http://medlineplus.gov/
Last weekend, I spent a lot of time talking and chatting with people about health information. I was at a local health fair, and spent a morning telling people in 30 seconds or less about the great resources the National Library of Medicine has to offer, especially MedlinePlus. I was inspired by that experience and by chatting with friends online on health issues we all face in our lives and that of family members, to post this simple summary of MedlinePlus, the place to start when beginning to search for reliable trusted health information.

MedlinePlus has extensive information from the National Institutes of Health and other trusted sources on over 750 diseases and conditions. There are directories, a medical encyclopedia and a medical dictionary, easy-to-understand tutorials on common conditions, tests, and treatments, health information in Spanish, extensive information on prescription and nonprescription drugs, health information from the media, and links to thousands of clinical trials. There is no advertising on this site, nor does MedlinePlus endorse any company or product.

Take a tour of MedlinePlus and learn more about the great tools it offers in finding health information you can trust http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tour/tour.html

Commission on Social Determinants of Health
Michael G. Marmot, FRCP; Ruth Bell, PhD
Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA. 2009;301(11):1169-1171. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/301/11/1169?etoc#

Here are 2 truisms. Rich countries have better health than poor countries, and medical care improves health. Consider, then, the case of the United States, which is among the richest countries in the world and spends more than any other country on medical care, US $6350 per person in 2005.1 Does the United States then have the best health? Not quite. Life expectancy from birth to age 65 years is one useful measure of premature mortality: the United States ranks 36th in the world for men and 42nd for women.2 If not by greater national income or more spending on medical care, how should the task of improving health in the United States be approached? Pay attention to the social determinants of health.

http://www.healthypeople.gov/hp2020/comments/
Healthy People 2020 will be launched in two phases. The organizing framework, including the vision, mission and overarching goals, will be released in 2009. The specific objectives, accompanied by strategies for achieving them, will be launched in 2010. In preparation for the process of creating draft objectives for Healthy People 2020,  preliminary comments are sought on existing Healthy People 2010 objectives. Comments received by April 24 will be considered the draft objectives for Healthy People 2020 are created. This is a preliminary input period that will help inform the development of a set of draft Healthy People 2020 objectives

Healthy Lifestyles
Learn how to start a walking program: http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/walking.htm

Talking With Your Doctor: A Guide for Older People
View the online brochure: http://www.niapublications.org/pubs/talking/index.asp
You can also order brochures. See the Spanish language version:
Conversando con su Médico http://www.niapublications.org/pubs/conversando/index.asp
[NIH Health Information Spotlight 3/30/2009]

From Fox Business News: A.D.A.M., Inc. today announced it has extended its relationship with the National Library of Medicine . As part of the agreement, NLM will use A.D.A.M.’s Multimedia Encyclopedia to enhance the health content on its MedlinePlus web site http://medlineplus.gov, an award-winning, free resource that brings together authoritative health information from the NLM, the National Institutes of Health,and other public agencies, and respected private health-related organizations. http://tinyurl.com/cogy36 Copyright Business Wire 2009

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Offer Grants for Alcohol Use Prevention and Vehicle Safety Projects
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=247200022
Fifteen grants of up to $1,000 each will be awarded to teachers, school-based service-learning coordinators, and community organizations working to promote vehicle safety and prevent alcohol use among youth between the ages of 5 and 25.

Legion Child Welfare Foundation Offers Support for Projects to Benefit Children in the United States
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=246000033
Grants of up to $70,000 each will be awarded to nonprofits working to provide resources to children in need in the United States, with an emphasis on their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual welfare

MacArthur Foundation Announces New Housing Research Grant Program
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=247200020
Grants of up to $1 million will be awarded to individuals affiliated with a nonprofit and pursuing up to three years of study on the subject of how housing affects the well-being of families, children, communities, and their local economies

Civic Ventures Invites Community Colleges to Apply for Encore Career Grants
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=247200024
Grants of up to $25,000 will be awarded to eight community colleges in the United States working to develop programs for students age 50 and older seeking encore careers in education, healthcare, nonprofit leadership, and the environment

