University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas has won a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to form a Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) on ischemic heart disease in blacks. The effect of obesity-related diabetes as a cause of ischemic heart disease will be investigated. UT Southwestern brings the specialties of cardiology and diabetes together and will unite researchers from four research units and three core units. For more information, contact UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Office of News and Public Information at (214)648-3404, or visit its web site at http://www.swmed.edu/news/newspubs.htm.
HealthSTAR is a new database being created in a joint venture by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the American Hospital Association (AHA); it will combine the Health Planning and Administration database (Health) and the Health Services/Technology Assessment Research database (HSTAR) from NLM and contains nearly 2.5 million citations from a variety of materials ranging from monographs, journal articles, and government reports to conference papers, book chapters, and newspaper articles. HealthSTAR will incorporate the subject scopes of both parent databases. Topics include health care administration, economics, planning, and policy; health services research; clinical practice guidelines; and health care technology assessment. For more information, contact National Library of Medicine's National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR) at (301)435-2241 or e-mail nichsr@nlm.nih.gov, or contact the American Hospital Association Resource Center at (312)422-2009, e-mail rc%aha@mcimail.com.
Family Planning
Targeted towards young fathers from ages 13-25, What it
Takes: A Survival Guide for Young and Teen Dads-To-Be
provides information, encouragement, and support to young fathers
who want to help raise their newborn child. Why fathers are
important, thoughts and feelings young dads experience, getting
along with the mother's family, caring for a crying baby, and
planning for a career and education are just some of the topics
covered. The Guide includes listings of young father
programs, hotlines, recommended reading, and videos. For 1-9
books, the cost is $3.95 each; 10-100, $3.80 each; and 101-500,
$3.65 each. To order, contact For Teen Moms Only at
(815)464-5465.
Unintentional Injuries
The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
has sponsored the development of a manual to help Emergency
Medical Services (EMS) providers and other health professionals
in rural and urban areas educate the public on how to prevent
serious injuries. Safety Advice from EMS (SAFE): A Guide to
Injury Prevention was designed to make it simple for EMS
personnel and other health professionals to talk with their
communities on selected traffic safety topics, including occupant
protection, impaired driving, speed, and bicycle and pedestrian
safety. The guide includes lesson plans that can be customized to
meet individual needs. Ideas for additional activities and
resources are also included. For additional information or to
order a copy of the Guide, write to Emergency Medical
Services Division, NHTSA, NTS-42, 400 Seventh Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20590.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Speaking of Sex, a series of 12 pamphlets, answers teens'
most-asked questions and concerns about the choices they face and
about the changes they are experiencing. Intended for use in
health offices in schools, youth and parenting centers, and
counseling centers, each pamphlet focuses on a specific issue
such as Abstinence, Birth Control, Teen Pregnancy, STDs,
HIV/AIDS, Sexual Orientation, Decision Making, Values, Building
Healthy Relationships, and others. For more information or to
order a free 80-page catalog featuring a description of the Speaking
of Sex series, write to the Bureau For At-Risk Youth, 645 New
York Avenue, Huntington, NY 11743, or call (800)99-YOUTH.
Immunization and Infectious Diseases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC)
National Immunization Program distributes materials that
cover a variety of topics relating to immunizations and
infectious diseases. These materials, many offered free of
charge, focus on childhood immunizations, immunizations for the
over 65 generation, pediatric immunization practices, and
materials such as posters to promote a call to action to get
immunized. To find out more about the materials, write to the
Information/Distribution Center, National Immunization Program,
MS E-34, CDC, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Surveillance and Data Systems
Lack of education may result in lack of health care, according to
a report by the National Center for Health Statistics. Health,
United States, 1994 indicates that people between the ages of
25 and 64 with less than a high school education had more than
double the death rate of those with at least 1 year of a college
education. It also shows that women who do not complete high
school are nearly eight times as likely to smoke during pregnancy
as women who graduate college. The report indicates that women
who smoked during pregnancy dropped from 20 percent in 1989 to 17
percent in 1992. For a free copy of the report, contact the NCHS
Data Dissemination Branch, Room 1064, Hyattsville, MD 20782;
telephone (301)436-8500; Internet http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/chshome.htm.
The American Institute for Preventive Medicine offers a customized
wellness guide that can be tailored to the needs of specific
organizations. There are over 300 health conditions and wellness
topics in its database, from which a custom guide can be
developed to address an organization's unique needs based upon,
for example, the most frequently used ICD-9 codes, conditions
common to geographic region, or illnesses that address special
populations such as women, children, older Americans, pregnant
women, Hispanics, or Medicaid recipients. For more information
and a list of topic areas available, contact the American
Institute for Preventive Medicine, 30445 Northwestern Highway,
Suite 350, Farmington Hills, MI 48334; (810)539-1800.
Women's Health Source Book, a 400-page, spiral-bound
resource for women's health care providers, is now available from
American Health Consultants, publishers of Employee Health and
Fitness. Designed for clinicians, health care educators, and
administrators, Women's Health Source Book offers hundreds
of resources on improving quality of care, patient satisfaction,
and staff education. The source book is organized into two
sections. The first, Clinical Reviews in Women's Health, provides
up-to-date information on the latest clinical developments in
gynecologic oncology, mid-life health, obstetrics, and
reproductive health. The second section, Providing Comprehensive
Women's Care: Selected Topics for Women's Health Practices,
includes information on breast health and mammography,
incontinence, infertility, and mid-life health. For more
information or to order, contact AHC Customer Service at
(800)688-2421.
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