In This Issue
Richland Stepping Down
Partnership to Continue Work on Community Prevention
Sexual Health Leadership Team Meets
Partnership at the Prevention and Wellness Congress
ActionToQuit Update
Policy and Advocacy
Obesity Prevalence Will Rise
Tobacco Settlement Money
Adolescent Risk Factors for Heart Disease
New Prevention Recommendations
IOM Report on Obesity Prevention
State Injury Prevention Laws
APHA Annual Meeting

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Partnership Pulse

 June 2012

 

Partnership News
Richland to Step Down, Zauche to Step Up

Jud Richland, Partnership for Prevention's President, letter writinghas announced that he is resigning.  David Zauche, the director of Partnership's ActionToQuit program, will serve as Interim Director.  Zauche is one of the nation's leading tobacco control advocates.  Before joining Partnership in 2009, he worked for the American Cancer Society for nearly 30 years leading a wide variety of tobacco control and cancer prevention activities. 


Richland has been Partnership's President since January 2011 and also served as President from 1995-1998.  Partnership's Board and staff wish Jud the best and thank him for his service to the organization.  Richland's resignation letter can be viewed here

RWJF Funds Partnership to Continue Work on Community Prevention

Partnership and its longtime collaborator, the HealthPartners Research Foundation, recently letter writingstarted work to develop and promote an online resource to increase the use of community preventive services. The resource will include quantitative information about evidence-based services to reduce tobacco use, increase physical activity, and address social determinants of health. It will allow users to customize information about community interventions, and it will support the work of public health partners, such as the County Health Rankings and the Public Health Accreditation Board.

Partnership's Sexual Health Leadership Team Meets In-Person

In May, Partnership convened the leadership team that is helping to form a new coalition to advance sexual health. Partnership staff debriefed the team on the small meetings previously held with sexual health experts in the areas of health care, public policy, sexual violence prevention, sex education, and communications. These consultations highlighted potential opportunities and challenges for the coalition. The leadership team also discussed draft goals, mission, audiences, and recruitment.  
Partnership CMO Moderates Session at Prevention Congress
Dr. Jason Spangler, Partnership's chief medical officer, moderated a session on worksite wellness at the World Congress Prevention and Wellness Congress. Speakers included Jonna Harris from H&R Block and Nathan Hays from Sprint, who represented two employers from the recently released Leading by Example: Creating a Corporate Strategy - the Kansas City Collaborative Experience report.  They discussed how their organizations implement prevention-focused benefits, use data to evaluate program results, and determine the return on investment of worksite health promotion. 
ActionToQuit Update
ActionToQuit has created two new sections for "Behavioral Health" and "World" on www.actiontoquit.org. These sections contain information and resources about global tobacco control and tobacco use among those with mental illness. A new podcast is also available with Cynthia Hallett, the executive director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights (ANR), about how casinos need to become smoke-free to protect the health of workers and patrons.  The next ActionToQuit webinar will be held on Wednesday, June 13 from 2:00 to 3:15 pm (ET). It will highlight successful state-level tobacco cessation policy initiatives. Register here.
Policy and Advocacy

Physical Activity: Partnership was one of 70 national organizations that asked Congress to support the Cardin-Cochran agreement in the transportation reauthorization bill. This agreement gives local governments a voice in how to address walking and bicycling in their communities.

 

Tobacco: Partnership and more than a dozen other groups urged Family Dollar to reconsider its decision to sell tobacco products in Family Dollar stores. Partnership also submitted comments to the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) in support of a tobacco use measure for adolescents.

 Prevention News

Obesity Prevalence to Continue to Rise, But More Slowly

A CDC study estimates that by 2030, 42% of adults could be obese (with a BMI of 30 or greater). The good news is that the rate of increase is slowing and has leveled off for women. In previous years, obesity prevalence increased dramatically. However, the number of severely obese people (with a BMI of 40 or greater) will increase by 130%. 

Most Tobacco Settlement Money is Not Being Used to Fight Tobacco 

A new CDC report shows that states are spending only a fraction of tobacco settlement money on anti-tobacco programs. The tobacco industry must reimburse states for Medicaid costs incurred by tobacco use. States brought in almost $244 billion between 1998 and 2010, but only about 3% ($8 billion) was spent on effective tobacco control programs. Most money went into the general fund or was spent on other programs. State investments in tobacco control have fallen every year since 2002. 

Many Adolescents Already Have Risk Factors for Heart Disease

A new study reveals that half of overweight adolescents and one-third of normal-weight adolescents already have unhealthy blood pressure or elevated cholesterol or blood sugar. These risk factors raise the risk for future cardiovascular disease. In addition, nearly one in four teens has either pre-diabetes or diabetes. This study shows that programs to increase physical activity and improve diet would benefit all youth, regardless of weight status because cardiovascular risk factors are appearing in children of normal weight.
New Prevention Recommendations 

The Community Preventive Services Task Force issued a recommendation for team-based care to improve blood pressure control.  Teams often consist of the patient, the patient's primary care provider, plus professionals such as nurses, pharmacists, social workers, dieticians, or community health workers.

 

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued three final recommendation statements. The USPSTF recommends behavioral counseling to prevent skin cancer and exercise and vitamin D to prevent falls in community-dwelling older adults. It recommends against routine PSA-based screening for prostate cancer. The USPSTF also released a draft recommendation statement on menopausal hormonal therapy to prevent chronic conditions, which is available for public comment until June 26. Lastly, a systematic review of the evidence of screening for intimate partner violence was published.

Resources and Reports  
IOM Releases New Report on Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention
A new Institute of Medicine (IOM) report contains recommendations for reducing the obesity epidemic in five critical areas: environments for physical activity, food and beverage environments, message environments, health care and work environments, and school environments. The report also highlights relationships between recommendations and notes that some recommendations can be implemented together for additional impact, or, conversely, may act as barriers when implemented together.
Many States Have Inadequate Injury Prevention Laws
Trust for America's Health released a report that ranks states based on injury death rates. Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for children (≥ one year old), adolescents, and adults up to age 44. The report uses 10 indicators to rank each state. Indicators included universal motorcycle helmet laws, laws requiring children to ride in booster seats until at least age 8, and primary seat belt laws. Although some states performed well, many states ranked poorly, meaning they have few laws or policies to protect residents from injury.
Announcements
Registration Now Open for APHA Annual Meeting

Registration has begun for the 2012 American Public Health Association annual meeting. The meeting will be held in San Francisco, CA from October 27-31. The topic of this year's meeting is Prevention & Wellness Across the Lifespan. Click here to learn more. 

Partnership for Prevention was founded in 1991 by leaders dedicated to making disease prevention and health promotion a national priority and America a healthier nation. Partnership seeks to increase understanding and use of clinical preventive services and population-based prevention to improve health.