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Announces Local Funding Partnerships Program to Reducing Exposure to Violence
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=246000050
Eight matching grants of up to $200,000 each will be awarded to diversity-focused funders partnering with foundations or other philanthropies to reduce violence in their communities

[posted on PND RFP Bulletin, March 27, 2009 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_bulletin/newsletter.html]

Managing Emergency Preparedness: Academic Health Centers Organize and Innovate provides academic health center leaders and policymakers at the local, state, and national levels with a short-hand guide on managing emergency response activities within academic health centers. Academic health centers are leaders in emergency preparedness and disaster response from vigilance in internal security to protection of the research enterprise to collaboration with the surrounding community. This brief guide by the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) highlights ways in which academic health centers are developing and managing operations and systems to help ensure that institutions and communities can respond to an array of emergencies and natural disasters. http://www.aahcdc.org/policy/reports/AAHC_Emergency_Prep_08.pdf

The Economic Stimulus: Opportunities and Challenges for Underserved Communities
http://www.preventioninstitute.org/events.html#equity
The National Health Equity Coalition
National Dialogue on Equity and Health Webinar
Tuesday – March 31, 2009
2:00pm – 3:30pm Eastern
The Economic Stimulus: Opportunities and Challenges for Underserved Communities
Expert Panel:
Dr. Brian Smedley, Moderator, Vice President and Director, Health Policy Institute - Joint Center for Political and Economic
Dr. Darrell J. Gaskin, Associate Professor of Health Economics, University of Maryland
Adam Thompson. Senior Health Policy Specialist, Progressive States Network
Larry Cohen, Executive Director, Prevention Institute

Utah Health Disparities Summaries 2009
http://health.utah.gov/cmh/data/disparitiessummary.html
The Utah Health Disparities Summaries series was created by the Center for Multicultural Health and other programs in the Division of Community and Family Health Services of the Utah Department of Health. Each 4-page report compares health indicators of a specific minority population to all Utahns and state and national targets for the year 2010. The reports also include demographic information for context.

Cultural Competency and Tuberculosis Care: A guide for self-study and self-assessment
http://www.umdnj.edu/globaltb/products/tbculturalcompguide.htm
This print resource was developed for the public health workforce and other healthcare providers. It is intended as a tool to begin to explore the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for cultural competency in general, with a focus on TB control activities. The guide utilizes a culture general perspective and includes a self-assessment tool, teaching cases and links to other cultural competency resources. [posted on CLAStalk listserv]

Planning for Healthy Places with Health Impact Assessments
is a ‘how to’ guide for conducting health impact assessments (HIAs), developed by the American Planning Association and the National Association of County & City Health Officials, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This online course will explain the value of conducting an HIA and the steps involved in conducting an HIA. Throughout the course, examples of health impact assessments have been highlighted and discussed. This course is available for free, thanks to a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information please visit the following URL: http://professional.captus.com/Planning/hia/default.aspx

The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools
Grant Alerts – March 26, 2009

GTECH Corporation – GTECH After School Advantage Program
http://www.healthinschools.org/News-Room/Grant-Alerts/GTECH-After-School-Advantage-Program.aspx
The GTECH After School Advantage Program is a national community investment program, which gives non-profit community agencies and public schools with state-of-the-art computer labs. These centers are targeted towards inner-city children aged five to 15 with a meaningful, safe and fun environment after school hours. GTECH will donate up to $15,000 in state-of-the-art computers, on-line technology, computer software and volunteer hours to each after-school program in inner-city communities where the Company’s offices are located nationwide

Best Buy Children’s Foundation – Community Grants Program
http://www.healthinschools.org/News-Room/Grant-Alerts/Best-Buy-Community-Grants-Program.aspx
Through the Community Grants Program, Best Buy seeks to support non-profit organizations that provide opportunities to young teens related to education, life skills, leadership skills or relationship development.

For Kids Only – Dare to Dream Grant Program
http://www.healthinschools.org/News-Room/Grant-Alerts/Dare-to-Dream-Grant-Program.aspx
For Kids Only seeks to fund programs with specific faith-based components targeting “at-risk” children ages 0-12 years that have measureable academic and spiritual outcomes. For Kids Only identifies at-risk children as academically, emotionally, socially and/or spiritually disadvantaged.