Aprende a vivir (Learn to Live) is a new three-episode Spanish-language videonovela that provides information about diabetes management. The story reflects the reality of many Hispanics with diabetes who stop taking their medication due to unpleasant side effects or other reasons. [from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality]

Access the videonovela and other resources in Spanish (http://healthcare411.org/aprendeavivir.aspx) or English (http://healthcare411.org/videonovela.aspx).

Wal-Mart Foundation - Funding to local nonprofit organizations in four main areas of focus: Education, Workforce Development / Economic Opportunity, Health & Wellness and Environmental Sustainability.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: None. Applications accepted on an ongoing basis

For more information:  http://bit.ly/JhAtcU

American Dental Association - The ADA Foundation funds scholarships for dental students, minority dental students and allied dental students including dental hygiene, dental assisting and dental laboratory technology.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: None. Applications accepted on an ongoing basis

For more information: http://bit.ly/JBsjLk

Saucony - Funding to encourage active and healthy lifestyles in children.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: June 13, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/IZDT7T

Office of Minority Health – Peer-to-Peer Outreach Model to Curb HIV/AIDS Transmission Among High Risk Minority Youth and Adolescents

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: June 8, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/IMdvgw

Spirit of EAGLES Community Project -  Strengthen existing partnerships with national organizations both Native and non-Native that serve American Indian/Alaskan Native urban and rural communities, health care providers, and other systems of care to increase access to beneficial biomedical procedures, clinical trials research, and uptake in behavioral change that will reduce the burden of cancer and other comorbid conditions.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide

Deadline: August 15, 2012

For more information: http://bit.ly/JXmtlz

This is National Nurses Week.

This year’s theme is Nurses Answer the Call: Expand Access to Care.  This week provides an opportunity to recognize the multitude of ways the nursing profession contributes to the health of the nation.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has made available a document titled “National Nurses Week: A Discussion” and an archived chat of The White House Office Hours: National Nurses Week as well as a video featuring  HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, PhD, RN

To learn more, hear the chat, or watch the video go to http://1.usa.gov/LkqUdI

The Providers Guide to Quality & Culture: Pacific Islanders is now available.

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – this guide is designed to help health care professionals better understand and more effectively respond to the growing needs of Pacific Islanders in the United States. Includes resources on cultural competency, challenges to health and well-being, and the population’s strengths and protective factors.

To get the Guide go to http://bit.ly/JhksSo

This blog will have some new contributors!

Kate Flewelling is our newest addition and will be posting tomorrow!  She is the Outreach Coordinator for the Middle Atlantic Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

We will slowly be adding new contributors in the coming weeks.  They will take turns posting on Fridays – so keep your eyes peeled for new authors and look forward to getting content 4 days a week!

Also, the blog will take a week off as all of the contributors will be attended a conference.

There will be no new posts from May 16 to May 23.  on May 24 posting will resume as normal.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is accepting applications through the Community Connect Broadband program for grants to provide broadband service to residents of remote, rural communities.

“Ensuring that all Americans have access to reliable broadband is a key part of the Obama Administration’s effort to help create jobs and expand economic opportunities in rural areas,” Vilsack said. “These grants not only are critical for businesses and residents, they also help first responders, educators and health care professionals by providing them with access to broadband service.”

Information on available funding and application requirements are published on page 26241 of the May 3, 2012 Federal Register. More information on Community Connect Grants, including the application guide, can be viewed from the USDA Rural Development website. Applications must be received by June 18, 2012.

The HHS Strategic Plan for Viral Hepatitis declared May 19th a the first ever national Hepatitis Testing Day.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Division of Viral Hepatitis is developing resources to support testing for chronic viral hepatitis, including the creation of a Hepatitis Testing Event page: http://bit.ly/INVVHU.  In addition, you can visit the Urban Indian Health Institute’s Viral Hepatitis and STI Prevention Project materials page where you can access new health promotion materials addressing HIV, sexually transmitted infections and viral hepatitis prevention: http://bit.ly/IZYw0D.

National Women’s Health Week is a week-long health observance that brings together communities, businesses, government, health organizations, and other groups in an effort to promote women’s health.  The theme for 2012 National Women’s Health Week is “It’s Your Time.”  National Women’s Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority.  It also encourages women to take the following steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases:

• Visit a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings
• Get active
• Eat healthy
• Pay attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress
• Avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking and not wearing a seatbelt or bicycle helmet

Fact sheets and related resources are available online: http://1.usa.gov/ISgP9A

If you’re a patient in search of the best medical care possible, it makes sense to understand some of the electronic tools doctors now use to manage your care. The fact is, health IT changes how physicians and other healthcare providers document and view healthcare information and exchange data with each other. This overview, provided by InformationWeek Healthcare, includes electronic medical records (EMRs), personal health records (PHRs), patient web portals, electronic prescribing, electronic lab result reporting, health information exchanges (HIEs), and telemedicine.

Also included are lists of recommended reading for more information, related webcasts, and related websites.

For more: http://bit.ly/IHwPdx

Water is the foundation for life.  May 6–12, 2012 is Drinking Water Week. This observance is sponsored each year by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and a number of other organizations and agencies. Following the theme “Water: Celebrate the Essential,” Drinking Water Week provides an opportunity for the public to recognize the vital role that safe water plays in our daily lives.

Learn more about the vital role safe water plays in our lives and what CDC is doing to address challenges to our water supply: http://1.usa.gov/KeQnWb [CDC Current Features]