Finding the Key: Healthier Homes and Communities
http://sophe.org/singlenews.asp?item_ID=7940

The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) will celebrate National Health Education Week (NHEW) October 15-20, 2007 with the theme, Finding the Key: Healthier Homes and Communities.
The 2007 NHEW theme addresses environmental health literacy - awareness that individual and collective behaviors impact our environments at home and in our communities. NHEW 2007 will be carried out during the next 12 months with specific focused quarterly topics related to environmental health, including:

Oct – Nov 2007 – Introduction to Environmental Health Literacy and the year-long National Health Education Week campaign
Jan - Mar 2008 - Environmental Health Affects of Children and the Elderly
Apr - June 2008 - Environmental Impacts of the Built Environment
July - Sept 2008 - Environmental Consequences of the Infectious Diseases namely water borne, vector borne and food borne pathways.

National Health Education Week materials, resources and updates are available and feature a free guide to assist health education professionals to plan national, local or regional health education activities throughout the year; an activity toolkit that includes samples and templates; and fact sheets.

View the 2007 NHEW Planning Guide and Toolkit: NHEW Planning Guide 2007

Please welcome the region’s three newest Electronic Fund Transfer System (EFTS) members. If you are among the members who have joined to ease the burden of billing and collecting for loans, you’ll want to put these three in your routing table this week. If you are not an EFTS member and want more information about the product, the services, the costs and the ease of implementation, please go to https://efts.uchc.edu/efts/EftsPublic/faq.aspx for answers to frequently asked questions.

DCUAPA - American Psychiatric Association Melvisin Sabshin Library & Archives
1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825 Arlington, VA 22209
Joined: 09/07/07

TNUBRL - Bristol Regional Medical Center Medical Library
1 Medical Park Blvd., Bristol, TN 37620
Joined: 09/18/07

TNUHVK - Holston Valley Medical Center, Health Sciences Library
130 W. Ravine Road, Kingsport, TN 37660
Joined: 09/18/07

by Mandy Bayer Meloy, consumer health coordinator

Observation of Hispanic Heritage Month began on September 15, the anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico declared its independence on September 16 and Chile on September 18. The celebration extends through October 14, 2007. (http://www.factmonster.com/spot/hhm1.html).

If you plan to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, you may want to obtain some NN/LM SE/A’s MedlinePlus.gov® and Pubmed.gov capability cards and MedlinePlus.gov® bookmarks in Spanish. Please email mbayerme@hshsl.umaryland.edu if you are interested in ordering capability cards or bookmarks. Please state which ones you would like and how many of each.

Reminder, NN/LM SE/A also has classes available for librarians, such as, ¿No Comprende? Spanish Health Information Resources for English Speaking Librarians and Vive La Vida sana recursos sobre la salud para bibliotecarios que hablan español. See http://nnlm.gov/sea/training/classes.html for more information about our classes.

assembled by Beth M. Wescott, editor

Millions Can’t Process Health Data: Health literacy problems linked to higher mortality rate

by Leslie Goldman | Special to the Tribune, September 25, 2007

Almost one-quarter of patients older than 65 were deemed medically illiterate based on a study that tested their ability to understand medical information, including appointment slips, X-ray preparation instructions and prescription labels. Researchers also found that people with low health literacy had a 50% higher mortality rate over five years compared to people with adequate literacy rates. Chicago Tribune (free registration)

From: Health Beat: Making Good Health Decisions http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0925_health_literacy_halfsep25,0,1922837.story

October Is Health Literacy Month

Health Literacy Month, celebrated each October, is a time when health literacy advocates around the world promote the importance of understandable health information. Started by Helen Osborne in 1999, this month is a time for all health literacy advocates to let the world know why health literacy matters. Below is a range of Health Literacy Month possibilities:

• Health conferences for providers
• Health Information Literacy Kit from NN/LM SE/A
  http://nnlm.gov/sea/outreach/healthlitkit/
• Consumer health programs for patients and families
• Websites with understandable health information
• Research about ways to improve health communication
• Easier-to-read health booklets and other teaching materials
• Media attention to health literacy on radio, TV, and the press

The Health Literacy Month website has tools to help, including:

• Events. A searchable database about recent and upcoming Health Literacy Month events. You can read what others are doing as well as post your own.
• Health Literacy Month resources. These include a free downloadable logo plus other valuable resources to help make your event a great success.
• Free e-newsletter. What’s New in Health Literacy Consulting is a brief monthly e-message with updates about the latest articles, tips, and resources on the Health Literacy Consulting website. From April through October, What’s New also includes information about Health Literacy Month.

