County Health Rankings & Roadmaps has announced the release of What Works for Health: http://bit.ly/QvH3OF .

This tool is an  “online searchable menu of policies and programs focusing on factors that make communities healthier places to live, learn, work and play.” Developed by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it allows local leaders to choose a health factor of interest  and browse through the evidence ratings for particular programs, policies, or system changes that address the specific health factor. [Wellness and Prevention Health Reform Digest, Sept. 28, 2012]

The Library of Congress has launched new a public beta site for accessing free, fact-based legislative information.

Congress.gov is in an initial beta phase with plans to transform the Library of Congress’s existing congressional information system into a modern, durable and user-friendly resource.

What’s new in Congress.gov?

Improved Searching

• Simultaneously search all content across all available years
• Ability to narrow and refine search results
• Easier identification of bill progress/status
• Effective display for mobile devices
• Maintenance of links to House and Senate floor video, top searched bills, and a save/share feature

User-Friendly Design

• Pages are highly scannable, with easy-to-read text
• Consistent, meaningful, and permanent URLs
• Wider and cleaner pages with better displays of search results
• Responsive design for mobile devices

Legislation

Each piece of legislation has a landing page with tabs to help users find key information for the bill. Tabs take users to the following information: summary, major actions, titles, amendments, cosponsors, committees, and related bills.

The actions, amendments and cosponsors information for a bill can be filtered by useful criteria such as major actions, votes, amendment status, and cosponsor state and party.

Check out the new resource - http://1.usa.gov/VPXrNT

September 28, 2012 – 12:30pm Eastern Time

More than 2,000 people have registered to watch the webcast of the National Forum on Disability Issues on September 28th.  Edward “Ted” Kennedy, Jr., and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers will speak on behalf of their respective parties and present their campaign’s position on matters relating to Americans with disabilities.

Read the press release here:  http://bit.ly/UtiW4w

Register to watch here: http://bit.ly/S2Jubj

The Mongan Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy is a one-year, full-time, academic degree-granting program at Harvard University designed to create physician leaders who will pursue careers in health policy, public service, and academia.  An optional second year of practicum experience to supplement the fellows’ academic and leadership development training at Harvard with practical experience creating high performance health care for vulnerable populations is also available.  The Fellowship is designed to prepare physician leaders who will, over time, improve the capacity of the health care system to promote policies and practices that improve minority, disadvantaged and vulnerable populations’ access to high-quality care.

Find more information about the Mongan Commonwealth Fund Fellowship here: (PDF file): http://bit.ly/P1HU8K

Application Deadline: December 15, 2012

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The Ready Campaign, FEMA, Citizen Corps, American Red Cross, and The Humane Society of the United States have come together to develop an emergency preparedness toolkit that can assist you in planning to keep your community, and specifically, the pets and people who care for them, safe from disasters.

The toolkit provides you with the resources on how to stay current on your local pet disaster plan, policies and procedures; examples of how to promote preparedness in your communities and engage other organizations in your efforts; as well as resources to educate the community about how to assemble a pet emergency supply kit and make a family emergency plan. In addition, there is a tools section that provides sample preparedness brochures, PowerPoint templates and press materials you can use to develop and distribute your internal and external preparedness messaging.” [http://1.usa.gov/S9yNYd]

Every year, between 6 to 12 million children in the United States get head lice.  Back to school time can mean itchy times for both kids and their family members.  The CDC and MedlinePlus.gov have resources on the prevention/control and treatment of head lice.

CDC: http://1.usa.gov/OIToOj

MedlinePlus: http://1.usa.gov/QooTS7

Healthfinder.gov has created a toolkit in support of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.  Resources include health promotion tools for your community and family.  Access the toolkit: http://1.usa.gov/RCBMoe

National Hispanic Heritage Month is commemorated each year between September 15th and October 15th.  It is a time for celebrating the many ways that Hispanic people and culture have enriched America.  It is also a time to remember that our work to close the access to health gap and to improve the health status of Latinos is not done.  Throughout the month, the Office of Minority Health will share information and resources designed to empower, educate and inform.

Check out the website here: http://1.usa.gov/OaTqEs.

You can also follow the Office of Minority Health on Twitter both in English - http://bit.ly/PogIDz - and in Spanish - http://bit.ly/QXpI3Q

Stand Up Against Bullying in Indian Country Public Service Announcement

The Indian Health Service, in partnership with the indian Health Board of Nevada Youth Advisory Council and the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., recently released a powerful public service announcement (PSA) on bullying prevention.  The public service announcement stresses that bullying is not Native and does not honor Native traditions or culture.

View the Anti-Bullying PSA here: http://1.usa.gov/QXm0HE

Print Campaign Against Bullying

The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, with the support of the Indian Health Service, has produced a set of public education materials to combat the problem of bullying and cyberbullying among Native American adolescents.  The materials explain how to recognize the signs of bullying, how to respond to bullying, and where to get help.

View the anti-bullying materials online here (scroll down): http://1.usa.gov/QXm0HE

More anti-bullying materials can be found on the Stop Bullying web site: http://1.usa.gov/V8Qebn

The Urban Indian Health Institute recently developed a fact sheet describing the impact of the Special Diabetes for Indians (SDPI) on Urban Indian Health Organizations and sharing findings from 10 years of Diabetes Audit data across the UIHOs.  Since the inception of the SDPI, urban American Indians/Alaska Natives have experienced marked improvements in important diabetes outcomes like blood sugar control and cholesterol levels.  SDPI is needed for urban American Indian/Alaska Native communities to continue to make clinical improvements and increase access to quality and culturally appropriate diabetes cares.

Find the SDPI Fact Sheet online here: http://bit.ly/OCJLq9