Utah Department of Health Office of Health Disparities
The Connection: News about overcoming health disparities in Utah

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Job Opportunities: People Helping People program

People Helping People has been awarded a VISTA project for up to 3 years!

We’ve been approved for 6 VISTA positions to help us build program capacity.

2 for Weber/Davis, 2 for Salt Lake and 2 for Utah County

We’re starting to recruit!

These are full-time, one year positions – they don’t pay well, but they’re great for:
Recent College Graduates who want to perform community service before heading to Grad School
Retirees who want to get involved in helping others
Anyone who wants to help develop a worthwhile community program while helping low income women improve their employment potential

If you know of anyone who might be interested in one of these positions, please let them know about us, and encourage them to contact me for more information.
Marva, Program Manager
People Helping People
801-364-4412

Monday, October 29, 2012

Salt Lake County annouces Request for Proposals for the Community Development Block Grant and Emergency Solutions Grant 2013-2014

Salt Lake County
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Programs

Salt Lake County announces the “Request for Proposals” for the Community Development Block Grant and the Emergency Solutions Grant Programs for fiscal year 2013-2014 available November 5, 2012.

Salt Lake County Community Resources and Development (CRD) is providing proposal materials to Nonprofit Agencies, Community Organizations, Faith-based Organizations, County Agencies and other government agencies for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) federal grant programs.  The Priorities for funding will be Affordable Housing, Homeless Activities, Essential Social Services and Economic Development. Please be sure to read all proposal materials as they explain the requirements of each grant.  The deadline for submission of proposals for the CDBG and ESG is Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 1:00 PM

This is a competitive proposal process.  All proposals will be reviewed by Citizen Review Panels, which will prioritize and make funding recommendations.  The County Mayor will ultimately decide which proposals are funded and at what funding level. These funds should be available beginning July 1, 2013, subject to HUD’s approval of Salt Lake County’s 2013-14 Action Plan and Congress passing a budget for 2013. 

The proposals, guidelines and instructions are available on the County’s website at http://www.crd.slco.org/communityDev/PublicNoticesComment.html.  Proposal materials are also available at the County Government Center located at 2001 South State Street, Room S2100. Physical access parking and entrances are located on the east side of both the north and south buildings.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Refugee Health: New Report Released

New Report: An Investigation of Suicides among Bhutanese Refugees


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention & the Refugee Health Technical Assistance Center just released the StakeholdersReport on the Investigation of Suicides Among Bhutanese Refugees in the U.S.,2009 - 2012. This report is the result of collaborative efforts involving many partner organizations, experts in the field, and members of the Bhutanese community.   We gratefully acknowledge their invaluable contribution to this investigation.

Please share this report with your network and direct any questions or comments on the report to the Community Dialogue forum of the RHTAC website.

CDC Investigation Study Team & RHTAC

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Program for Latina Teen Moms

Web App Developer Challenge: Reducing Cancer Among Women of Color $85,000 prize

This challenge is a multidisciplinary call to innovators and developers to create a mobile device-optimized tool that engages and empowers women to improve the prevention and treatment of breast, cervical, uterine, and ovarian cancer in underserved and minority communities and interfaces with provider electronic health records (EHRs). The tool will achieve the following:
  • Provide general information regarding preventive and screening services for breast and gynecologic cancers—including, but not limited to, benefits, timing, scheduling, and location.
  • Allow for the interface with patient health records or provider-sponsored patient portals to provide specific reminders and trigger electronic health record-based clinical decision support regarding the timing of preventive services.
  • Support the storage, viewing, and exchange of complex patient care plans. In particular, the tool will help strengthen communication among provider care teams, possibly spread out across large geographic locations, to afford optimal remote follow-up (e.g., be able to send patient information to electronic health records via Direct).
  • Support patient engagement and care giver support to help patients and/or their caregivers keep track of complex care plans, such as connections to community health workers, promotores de salud, or patient navigators.
  • Be optimized for use on mobile devices.
See  http://www.health2con.com/devchallenge/reducing-cancer-among-women-color-challenge/

Public Comment Period for Healthy People 2020: Comment by Nov. 2.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is soliciting written comments regarding new objectives proposed to be added to Healthy People 2020 since its launch in December 2010. Healthy People 2020 will provide opportunities for public input periodically throughout the decade to ensure that Healthy People 2020 reflects current public health priorities and public input.

