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April is National Minority Health Month
Health equity can't wait: Act now in your CommUNITY!
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ACU is a proud member of  Building an Asthma Care Home View this 60-minute recorded webinar presented by ACU staff at your convenience. Please allow time for the files to fully load on your computer. Download time depends on your connection speed. Watch now
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JHCPU The February 2012 issue of the JHCPU, dedicated to Black History Month, is now available online. Online access to the JHCPU is an ACU member benefit. To join ACU, click here. 
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ACU members focus on healthy weight
 | | From left, Dr. Rina Ramirez, Chief Medical Officer, Zufall Health Center, Vince Keane, CEO, Unity Health Care, Anne Nolon CEO, Hudson River HealthCare and Eva Turbiner, CEO, Zufall Health Center. |
Several ACU members were selected to participate in Collaborate for Healthy Weight, a national anti-obesity initiative that was recently expanded to all 50 states. The Healthy Weight collaborative is a partnership between HRSA and the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality and supported by the Affordable Care Act's Prevention and Public Health Fund. It is establishing innovative partnerships between public health, primary care and community organizations. Participating ACU members include Unity Health Care in DC, Hudson River HealthCare in New York and Zufall Health Center in New Jersey. Check out the resources on obesity in adults, adolescents and children for clinicians, public health workers and communities on the Collaborate for Healthy Weight website.
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Welcome New Members
We are pleased to welcome two rather large "classes" of new members. Thanks to the Office of Primary Care at the Ohio Department of Health, 79 National Health Service Corps (NHSC) clinicians practicing in Ohio and 12 NHSC scholars will receive ACU membership for two years.
Also joining ACU are 60 residents in social medicine, pediatrics, family and internal medicine at Montefiore in New York. They are receiving ACU membership through the offices of Dr. Peter Selwyn, Chair of the Department of Family and Social Medicine.
If you know one of these clinicians or scholars, please extend a personal welcome to them. Being part of a professional society dedicated to health care for the underserved sends a powerful message to clinicians that their service and skills are valued. If you would like to extend the gift of membership to young clinicians in training, please contact acu@clinicians.org.
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Youth Clinic experience opens minds and hearts
By Konnor La, an ACU student member and third year student at the University of California, Berkeley. Konnor can be reached at konnor.la@gmail.com. To learn more about the Suitcase Clinic, visit their website at http://www.suitcaseclinic.org/.
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Konnor La
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Imagine a young man walking through the streets of a small, neat college town with his friends. He is carrying a large, heavy backpack filled with everything he thinks he will need throughout the day. Who do you imagine he is? A college student? This young man is actually just one of many transient youth who pass through the city of Berkeley and stop by the Suitcase Youth Clinic as they continue their travels beyond our city limits.
Transient youth are generally between the ages of 18 and 25, traveling with a group of people, exploring our country. They primarily travel by foot and, when the opportunity comes, any form of transportation they can come by. Many, depending on the generosity and resources of others, are able to continue their travels. However, while in Berkeley, they find the Youth Clinic is a welcoming place to rest their feet. "There is something about the Youth Clinic here ... like the atmosphere where you won't get pressured to have to use the services; you can just chill. Other places pressure you to utilize the services and if you don't, they kind of want you to go," said one Youth Clinic client. Read more
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You can be an ACU ambassador
Due to limited travel and exhibit budgets, ACU staff cannot be present at many gatherings where ACU members - and potential members - are meeting. That's why we've created the ACU Ambassadors program. If you are attending a local, state or regional meeting and would like information about ACU to handout or put on a display table, we will be happy to ship materials to you or to the meeting site (less heavy lifting for you) for display and distribution. We'll offer you a small gift card and a giant serving of thanks for your efforts. Interested? Contact us at acu@clinicians.org.
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Featured Jobs in the ACU Career Center
 Director of Nursing, Liberty Health Systems Jersey City Medical Center in New Jersey.
Executive Director, Peach Tree Healthcare in Marysville, CA.
Family Practice Physician, Open Door Community Health Centers, Crescent City, California.
Physician, Psychiatrist, and Medical Officer, three separate positions, at Health Care for the Homeless, Inc., in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Complementary therapies
While more than two-thirds of people are using some form of complementary therapy, less than one third are discussing their usage with their providers. To address this gap, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has developed an educational campaign, Time to Talk that focuses on facilitating open dialogue between health care providers and consumers.
You can download or order Time to Talk materials, including patient packets and a provider toolkit, from the NCAMM website.
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Conferences and E-Learning
April 10, 8 a.m. EST A One Day Symposium Focusing on Disparities in U.S. Health Care, led by Howard University's School of Communications. Get details and register online.
April 26 - 29, National Hispanic Medical Association "Innovations to Improve Health for Hispanics, Families and Communities" at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington.
April 30, first annual National Primary Care Conference on Aging sponsored by the National Center for Health and the Aging at the Westin Hotel in Alexandria, VA. ACU's Lois Wessel, CFNP, will present on health literacy, medication management and the elderly.
May 1 - 3, Health Care for Residents of Public Housing National Training Conference at the Westin in Alexandria, VA. ACU's Lois Wessel, CFNP, will present on smoking cessation for residents in public housing.
May 15 - 17, Beyond Flexner Social Mission in Medical Education, offered by Medical Education Futures Study in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Register online by April 13.
