The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released a new consumer guide providing information to Hispanic adults with type 2 diabetes helping them to compare various oral medications. The guide provides important information to patients on how to control their diabetes and avoid side effects. The guide organizes comparative research results according to diabetes patients’ concerns and questions and assists them in using research results when talking with health care professionals about their diabetes medicines.For more information please visit the following URL: http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2008/diabguidepr.htm

Consumer guides can be ordered free of charge by sending an email to ahrqpubs@ahrq.hhs.gov or by calling 1-800-358-9295. [posted on Kansas Rural Health Information Service (KRHIS).]

Save the Date!

Community Technology Centers’ Network (CTCnet)
2008 Community Technology Conference
November 12 -14, 2008
Los Angeles, California
CTCNet’s 2008 Community Technology Conference offers a dynamic opportunity to connect with individuals and organizations committed to making digital tools and skills more accessible to underserved populations. Workforce development, social media, and broadband are a few hot topics to be explored. For more information: http://ctcnet.org/what/conference/index.htm

See the National Library of Medicine website for “Integrating Resources for Research and Practice”. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hsrph.html This website combines “Health Services Research: Studying access, costs and quality” and “Public Health: Promoting health for the population”

A Convenient and Targeted Effort to Protect Against the Flu During Election Season
Vote & Vax Clinics Reach Thousands of At-Risk Americans in Need of Influenza Vaccinations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all adults 50 years of age and older be vaccinated. Yet, only half of older adults receive their annual flu vaccination. Since this population is also more likely to vote than any other group, several local health agencies have taken advantage of this opportunity to offer flu vaccinations at polling sites on Election Day—the middle of flu season. A collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and SPARC (Sickness Prevention Achieved through Regional Collaboration), Vote & Vax works with local public health providers to assist in launching vaccination clinics at polling places. On November 4, 2008, Vote & Vax will grow to more than 1,000 polling sites nationwide. Participating provider organizations will be given detailed guidance on how to organize a vaccine clinic in collaboration with local election authorities. Learn more about Vote and Vax and how to particpate at: http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=25171&c=EMC-CA144 [posted on Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Content Alerts]

Borrow a Muslim? A ‘living library’ to prick stereotypes
In 12 countries, people check out people for a 30-minute conversation to challenge their own prejudices.
By Mark Rice-Oxley | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the June 4, 2008 edition
London - “It works like a conventional library. Tables and chairs are set out for study. Librarians bustle purposefully, staffing the checkout desk.

Except these aren’t books on loan. They’re people.

Welcome to the Living Library. Here, you borrow individuals who represent stereotypes that often are the target of prejudice or hatred.” http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0605/p01s02-wogn.html

View these two TV PSA’s dealing with the health literacy issue of making sure patients ask healthcare providers questions. http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/level2col_1.asp?nav=2colNav00&content=09_0_videos They are part of the AHRQ program: Questions Are the Answers http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/index.html

Developing Effective Citizen Engagement: A How-To Guide for Community Leaders
http://www.ruralpa.org/Effective_Citizen_Engagement.pdf
Describes processes for meaningful citizen engagement by community leaders.
Organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
Date: 04 / 2008

Preventing Youth Suicide in Rural America: Recommendations to States
http://www.sprc.org/library/ruralyouth.pdf
Provides recommendations for state-level agencies in the prevention of youth suicide in rural America. Covers data and surveillance, screening, gatekeeper training, and survivor issues.
Organization: Suicide Prevention Resource Center
Date: 04 / 2008

Workforce Development: Community Colleges and One-Stop Centers Collaborate to Meet 21st Century Workforce Needs
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08547.pdf
Reviews community colleges’ roles in workforce training and the nation’s workforce system.
Organization: Government Accountability Office
Date: 05 / 2008
[posted on Rural Assistance Center Health Update]

The Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and he Uninsured (KCMU) has been producing annual chartbooks on the uninsured population and health coverage for nearly a decade, examining how many Americans lack coverage, who the uninsured are and how health insurance coverage is changing. This year, the Health Insurance Coverage in America chartbook has been reformatted as a web-based information resource including charts and tables to provide a more comprehensive profile of the uninsured population and health insurance coverage more generally. http://facts.kff.org/chartbook.aspx?cb=50 [posted on Kaiser Family Foundation listserv]

National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program
http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=311
Application deadline: Jul 11, 2008
Scholarships for students pursuing primary care health professions training in exchange for a service commitment in a health professional shortage area (HPSA) selected by NHSC.

Faith-based Advocacy: Galvanizing Communities to End Childhood Obesity
http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=1932
Application deadline: Jul 25, 2008
Funding to support faith-based coalitions to advance community policies or environmental changes that improve access to healthy foods and/or opportunities for physical activity.

Tribal Transit Program
http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=1291
Application deadline: Aug 19, 2008
Grants to Indian tribes to carry out transit projects in rural areas.
[posted on Rural Assistance Center Health Update]

http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=true&oppId=17926
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) solicits Resource Program Grants in Bioinformatics for supporting the continued operation, improvement, and dissemination of databases, digital information, or software tools that are unique, and of special importance to research using animal models of embryonic developmental processes.