To learn more about Health Literacy Month, visit http://www.healthliteracy.com/hl_month.asp or email Helen Osborne at helen@healthliteracy.com or call Helen at 508-653-1199.

Discussion of the Health Literacy Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), moderated by Cynthia Baur, Ph.D., Director, Division of Health Communication and Marketing, National Center for Health Marketing, CDC, and Mark Kutner, MD., Vice President for Workforce Research and Analysis at the American Institutes for Research (AIR).
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Health_Literacy or
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/healthliteracy/07healthNAAL.html

More topics related to adult literacy education (ALE) are available from: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Main_Page

The American College of Physicians Foundation will host its Sixth Annual National Health Communication Conference, Advances in Health Literacy, on November 28, 2007 in Washington, DC. This year’s conference will feature panel presentations that focus on successful models that improve health outcomes. For conference information and to register, visit:
http://foundation.acponline.org/hl/hcc2007.htm

Health Resources and Services Administration will be rolling out a unified health communications training course which includes a health literacy module, cultural competency module and limited english proficiency module in October, which will be an online interactive 4-5 hour course. Contact: Linda Johnston Lloyd, HRSA Health Literacy Coordinator phone: 301-443-0831, fax: 301-443-9795 ljohnston-lloyd@hrsa.gov , www.hrsa.gov

http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/

This version features a new home page and new header and footer across all pages.

The text version and Spanish version pages have a very different look.
See, for example,
http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/chemicals.php?id=1 and
http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/espanol/chemicals.php?id=32 .

The major changes to the web site, how it all works behind-the-scenes, are invisible to users but will allow for easier maintenance and expansion of the web site. The subject content remains the same.

• A Rack of Mental Health! Set up a rack of materials that cover the breadth of psychological issues- stress and anger management, common mental health problems, and suicide prevention. Change the materials weekly. Consider a different focus each week. Place the resources and materials in high traffic and visibility areas- such as the cafeterias, fitness/gym, exits and entrances, phones, gathering areas.

• Invite the local family support agencies. Call on Pastors, Rabbis, Imams and or VA mental health professionals to give a talk on positive mental health, suicide prevention, managing stress, controlling anger or other relevant topics for your community. Solicit staff with a reputation of effective stress control skills to give a brief talk/testimonial on their personal and professional strategies.

• Establish and promote regular stress management time and space for October. This may be work out and fitness time, reflection time, or wellness breaks with sound or DVDs.

• Encourage everyone to have a “mental health tune up”! Promote use of web based programs and tip sheets like:

  • After the Disaster: A Children’s Mental Health Checklist; http://www.fema.gov/kids/tch_mntl.htm checklist to assess a child’s mental health status, following a disaster or traumatic experience

  • Suicide Warning Signs;
    http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/walletcard/engwalletcard.asp

  • Choose among SAMHSA Model Programs for a Health Workplace, outlined at
    http://www.modelprograms.samhsa.gov/pdfs/model/Healthy.pdf.

• Assemble a Stress Management/Mental Health Display! Supply brochures: Circle Breathing
  http://www-nehc.med.navy.mil/downloads/hp/CircleBreathing.pdf
  Stress: Cooping with Everyday Problems http://www1.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/41.cfm
  Pacer Center’s Kids Against Bullying
  http://www.pacerkidsagainstbullying.org/?gclid=CMO8_LqRrY4CFSasGgodIiUhaA

• Learn more at:

  • American Psychological Association - http://www.apa.org/
  • Maternal and Child Health Library Knowledge Path: Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Children and Adolescents -http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_Mental_Healthy.html.
  • Maternal and Child Health Library: Knowledge Path: Mental Problems and Disorders in Children and Adolescents - http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_Mental_Conditions.html.
  • Medline Plus - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/stress.html
  • National Institute of Mental Health - http://www.nimh.nih.gov/
  • National Mental Health Association - http://www.nmha.org/
  • Navy Suicide Prevention Program - http://www.npc.navy.mil/CommandSupport/SuicidePrevention/
  • Marine Corps Suicide Prevention Program - http://www.usmc-mccs.org/suicideprevent/
  • Veterans Health Administration’s Mental Health Strategic Plan Initiatives for Suicide Prevention http://www.va.gov/oig/54/reports/VAOIG-06-03706-126.pdf

