provide a broad picture of Americans’ health and the nation’s health systems. They reflect a range of factors that determine well-being, including how many individuals engage in certain risky or healthy behaviors, how well patients fare from the care they receive, and to what extent health professionals and facilities are meeting specific goals. [posted on PAHO/WHO Equity list]

Reducing Inequities in Health and Safety through Prevention
http://www.preventioninstitute.org/documents/HealthEquityMemo_012309.pdf
Prevention Institute and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Institute for Health Policy have released a position paper, Reducing Inequities in Health and Safety through Prevention. The paper emphasizes the need for a national commitment and elements of an agenda focused on achieving equitable health outcomes for all. [Prevention Institute Alert]

Access to healthy foods worse in poor areas
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_74043.html
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
By Anne Harding
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who live in poorer neighborhoods in the US are less likely to have easy access to supermarkets carrying a wide variety of fresh produce and other healthy food, an analysis of 54 studies confirms.
But they probably have plenty of unhealthy fast food joints to choose from, Dr. Nicole I. Larson of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and her colleagues found.
“The research I reviewed suggests there is a need for new policies and other local actions to address the problem of poor access to healthy foods in many lower income, rural, and minority communities,” Larson told Reuters Health.
Evidence is mounting, Larson and her team note, that segregation of neighborhoods by “income, race, and ethnicity” plays a major role in US health disparities, and accessibility to healthy — and unhealthy — food may be a factor. [posted in MedlinePlus Health News, Thursday January 22, 2009]

“Our World, Our Community:  Building Bridges for Health Equality”

View the Internet and satellite broadcast of the 11th Annual William T. Small, Jr. Keynote Lecture, by Barbara Wallace, Ph.D., Professor of Health Education at Columbia University, on Friday, February 27, 2009 at 2:00pm-3:30pm EST.  The lecture is the highlight of the 30th Annual UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Minority Health Conference, presented by the School’s Minority Student Caucus on that day.  The broadcast will include a live call-in question-and-answer session with Dr. Wallace.

For information about the broadcast and about registering for or exhibiting at the full day’s Conference in person at the UNC Friday Center for Continuing Education, please visit http://www.minority.unc.edu/sph/minconf/2009/ [posted on [mhpannounce]

April is Minority Health Month. The HHS Office of Minority Health has chosen preconception health as the focus for Minority Health Month April 2009; the theme is “Ordinary Couples Don’t Plan Their Pregnancies: Be Extraordinary!“.  Learn more about the HHS initiative at http://www.omhrc.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=182 [posted on OMHRC E*NEWS FLASH!]

Wisconsin Pandemic Inflenza Toolkit for Families http://pandemic.wisconsin.gov/category.asp?linkcatid=2834&linkid=904&locid=106
Emergency Prparedness programs working on Pandemic Influenza planning have concerns about getting home care info to family members. If/when a Pandemic hits, the medical system will be overwhelmed and families will have to care at home for those stricken with flu, as well as other health conditions if health care facilities close and send patients home. For influenza it’s mostly controlling fever, hydration, and knowing when to call for further assistance. [Posted on HealthLiteracy listserv]

Annual CDC Report Finds High Burden of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Especially among Women and Racial Minorities
http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/Newsroom/PressRelease011309.html
Reported cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea in the United States exceeded 1.4 million in 2007, according to an annual report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These diseases continue to be the most commonly reported infectious diseases in the nation and pose persistent and preventable threats to fertility in the United States. The report shows persistent racial disparities across sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and a particularly heavy burden of disease among women. [posted on PHPartners http://phpartners.org/ - New Links for the week of Jan 16, 2009]