Get the facts: Ready-to-use materials in English and Spanish for all types of health emergencies and disasters

Get the facts: Ready-to-use materials from APHA's Get Ready campaign

Use these free materials from APHA to help Americans prepare themselves, their families and their communities for all public health hazards they may face, including disasters, pandemic flu or other emerging infectious diseases. Share them with those you care about, or pass them out in your community!

Wondering what's new? Check out our new five-part fact sheet series on preparedness for people living with disabilities!

Usage and permissions
Get Ready fact sheets and materials can be used just about anywhere! Read our guides if you want to know about permissions and usage.

Request free hard copies of materials: The Get Ready campaign has free hard copies of its materials on an available basis. If you would like to request that materials be mailed to you, use our request form.

Go to http://www.getreadyforflu.org/new_pg_facts.htm?utm_source=Get+Ready&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Get+Ready+September+2013 for the entire list of resources available.

ARE YOU READY? FACT SHEETS TO HELP PREPARE FOR EMERGENCIES

• Tornadoes: How to get ready for a tornado  (PDF) English or Spanish • Hurricanes: Getting ready for hurricanes  (PDF) English or Spanish • Tsunamis: How to prepare for a  tsunami English or Spanish • Earthquakes: How to get ready for earthquakes  (PDF) English or Spanish • Floods: How to get ready for floods  (PDF) English or Spanish • Wildfires:How to get ready for wildfires  (PDF) English or Spanish • Heat waves:How to get ready for a heat wave  (PDF) English or Spanish • Landslides: How to get ready for a landslide  (PDF) English or Spanish • Volcanoes: How to get ready for a volcano  (PDF) English or Spanish • Winter storms: How to get ready for a winter storm  (PDF) English orSpanish • Chemical exposures: How to avoid chemical exposure  during a disaster (PDF) English or Spanish • Power outages: How to get ready for power outages  (PDF) English orSpanish • Sheltering in place: What you need to know to stay put  during a disasterEnglish or Spanish • Mosquitoes: How to stay safe from mosquito-borne  diseases English orSpanish

Judge Andrew Valdez to be Keynote Speaker at Multicultural Youth Leadership Summit in October

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Office of Multicultural Affairs is pleased to announce that Third District Juvenile Judge Andrew Valdez will be its keynote speaker during the Multicultural Youth Leadership Summit, Oct. 30, at Weber State University.

“Judge Valdez’s personal story of finding his place in the world as a troubled youth, and his years of offering direction to Utah’s youth is truly an inspiration,” said Utah Office of Multicultural Affairs Director Claudia Nakano.

Judge Andrew A. Valdez was appointed to the Third District Juvenile Court in June of 1993 by Gov. Michael O. Leavitt. He serves Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties. He graduated from the University of Utah College of Law in 1977. Prior to his appointment, Judge Valdez was a commissioned captain in the U.S. Army J.A.G. Corp and trial counsel with the Legal Defenders Association Felony/Homicide Division.

Valdez’s book, “No One Makes It Alone” describes how a poor, fatherless, Westside Latino paperboy was mentored by a businessman, forever changing the boy’s life. Nearly forty years later, Valdez returned the favor. Finding the same man destitute and suffering from Alzheimer’s, Judge Valdez cared for him in his last years.

The Multicultural Youth Leadership Summit: “Preparing for the Real World” will take place Oct. 30, 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. in the Shepherd Union Building on the campus of Weber State University.

There is no registration fee, but registration is required. For information on how to register, please go to http://multiculturalyouthleadershipsummit.eventbrite.com. Registration deadline is Oct. 2, 2013.

Marketplace Stakeholder Teleconference with HHS and CMS on the Utah Health Insurance Marketplace

Date: September 10, 2013

Time: 3:00 pm MDT

Register at: http://cmsregion8himut3.eventbrite.com

Jeff Hinson, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Regional Administrator, and Doyle Forrestal, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Acting Regional Director, invite partners & stakeholders to the third in a three-part series of teleconferences regarding the health insurance marketplace in Utah.  This call is part of the ongoing commitment by HHS and CMS to encourage public participation as it builds a new Health Insurance Marketplace in Utah.

This call is intended specifically for stakeholders in Utah where there will be a Federally Facilitated Marketplace for the individual market and a State Based Marketplace for the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP).   The call will feature HHS and CMS Denver Regional Office officials and an Avenue H official followed by time for Q&A.  Speakers are:  

·     Doyle Forrestal, Acting Regional Director, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

·         Jeff Hinson, Regional Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

·         Patty Conner, Executive Director, Avenue H

Registration is required. Register at http://cmsregion8himut3.eventbrite.com

You can also visit our Open Door Forums website for links to registration and information on future calls.

