News from LA Clinical & Translational Science Institute, Office of Community Engagement

Marientina Gotsis, from the USC School of Cinema, and I were able to attend the 4^th Annual Conference on Dissemination and Implementation Science sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. I was able to attend the first conference several years ago and it has grown considerably. In the first year, there were 350 people registered; this year, 1200 people registered. They will eventually put all of the presentations online here: http://conferences.thehillgroup.com/obssr/DI2011/contact.html. Please check there periodically if you would like more information.

The two-day conference covered a lot of very valuable information when thinking about methods of getting evidence-based practices into community settings - one of the goals of the Office of Community Engagement. One of the things that resonated the most with me, is just how little consideration and attention is given to this area of research from a national perspective. One of the NIH representatives reported that for every dollar spent on discovering new ideas, only one cent is spent on getting those ideas out to the community. While America is great at coming up with new innovations and ideas, so few people actually get to take advantage of them. The take away from that, for me, was that investment in disseminating information to clinicians and patients may save more lives than new medications and discoveries. This is not to say that we shouldn't spend efforts in identifying new innovative therapies, but we should really think about how to communicate the therapies and methods we already have out to those who need it most.

-Katrina Kubicek

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Announcements

Los Angeles Latino Regional Health Network Meeting

Join the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California on April 15, 2011 at AltaMed Health Services, 500 Vitadel Dr. Ste. 490 Los Angeles

Agenda will include:

Carmela Castellano-Garcia, Volunteer Interim Executive Director, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California

Affordable Care Act: Benefits for the Latino Population

Castulo De La Rocha, President/CEO,

AltaMed Health Services

Overview of Los Angeles DHS Bridge to Reform:

Waiver Implementation

Mitch Katz, Director,

Los Angeles County Department of Health Services

Workforce Diversity

Senator Ed Hernandez, SD 24

Regional Environmental Health Issues Affecting Latinos

Martha Arguello, Executive Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility - Los Angeles

Click Here for more Information and Registration

"Health Literacy: You talk to your patients but do they understand? The Importance of health literacy to your practice"

A recent online course on health literacy that is designed for continuing medical education credit (1.5 CME credits) in Canada

has been made accessible to anyone who wants to take it (with or without credit). For free registration visit the MDcmeca website.

"Climate Change and Respiratory Health" Webinar

The American Lung Association in California announces a webinar presented by Jon Balmes, MD, and Sonal Pat MD on Monday, April 11 from 12 - 1 pm. You can now sign up for the this webinar.

"CBPR and Health Equity"

San Francisco State University announced the 2011 Community Based Participatory Research Summer Institute offered jointly with the University of California, Berkley, Agust 8- 12, 2011. Registration, schedule and more information can be found in the San Francisco State University website.

Doctors for Global Health 16th Annual General Assembly

Is taking place on , July 29th-31st at Loyola Marymount University, entitled "Community Action for Health and Social Justice: health begins where we work, live, and play". The keynote speaker is America Bracho, founder of Latino Health Access, and there will be a panel discussion on the themes of immigrants' rights, food security and reports from global partner comunties.

"Advances and Emerging Opportunities in Diabetes Research: A Strategic Planning Report of the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee (DMICC)"

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health released its diabetes research strategic plan. The purpose of the plan is to serve as a scientific guidepost, identifying compelling opportunities for research on diabetes and its complications over the next decade.

Dowload the complete Diabetes Research Strategic Plan

The Comunity-Campus Partnerships for Health began to review the 349 page document, and have made the following observations on it so far, here is a summary of that:

(1) Community Based Participatory Resarch appears in a section on key questions and future directions for public-private and international partnerships on pages 297-298. A key question identified is "How can NIH support and encourage partnerships between researchers and their local communities?" and an answer for future directions is "Foster practice-based and community-based participatory research to promote the prevention and control of diabetes in vulnerable populations." New approaches are needed to encourage community-based participatory research partnerships in ways that recognize and support the strengths and skills of all partners.

(2) Another place that community engagement is mentioned in the report is in the section on key questions and future directions for research training and human resource development, page 285-286. A key question is "What educational opportunities can be developed for clinical practitioners and for the general public to encourage participation in clinical research?" and a future direction is "Develop programs to educate the medical community and the general public on clinical research: The success of clinical research and clinical trials depends on researchers ability to recruit and retain willing participants. Education programs are needed to help the public understand the process of clinical research, as well as the risks and benefits of participation in observational and interventional protocols. Similar programs are needed to engage clinical practitioners who could refer their patients for potential enrollment in appropriate studies.