Four part SPANISH Webcast series on Latino Best Practices hosted by SAMHSA

The National Latino Behavioral Health Association is proud to collaborate on a four-part Spanish Webcast series entitled “Nuestra Salud” on Latino Best Practices hosted by SAMHSA.  These four webcasts will be conducted in Spanish and open to the public.  We encourage you to invite and share this SAVE THE DATE with Spanish Speaking and Limited English Proficient families, consumers, advocates, and other community members and stakeholders.  Please consider hosting a watch party or group viewing to make it easier for your families, clients and staff members to participate! 

Please register today for one or all four webcasts and help your families register online. If you have any questions, please contact Maxine Henry for information at maxine@nlbha.org. 

Thank you for sharing this with your networks and to the Spanish Speaking community.   Visit our website:  www.nlbha.org or Facebook page as well.

Region VIII Health Equity Council is now accepting new membership applications

The Mountain States Regional Health Equity Council (RHEC VIII) is now accepting applications for new members from Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming states.

RHEC VIII is one of 10 regional health equity councils formed to achieve health equity in the US as part of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA). The RHECs welcome members from diverse sectors and expertise, such as community-based and faith-based organizations, foundations, health professionals, local and state government, and research and academia.

We currently are seeking committed and dedicated individuals to serve on and actively contribute to the work of RHEC VIII.

The application will remain open through March 18, 2018. If you would like to join a dynamic and committed team that represents citizens in your region, works to eliminate health disparities and create regional, inter-sectoral leadership and partnerships, please consider applying!

For more information and to apply, please visit

http://region8.npa-rhec.org/get-involved/membership 

Bulletin from CMS: 2018 Federal Poverty Level Standards

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an informational bulletin related to the 2018 Federal Poverty Level Standards. The updated standards are available on Medicaid.gov athttps://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/eligibility/medicaid-enrollees/index.html.

The informational bulletin can be accessed on Medicaid.gov at https://www.medicaid.gov/Federal-Policy-Guidance/Federal-Policy-Guidance.html.

 

CDC Releases 2017 Diabetes Report Card

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Diabetes Translation has released the 2017 Diabetes Report Card. The Diabetes Report Card provides the most current information and data available about diabetes and prediabetes, along with diabetes-related preventive care practices, health outcomes, risk factors, and national and state trends.

As the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, diabetes is one of the nation’s most serious and urgent health concerns. However, the Diabetes Report Card shows some encouraging trends in diabetes management and prevention of type 2 diabetes: 

• The rate of new cases of diabetes among US adults has decreased.
• Overall rates of diagnosed diabetes seem to be stabilizing (although not in all populations).
• The number of organizations that deliver the National Diabetes Prevention Program and the number of adults participating in the program has increased.

The Diabetes Report Card also recognizes ongoing challenges:

• Members of some racial and ethnic minority groups are more likely to have diagnosed diabetes than non-Hispanic whites.
• The rate of new cases of diabetes among children and adolescents has increased.
• Although an estimated 84.1 million US adults have prediabetes, only 11.6% of them are aware of having it. 

To learn more about what CDC is doing to help control complications from diabetes and prevent type 2 diabetes, please visit the Diabetes website.

UDOH Job Opportunity: Chief Environmental Chemist

Department of Health has a recruitment open for the following position:

Chief Environmental Chemist

$34.08 - $48.49

This is a full-time, career service position with benefits.

Requisition #   15061

Closes:   03/19/2018 at 11:59 pm MST 

In order to be considered for an interview for these positions, you will need to apply on-line at https://statejobs.utah.gov.  If you have not done so already, you will need to create a job seeker account.    

Opioid Overdoses Treated in Emergency Departments

The CDC released a Vital Signs report showing that emergency department visits for suspected opioid overdoses increased 30 percent from third quarter 2016 to third quarter 2017, in 16 states that have been hit hard by the opioid overdose epidemic. 

The report focuses on how all Americans can use emergency department data as a warning system and help prevent opioid overdoses and deaths; it helps us see how communities, law enforcement, the medical community, public health and government can work together in this fight:



Next Tuesday, March 13, from 2 -3:30 p.m., the CDC and the U.S. Surgeon General will host a webinar, titled “Coordinating Clinical and Public Health Responses to Opioid Overdoses Treated in Emergency Departments.” Details here: https://emergency.cdc.gov/coca/calls/2018/callinfo_031318.asp 

Health Equity Webinar: Equity in Quality

DATE: March 23, 2018

TIME: 3:00-4:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time

SPEAKERS:

· Moderators: Shaan Trotter, Administrative Director, Office of Equity and Minority Health, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and James Bell, Director of Policy and Engagement, Michigan Public Health Institute

· Presenter: Knitasha Washington, Founder and CEO, ATW Health Solutions

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) produced Crossing the Quality Chasm: A new Health System for the 21^st Century, a publication that defined the six aims of quality health care (described as safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable). While the report prompted national attention upon its release there is is still much work to be done to reach health equity.   Achieving more equitable outcomes includes identifying disparities, understanding the root-causes and putting into action the practice of equitable strategies.

“Equity is no longer a separate initiative but is equal to quality… it is a strategic imperative.”

Institute on Assets and Social Policy (2016)

Evidence currently shows that disparities cost the nation an estimated $50.3 billion in excess healthcare expenditures, $35 billion in illness-related lost productivity, and nearly $309 billion in premature death. Racial and ethnic minorities disproportionately represent populations bearing the greatest burdens.

This webinar will: 

1.     Explain the important role equity in health care quality improvement efforts;

2.     Describe effective approaches health service organizations have taken to integrate equity into their organizational quality strategies; and

3.     Identify strategies resources to eliminate disparities and improve outcomes in readmissions, heart disease, and diabetes.

Register Here: https://explorepsa.adobeconnect.com/rhecvwebinar/event/event_info.html

The Great Lakes Health Equity Council (RHEC V) is one of 10 regional health equity councils formed in 2011 as a part of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA). The NPA is a national movement with the mission to improve the effectiveness of programs that target the elimination of health disparities through coordination of leaders, partners, and stakeholders committed to action. A coalition of leaders and health disparities experts representing several sectors and the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, Great Lakes RHEC envisions a region free of disparities in health and health care, where all people attain the highest level of health. 

Visit the Great Lakes RHEC website for more information: http://region5.npa-rhec.org/.