Inspiration in Greensburg: The Vital Role of Public Health
With the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), RWJF produced a video illustrating the breadth of the public health response in a Kansas town hit by a category 5 tornado. Almost two years after a category 5 tornado leveled 95 percent of the town of Greensburg, public health continues to play a critical role rebuilding the community and improving the lives of its residents. The complete devastation caused by the tornado required a comprehensive public health response from across the state - from emergency response to dispensing medication to coordinating temporary housing to leading a state-of-the-art energy-efficient reconstruction effort. Learn more and view the vieo at http://www.rwjf.org/newsroom/product.jsp?id=39388#content [posted on RWJF Content Alerts] scb

Shikun “KK” Jiang, Technology Coordinator for NN/LM’s South Central Region, has recorded a presentation about mobile devices. She covers the range of mobile devices, and talks about health science applications for devices. Well worth checking out! View it here. [SD]

Rebecca Brown, Kansas and Technology Liaison, gave a presentation on adopting RSS - Really Simple Syndication.

Watch the recording at: https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p75195349/

[rb]

This week - Wednesday, February 25 - for one hour - 1:00 MT, 2:00 CT- take a class on MedlinePlus and the Household Products Database, presented by Barb Jones, as part of the Spotlight! on National Library of Medicine Resources.

This online training is FREE, and requires no registration. All you need is a computer with Internet access and a phone. All classes can be accessed by going to https://webmeeting.nih.gov/mcr. You’ll sign in as a guest, enter your phone number when prompted and the system will call you!

The series is targeted for the fourth Wednesday each month. Upcoming dates and topics include: March 25 - Educational Resources for Kids, and April 22 - Drug Resources. We hope to “see” you there!

The Maternal and Child Health Library released a new edition of the knowledge path, Spanish-Language Health Resources. The knowledge path points to health hotlines and helplines, web sites, publications, and databases for health professionals and consumers. The knowledge path presents Spanish-language resources covering a wide range of health topics, including many of interest to the maternal and child health (MCH) community. The knowledge path is available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_spanish.html. A Spanish-language version of the 2009 edition is also being developed. Knowledge paths on other maternal and child health (MCH) topics are available at http://mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/index.html [scb]

http://www.jennysheroes.com/index.shtml
Jenny’s Heroes is offering to fund up to $25,000 to benefit communities. They are looking for specific ideas to purchase, repair, upgrade, provide equipment, or otherwise make improvements to benefit the community. [scb]

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/mplus_mag_spanish09.html
There’s a new magazine for people who want health information in Spanish. The National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine, and the Friends of the National Library of Medicine recently launched NIH MedlinePlus Salud http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/magazine/. The magazine is produced in partnership with the National Alliance for Hispanic Health.

The new publication, written in both English and Spanish, complements NIH MedlinePlus magazine http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/ which premiered in 2006. Salud (the Spanish word for health) was created to bring quality health information to even more people, and to address the specific health needs of the growing Hispanic population. [scb]

Read the press release below of four women who who used the library to improve their health and wellbeing. Be sure to take note of the story of the women in Colorado who recieved training from our very own Dana Abbey!

Press Relase from the American Library Association (ALA)
http://tinyurl.com/cfpmhp
February 10, 2009
Woman’s Day magazine shares stories of improving health and wellness at the library
Continuing an eight-year partnership with ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries that has generated millions of dollars worth of editorial coverage for libraries, Woman’s Day magazine profiles four women who used the library to improve their health and wellbeing.

The article ( http://tinyurl.com/alre75 PDF file) appears in the magazine’s March issue, now on stands. Featured are a wife who turned to the library for solace during her husband’s illness, a new mom who sought answers about postpartum depression at the library, a retiree who learned how to find trusted medical resources at a free library class and a reader who rediscovered books through the Library of Congress’ Talking Books program after she lost her sight. [scb]

This month’s Breezing Along with the RML includes almost the whole RML staff reprising the presentation we did for the NN/LM Site Visit Team. It was a good exercise for us to review what we’ve been doing through the first half of our five year contract—we think you’ll find it revealing too. You can give us your opinion on what we’ve accomplished and how to address the challenges we’ve identified. Join us on Wednesday Feb 18 at 10am MT, 11am CT at https://webmeeting.nih.gov/mcrupdate. All you’ll need is your Internet connect and your phone. Sign as a guest with your first and last names. /ch

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. In this edition learn how pets can improve your health; read about the symptoms of thyroid disease; and, new therapies for Parkinson’s symptoms. [da]