WikiHealthCare is The Joint Commission’s interactive forum for health care professionals. It is designed to enable and encourage discussion and collaboration among all users for the purpose of improving health care quality. While The Joint Commission provides the forum, users of the site control its content. Please see the Disclaimer for additional details.

• So what exactly is WikiHealthCare?
• And how do I use it?

In order to participate, you must Register. After you have registered, your own unique user page will be created. This page will include links to introductory materials and instructions on how to use the site (i.e., search for, create and/or edit site content). Please review the Policies and Guidelines before you create topics or edit existing topics on the site. You may also want to become familiar with the editing process by practicing in the Sandbox.

The site currently features only two topics, one of which is smoking
cessation while the other is smoke free hospital campuses. The commission will monitor the popularity of the new site
through September and report to its executive committee in October to
determine the extent of use.

The commission claims the site has more than 1,500 users, but only about 10 users now post to the site, Modern Healthcare reports.
http://wikihealthcare.jointcommission.org/twiki/bin/view/Home/WebHome

The commission would like practitioners from its accredited
organizations to use the site as a forum to provide suggestions and
feedback as the commission develops new standards and accreditation rules. WikiHealthCare is a community of health care stakeholders, intended to disseminate credible health care information

Users are invited to send feedback to: ihb@chcf.org

http://emall.nhlbihin.net/product2.asp?sku=07-2720

This newly revised handbook, with a special message from First Lady Laura Bush, provides new information on women’s heart disease and practical suggestions for reducing your own personal risk of heart-related problems. The handbook presents the latest information on how to live a healthier and longer life, by taking action steps to prevent and control heart disease risk factors.

You’ll also find new tips on following a nutritious eating plan, tailoring your physical activity program to your particular goals, quitting smoking, and getting your whole family involved in heart healthy living. The Healthy Heart Handbook for Women is part of The Heart Truth for Women, a national public awareness campaign for women about heart disease sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and many other groups.

PDF file available: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/hhw/hdbk_wmn.pdf

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/outreach.html

Health Economics Information Resources: A Self-Study Course

This four-module course is designed primarily for health sciences librarians. Module 1 provides basic concepts in health economics and guidance in identifying and using key secondary health economic information resources (bibliographic databases, value-added information, grey literature, web resources, etc). Module 2 covers sources and characteristics of information relating to health care financing in the U.S. in order to provide some context for understanding the role of health economics in health policy formulation and decision-making. Modules 3 and 4 cover health economic evaluation studies - how to search for published studies in MEDLINE (and EMBASE) and how to use the Drummond 10-point checklist for assessing their quality.

Health Services Research Methodology Core Library Recommendations

Due to the breadth of the methodological areas covered by health services research, these recommendations are organized both by core and desired materials, as well as by topic area. An introductory essay answers the questions - What Are Health Services Research Methods? and Why Are They Important?

HTA 101: Introduction to Health Technology Assessment

Dr. Goodman’s HTA 101: Introduction to Health Technology Assessment includes a discussion of the origins and fundamental concepts and issues of health technology assessment (HTA), basic steps in the practice of HTA, suggested readings, and a glossary of HTA terms. It is available in PDF format for printing.

NLM has released the “What’s New on MedlinePlus” page available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/whatsnew.html .

Visit the page to stay up to date on new MedlinePlus topics, podcasts, featured sites and new issues of the NIH MedlinePlus Magazine. The “What’s New” items will display for three weeks and are also available through an RSS feed. The “What’s New on MedlinePlus” page and corresponding RSS feed are available in both English and Spanish.

This page and RSS feed compliment the already-available MedlinePlus Health News RSS, which delivers press announcements and HealthDay news stories. The News RSS is available in both English and Spanish. You can access the What’s New on MedlinePlus RSS and the MedlinePlus Health News RSS from the E-mail Lists and RSS Feeds pages at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/listserv.html .