By Christine Wilson Owens and Yetta Levine, Harborview Medical Center.

Made possible in part by a professional development award from the NNLM/PNR, two staff members from Harborview Medical Center’s EthnoMed program participated in the Eighth National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations, March 11-14 in Oakland, CA.

The theme of this year’s conference was Achieving Equity in an Era of Innovation and Health System Transformation. It offered keynote speeches, workshops and roundtable discussions on issues related to cultural/linguistic competence and the reduction of health disparities. Sessions ranged from candid discussions about redressing the legacy of racism and bias in health care, to dialogues about interpreter training and community partnership models in tight fiscal times. Highlights included reports about national initiatives underway at the HHS Office for Civil Rights and opportunities for advancing health equity through the Affordable Care Act.

The conference presented a rich opportunity for EthnoMed to promote its work to a national audience and foster relationships with new partners. In particular, two new patient-education projects underway at EthnoMed were highlighted and generated a lot of interest. Yetta Levine networked with attendees from across the country during her poster session about a series of culturally-tailored, narrated diabetes education video slideshows regarding foods and their effect on blood sugar. Christine Wilson Owens shared about a project funded by NNLM/PNR in which HMC’s caseworker/ cultural mediators are using iPads to share health information with limited –English proficient (LEP) patients.  Christine also participated in an interactive discussion with stakeholders working in the area of eHealth Equity, and a workshop about plain language and high tech strategies to communicate across language barriers.

Many programs from across the country emphasized best practices and innovative projects in their communities. EthnoMed’s team attended the conference with a strong contingent from Seattle – including staff and providers from Harborview, Swedish, Seattle Children’s and the Cross Cultural Health Care Program – and was thrilled to have the chance to learn and share skills and knowledge among recognized leaders in the field of  health care and diversity.

Event Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2013

What would you do in the event of a major earthquake in the Pacific Northwest? With whom would you need to coordinate to continue to provide needed services?  NN/LM PNR is pleased to announce a one-day disaster summit to address these types of questions.

Disaster Summit: Magnitude 9 Cascadia Earthquake in the Pacific Northwest is where you can spend the day with colleagues from across multiple disciplines to engage one another about disaster planning and response. We will use a magnitude 9 earthquake along the Cascadia subduction zone as the scenario for our day’s discussions. Speakers include representatives from the U.S. Geological Survey, Washington State Emergency Management Division, and the National Library of Medicine’s Disaster Information Management Research Center, just to name a few. Librarians, Emergency Responders, Health Care Providers, and others will gather to learn and share and will walk away knowing more about how to foster and improve collaboration for disaster planning and response. (more…)

What do information and data specialists need to know about research and tools for data management? What can researchers gain from working with librarians? What can we all gain from a better understanding of tools and technologies for data-intensive research?

To explore these questions, the NN/LM PNR is pleased to co-sponsor a live, interactive forum, The Research Lifecycle: Partnering for Success, on Friday, March 15, 2013 from 8:30am – 1:30pm Pacific Time. This forum will be conducted jointly via videoconference to link presenters and participants located in Seattle, Portland, and Salt Lake City.

Please visit our forum website http://nnlm.gov/2013escience/ for site registration links and further details. NN/LM PNR Network members (what does this mean?) are encouraged to apply for Professional Development Awards for travel to the Seattle or Portland site locations. Please contact Nikki Dettmar, Education and Assessment Coordinator at snydern @ uw.edu for questions and we look forward to welcoming you there!

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region (NN/LM PNR) is pleased to announce a funding opportunity for sites around the region to host the upcoming Medical Library Association (MLA) continuing education webcast Partnering to Prevent Diagnostic Error: Librarians on the Inside Track on Wednesday, March 13, 2013 from 11 am -12:30 pm Pacific time.

NN/LM PNR will pay MLA webcast registration fees for up to 4 selected sites that agree to promote and host the webcast for colleagues in their area.

Please contact Nikki Dettmar, Education and Assessment Coordinator, at snydern@uw.edu by February 15, 2013 if you are a Pacific Northwest Region Network Member (what does that mean?) interested in hosting the webcast for your institution and your local colleagues. Include a brief description of how you will promote the event in your area, estimated attendance, and confirm that your location can meet the technical requirements of Internet access, a computer with Windows Media Player, and a room to host the webcast.

Site participants will be selected based on geographic location, accessibility, and the potential number of attendees. All applicants will be notified of their application status by February 20, 2013.

PNR will also be hosting the webcast at the University of Washington Health Sciences Library, free registration details will be announced in an upcoming Dragonfly article in addition to the other funded webcast locations.

To all Network Members in the NN/LM PNR: Just a reminder about upcoming deadlines for six new funding opportunities! For each award, proposals will be accepted until February 1, 2013. However, if you plan to submit a proposal, we need a brief statement of intent no later than December 28, 2012 to help our planning process. Please submit your statement of intent to apply to nnlm@uw.edu.

Our awards are designed to support collaborative events or initiatives in your communities, such as health information outreach projects or symposia, or to pilot innovative services in your organizations. Funding is also available to support new or upgraded equipment or software; efforts to promote the value of your health information services; or projects to learn about a potential health information outreach audience.

So, if you work in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon or Washington, and are a Network member of the PNR, send us your proposed ideas so we can help put your projects in motion. Including other ongoing awards, we have nine funding opportunities on deck!

One in an ongoing series of reports from our funding awardees. Rudy Hurtado shares what he learned when he was awarded Professional Development funding to attend the Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference in Tacoma.

By Rodolfo (Rudy) Hurtado, Director, Viva Hispanic Foundation NW, Seattle

The incredibly informative Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference included plenary sessions and numerous concurrent workshops, beginning with the very engaging keynote speaker who provided some valuable information and good tips on managing stress. Dr. Grady P. Bray, President of Crisis Human Services, Inc. spoke on the topic “Emergency Response: The Trauma that Does Not Bleed.”

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