Public participation helps shape Healthy People 2020, its framework, objectives, and targets. During the first phase of planning for Healthy People 2020, we asked for your comments on the vision, mission, and implementation. Those comments helped set the framework for Healthy People 2020. The public was also invited to submit comments on proposed Healthy People 2020 objectives, which helped shape the final set of objectives.

During this round of public comment, we would like your input on proposed new objectives to be added to the following Topic Areas: (1) Educational and Community-Based Programs and (2) Social Determinants of Health. These proposed objectives were developed by Topic Area workgroups, which are led by various agencies within the Federal government. They have been reviewed by a Federal Interagency Workgroup on Healthy People 2020 and are presented now for your review and comment.

You are also invited to suggest additional objectives for consideration that address critical public health issues within the existing 42 Healthy People 2020 Topic Areas.

See  http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/publicComment.aspx

Monday, October 22, 2012

Funding Opportunity for Safety and Health for Older Women

A funding opportunity is available through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office on Women’s Health (OWH).

If you would like to submit a proposal for the Safety and Health for Older Women funding opportunity, please complete an Request for Proposals (RFP)
and email to John Snow Inc (JSI) by November 15, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time.  For a copy of the RFP and for more information, contact John Snow, Inc. (JSI) at owhapplication@jsi.com

Please note, proposals will be not be accepted by the Office on Women’s Health.

For help with this RFP, please e-mail: owhapplication@jsi.com or call toll-free: 1-866-224-3815.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Affordable Care Act Training Project Bid Specifications

Responsibilities for Consultant

**Bid, Responses to each bullet with qualifications, and CV are due by Friday, October 26, 2012 5pm to nicolebissonette@utah.gov or fax 801-538-9495 

Specifications
The Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program is looking for an individual to serve as a consultant from November 2012 to June 29, 2013 and possibly beyond, to assist in development and training of Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions to Utah worksites.
The individual would serve as a content expert on the ACA.  They will need to be able to provide guidance on the development of the training and materials and assist in presenting the training to Utah worksites.
Phase I:  The individual would work closely (weekly or biweekly basis) with the HDSPP to determine the scope of the training.
Phase II:  The individual would work closely with HDSPP to develop the training and materials.
Phase III: The individual would work closely with HDSPP to present the training and serve as the content expert for questions. 

Incumbent Requirements:
·        Bachelors degree or higher.
·        Expert knowledge of and understanding of the Affordable Care Act provisions in relation to health insurance and preventive services.
·        Extensive experience presenting to groups.
·        Ability to work well with a team to develop a project.
·        Excellent written and oral skills.
·        Excellent organizational skills and timeliness
**This will be a fee for service contract. 1 year with 2 renewals. 

Notes:
We anticipate this project to take a year beginning November 2012- October 2013.  We would like an individual willing to work on additional aspects of the project in years 2 -3 if we determine expansion is needed.  These activities may include expansion of training, redevelopment of trainings, and evaluation of dissemination.   Funding for this project is dependent on availability and approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Questions can be directed to Nicole Bissonette at 801-538-6228

Science.gov Announces Spanish Version, Multimedia, and Enhanced Search Features

Science agencies across the U.S. federal government announced the launch of the Spanish version of Science.gov - http://1.usa.gov/Qq433s.