Please forward this invitation to any partners and stakeholders who may want to participate. 

We look forward to your participation!

We value the work you do to ensure that every American is aware of and enrolled in health insurance.

For more information on the Health Insurance Marketplace, please visit our partner resource page at http://marketplace.cms.gov  

Salt Lake County launches its own webpage for Affordable Care Act help

Message from Mayor Ben McAdams

The Affordable Care Act – also known as healthcare reform—sets out new requirements and resources for consumers so that they can help navigate the changing health insurance coverage system. Surveys show that many Utahns are unsure about the new law and how they can find reliable, accurate information.  Healthcare reform seeks to expand coverage.  But achieving that goal depends on consumers’ ability to effectively participate in health coverage in ways that have been unavailable until now.

With this website, I hope we can help you with answers to questions such as:

• 
  
• How can I find coverage?
• What will it cost?
• When will I see the benefits?

Health care is a very personal issue that touches all our lives. My hope is that the information available here assists you and your family in making the best possible choice for you.

Go to http://www.slco.org/humanservices/affordablecareact/ to find help.

Can I get dental coverage in the Marketplace?

In the Health Insurance Marketplace, you generally can get dental coverage as part of a health plan or by itself through a separate, stand-alone dental plan.

Adult and child dental insurance in the Marketplace

Under the health care law, dental insurance is treated differently for adults and children 18 and under.

Dental coverage for children is an essential health benefit. This means it must be available to you either as part of a health plan or as a free-standing plan. This is not the case for adults. Insurers don’t have to offer adult dental coverage.

You don’t have to provide dental coverage for either adults or children.

Dental coverage is available two ways

• Health plans that include dental coverage. In the Marketplace, dental coverage will be included in some health plans. You’ll be able to see which plans include dental coverage when you compare them. You’ll also see what the dental benefits are. If a health plan includes dental coverage, you will pay one premium for everything. The premium shown for the plan includes both health and dental coverage.
• Separate, stand-alone dental plans. In some cases separate, stand-alone plans will be offered. You may want to choose this option if the health coverage you plan to enroll in doesn’t include dental coverage, or if you want different dental coverage.

If you choose a separate dental plan, you’ll pay a separate, additional premium for the dental plan.

For more information about dental coverage, go to www.healthcare.gov. 

New CDC Report: At least 200,000 deaths from heart disease and stroke each year are preventable

Nearly 1 in 3 deaths in the US each year is caused by heart disease and stroke. At least 200,000 of these deaths could have been prevented through changes in health habits, such as stopping smoking, more physical activity, and less salt in the diet; community changes to create healthier living spaces, such as safe places to exercise and smoke-free areas; and managing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
More people will have access to health care coverage and preventive care through the Affordable Care Act. Health care providers should talk with their patients about healthy habits at every visit and follow patients’ progress.
Health care systems and providers can also:

• Use electronic health records to identify and support patients who need help quitting smoking or who have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
• Refer patients to community resources, such as smoking quitlines and blood pressure selfmanagement programs.
• Track patient progress on the ABCS of heart health—Aspirin when appropriate, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation.

*Preventable (avoidable) deaths are defined as those from ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic rheumatic heart disease, and hypertensive disease in people under age 75, although changes in health habits and the health care system can reduce death among all ages.

Find the entire article and infographics at http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/HeartDisease-Stroke/index.html and view helpful resources.

At least 200,000 deaths from heart disease and stroke each year are preventable.*

6 in 10
More than half of preventable heart disease and stroke deaths happen to people under age 65.

2x
Blacks are nearly twice as likely as whites to die from preventable heart disease and stroke.

UDOH Training: Motivational Interviewing Techniques for Clinical and Community Settings

The Communicable Disease Prevention Program of the Utah Department of Health is hosting a Motivational Interviewing training session in Salt Lake City, October 22, 2013 from 1 to 5 p.m.. The training will be provided by the Denver Prevention Training Center The primary goal of this training is to provide participants with the skills to utilize motivational interviewing techniques in clinical and community based settings, in an effort to assist patients in developing a risk reduction plan related to self-defined challenging behaviors. Utilizing motivational interviewing techniques will help patients explore and possibly resolve ambivalence in order to change or modify unhealthy/risky behaviors. Ultimately these techniques will help improve patient outcomes.

 If you, or someone you know may be interested to participate in this training, please submit name, agency name, title, email and phone number to Edwin Espinel, eespinel@utah.gov.