May 16 - 18, 2012 National Health Care for the Homeless Conference, offered by National Health Care for the Homeless Council at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center. Pre-conference institutes will be held on May 15.
June 3 - 5, 2012 DMC Conference, offered by Dental Management Coalition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Get details and download a registration form online.
October 27 - 31, 140th Annual Meeting and Exposition "Prevention and Wellness Across the Life Span", offered by American Public Health Association in San Francisco, California.
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Put a TobaccoFree widget on your website
 While many organizations are devoted to tobacco cessation, ACU's TobaccoFree website is unique in its focus on clinicians who work with underserved populations. Clinicians will find information on tobacco and underserved populations, standards of care, and tools such as the Quitline national map and information on patient assistance programs. Now, you can also share this resource with your staff, colleagues, and community via a link in your newsletter, website, or social media site. Download a widget with a link to TobaccoFree here: http://clinicians.org/tobaccofree-links.
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New mobile website on cancer
Helping patients and families access high quality health care information can save time in the long run. Here's a website you might want to bookmark and share: National Cancer Institute's mobile website. It is available on any mobile platform and allows users to look up questions to ask, get tips for dealing with treatment side effects, listen to pronunciations of cancer terms, find information about different cancer types, and connect with NCI's 1-800-4-CANCER line where trained cancer information specialists can answer their cancer questions and provide personalized, up-to-date information and support. The new NCI mobile site is available in English and Spanish and is an easy-access guide to NCI information about cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. |
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Care coordination through community HUBs
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)has released a new resource titled: Connecting Those at Risk to Care: The Quick Start Guide to Developing Community Care Coordination Pathways to help community-based organizations improve coordinationof health care services for patients with the greatest need and health risks. The guide is part of AHRQ's Health Care Innovations Exchange and provides guidance on creating tools and resources to develop a community HUB. The HUB is an infrastructure that brings public and private community stakeholders together to determine local health needs and coordinate appropriate medical care and social services to be delivered without duplication of effort. The HUB also helps establish accountability that keeps individuals from falling through the cracks. The Quick Start guide gives an overview of this process and complements the more comprehensive guide released by AHRQ in 2010. To date, 16 HUBs have been established throughout the United States. To view the guide, click on Connecting Those at Risk to Care: The Quick Start Guide to Developing Community Care Coordination Pathways. |
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Healing Hands features medical home
 | | Anna Gard, FNP |
Anna Gard, FNP, ACU consultant on quality improvement and health IT, is one of several experts quoted in the spring issue 2012 Healing Hands newsletter published by the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. Pursuing National Quality Recognition explores the patient-center medical home model and provides numerous resources for health care organizations seeking recognition. The newsletter is available online and readers can receive free CME credit. Also, visit ACU's new webpage on patient-centered medical homes and find valuable resources to assist you in navigating the process of achieving recognition.
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Fellowships and Scholarships
ACU-KP Scholarships - ACU has several opportunities for members interested in clinical quality improvement. Scholarship funds are available to cover the cost of registration to attend the National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care in Orlando in December 2012. If online learning better suits your lifestyle, funds are also available for you to participate in the IHI Open School for Health Professions online courses free for one year. The IHI Open School is an inter-professional educational community that empowers you to become a change agent in health care improvement. Courses focus on skills like quality improvement, patient safety, teamwork, leadership, and patient-centered care. Courses are open to health professionals in nursing, health administration, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, policy, and other health professions. Funds are limited, so apply early using our online application.
Integrative Medicine Fellowship on Care for the Underserved - The Institute of Urban Family Health, in affiliation with Beth Israel Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, offers a one-year fellowship in Academic Integrative Medicine starting in July 2012. Fellows will learn clinical Integrative Medicine in both primary care and consult models. Clinical training will be at a community health care center, as well as the Continuum Center of Health and Healing, an integrative health care setting. More information available online.
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Indoor air quality - what does your state require?
Clinicians need to be aware of local and national legislation concerning safe housing and other environmental issues that affect our patients. The Environmental Law Institute has clear and concise information regarding laws that may protect patients from environmental asthma triggers. For example, requiring radon testing/mitigation or requiring school IAQ management programs can reduce health risks from indoor pollutants for a very large number of people. ELI's online Policy Resource Center is dedicated to providing up-to-date and user-friendly information on IEQ policies, with an emphasis on state-level policies. The website highlights important and emerging policy topics and helps the public to locate and learn about a broad range of current laws and rules. The website includes:
The Database of State Indoor Air Quality Laws - lists and describes many existing state IAQ laws throughout the U.S. and is used widely as a reliable source for understanding how state policymakers are addressing radon, mold and other IAQ issues.
Policy Briefs - highlight important indoor environmental and green building issues that have captured the attention of state legislatures, providing an overview of the issue and summaries of policies enacted to date.
Research Reports - provide in-depth analysis, examine lessons learned from existing state and local policies and programs, and offer recommendations for developing effective approaches in core areas of indoor environments and green buildings policy.
All materials are available for download at no cost at: www.eli.org/buildings |
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Call for speakers
The Second Annual Integrative Medicine for the Underserved Conference will take place September 7 - 8 in Santa Clara, California. Conference organizers invite speakers to submit proposals for plenary and breakout sessions, with the goal that speakers will represent clinicians of diverse disciplines, including those involved in working models of providing integrative medicine for underserved communities. Read the call for submissions for more details. Deadline: May 1. |
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