Ciencia.Science.gov provides the same breadth and depth in science search as does Science.gov, covering over 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information including research and development results from 17 organizations within 13 federal science agencies. Free access is provided to over 55 scientific databases and more than 2,100 selected scientific web sites. Integrating Microsoft’s Translator, Spanish-language queries to Ciencia.Science.gov initiate searches of U.S. databases and web sites with results appearing in Spanish. This represents an innovative use of existing commercial technology to broaden public access to federal science information.

In addition to offering expanded access to the Spanish-speaking public, Science.gov now includes new multimedia content and additional features to help users find the science information they need. For the first time, R&D video is available from the Department of Energy (DOE), MedlinePlus (NIH), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, (NASA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Images from the Library of Congress have been added to the image search that is now integrated under a new multimedia tab on the results page. Search enhancements include visual representations of topical information in an easy-to-use touch and dial format.

52 Weeks For Women’s Health App

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), has created the 52 Weeks for Women’s Health application as a guide for women interested in learning more about their health anytime and anywhere.

The app, available on the Android and IOS platforms, lists 52 alphabetical health topics, one for each week of the year. The application aims to promote healthy lifestyles by offering practical strategies for women to use each day.  The app also includes other features.

To learn more and to download the app, click here:  http://1.usa.gov/OFniYr

Two New Toolkits Available: Effective Adult Learning and Effective Presentations

The Northwest Center for Public Health Practice has just released two new toolkits – Effective Adult Learning: A Toolkit for Teaching Adults and Effective Presentations: A Toolkit For Engaging an Audience. 

“Effective Adult Learning” covers key topics, such as defining your audience, choosing the right instructional methods, facilitating effectively, and others. Included is in-depth instruction on how to write learning objectives and avoid common mistakes.

“Effective Adult Learning” includes tools and templates for developing training for adults. Highlighted boxes throughout the document provide more experienced teachers and trainers with a refresher on the topic.

“Effective Presentations” covers key topics, such as how to choose your material, how to tell a story, how to speak effectively, and how to make effective presentation slides. An accompanying PowerPoint slide set offers helpful diagrams and displays that can be easily customized for your presentation.

For more information and to download the toolkits, click here: http://bit.ly/Trb0Qy

Minority Women and Breast Cancer

According to the National Cancer Institute, about 227,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. While breast cancer is diagnosed 10 percent less frequently in African American women than white women, African American women are 40 percent more likely to die from the disease. Similarly, Hispanic women are 30 percent less likely to have breast cancer as white women, but they also face a higher risk of dying from the disease. Early detection – including clinical and self exams and yearly mammograms over age 40 – is key to increasing the survival rate.

Monday, October 15, 2012

University of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics hosts cutting edge political forum about Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia

On Thursday, October 18, starting promptly at 12:25 p.m., in Room 255, Orson Spencer Hall (OSH), Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia will be the topic of the Hinckley Institute of Politics weekly forum.


Latinos and African-Americans are 1 and half to twos more likely to get Alzheimer's then the general white populations. Find out more- make plans to attend.

How do we implement the Utah State Plan with its 5 overarching goals, 18 specific recommendations and 99 ambitious strategies? The Forum features a panel, including Senator Karen Morgan and Dr. Norman Foster. Local and national leaders of the Alzheimer's Association will be present, including a national Alzheimer's Association policy leader from Washington DC, Matthew Baumgart. Manuel Romero, a former member of the Utah State Plan Task Force will moderate the panel. Questions form the audience will be addressed. Should Utah invest in an outpatient gero-psychiatric telehealth system? Should dementia care training for direct care workers be implemented? Should Utah initiate an endangered persons advisory (an Amber Alert system for disoriented seniors)? How do advocates engage legislators and others in a public-private partnership to implement an action plan for nearly 50,000 persons with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia and their family members? Please join us to become a part of the solution at this critical juncture.

Pay parking in the Student Union lot is suggested.  This is an open forum that will include attendance of University of Utah students. See you Thursday!

For more information contact  Nick Zullo, Director of Programs and Advocacy | Alzheimer's Association Utah Chapter | 801.433.8620 (mobile)