NCHPH Monthly Newsletter, February 2012

Even baby's gums and teeth can decay, potentially leading to future problems with permanent teeth. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests how to prevent tooth decay in children:

- Brush baby's teeth and gums regularly.

- Never allow baby to take food or a bottle to bed.

- Restrict a bottle or sippy cup to mealtimes only.

- Make sure your water is fluoridated, or talk to your dentist about fluoride supplements.

- Avoid sticky, sweet treats such as candy, cookies or fruit roll-ups.

Super Tracker: My foods. My fitness. My health

Get your personalized nutrition and physical activity plan.

Track your foods and physical activities to see how they stack up.

Get tips and support to help you make healthier choices and plan ahead.

(Source: USDA)

Funding Opportunities

HRSA-12-169 Service Area Competition-Additional Area (SAC-AA) (Anchorage, AK)

- Program Details

- Apply at Grants.gov by February 21

Faculty Development in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene

Deadline: February 9, 2012

The overall purpose of the program is to increase access to oral health care through continued training, recruitment and retention of a diverse and cultural competent dental workforce.

Link to Full Announcement.

Ashoka Johnson Foundation Offer Funding for Universal Health Solutions

Deadline: February 13, 2012

The purpose of grants is to promote health care solutions with the potential to be applied in other countries. Programs receive priority if they address challenges such as fragmented health care ecosystems, high costs, inconsistent quality of care, inefficeint systems, barriers to access and capacity needs.

More information

(Source: CD Publications)

State Implementation Grants for Systems of Services for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN)

Deadline: March 1, 2012

This announcement solicits applications for State Implementation Grants for Systems of Services for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN). This grant program improves access to a quality, comprehensive, coordinated community-based systems of services for CYSHCN and their families that is family-centered and culturally competent.

Link to Full Announcement

Click here to learn more about additional funding opportunities!

Useful Links:

Do you need training or technical assistance?Click Here

The National Center for Health and the Aging

Health Resources and Services Administration

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

The National Alliance of Resident Services in Affordable and Assisted Housing

Join Our List

Issue: #3

February 2012

The mission of the National Center for Health in Public Housing (NCHPH) is to strengthen the capacity of federally funded Public Housing Primary Care (PHPC) health centers and other health center grantees by providing training and a range of technical assistance.

NCHPH, a project of North American Management, receives funding through a cooperative agreement grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration.

*Attention*

2012 H. Jack Geiger Award Nominations

Dr. H. Jack Geiger's legacy has been devoted to problems of health, poverty and human rights. Combining community-oriented primary care, public health interventions, civil rights, community development initiatives and research interests focused on racial and ethnic disparities in medical care. Dr.Geiger has made significant contributions in advocating for quality healthcare for the less fortunate through the work of community health centers.

In the words of Dr. Geiger: "The real honor is in having such an award created and named for me, to stimulate and reward the work of others in the future in the ongoing struggle for equity in health care, most particularly for such vulnerable populations as public housing residents".

Please submit a letter to North American Management (NAM) and let us know why you would like to nominate a health center which has shown excellence in any of the following areas:

Program Management
Performance Improvement
Program Development and Analysis

The H. Jack Geiger Award recipients will be presented at the 2012 Health Care for Residents of Public Housing National Training Conference May 1-3. Please send your response via email to info@nchph.org by February 29th 2012.

Pediatric Optometry Now Offered at Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers in St. Louis, MO

When a parent provides for their child, is a visit to the optometrist on their "to do" list? According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), "Without an eye exam, many children have vision problems that remain undiagnosed, and may even be misdiagnosed as a learning disorder."

Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers (GHNHC) has offered optometry services to its patients on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In September, GHNHC began offering pediatric optometry appointments specifically to patients up to age 18.

Utilizing an optometrist and optometry interns from the University of Missouri, St. Louis (UMSL) School of Optometry, these appointments are held at our Murphy-O'Fallon Health Center on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. New UMSL interns rotate to work in the clinic about every eight weeks.

Dr. Pam Snyder, a clinical assistant professor at UMSL, is the volunteer optometrist who runs our pediatric optometry program."I think there are so many underserved kids out there who need us," she said. "That's the most rewarding part of working here. Grace Hill is here to help offer eye examinations and eyeglasses at a discounted price."

To learn more about Grace Hill Neighborhood's Services, visit

http://www.gracehill.org/

HRSA Updates

Affordable Care Act support for school-based health centers: Will create jobs, increase access to care for thousands of children

Health care law will help rebuild aging clinics

Eight organizations, including the American Hospital Association (AHA), have committed to sharing information and encouraging hospitals and health systems nationwide to promote organ and tissue donation by joining with the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as national partners in the Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Campaign.

While hospitals have worked with HRSA for years to increase the number of organs transplanted in their facilities, this new effort focuses on educating and encouraging patients, visitors, members of the community and their own staff and caregivers about the importance of joining organ and tissue donor registries to save lives.

(Source: hhs.gov)

Grantee Corner

CommuniCare Health Centers and University Health System Join Forces to Break Ground

Federally Qualified Health Center expands services on San Antonio's West Side

CommuniCare Health Centers (CCHC) and the University Health System broke ground on November 9th to build a new health care center that will be a cooperative between the two organizations. The new health center will be located on Callaghan Road just east of IH 10, on the Northwest part of San Antonio. The 21,000 square foot facility will provide services in Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Women's Health, and Behavioral Health.

"Our newly formed affiliation will offer improved access to high quality, affordable and patient-centered healthcare care" says George B. Hernández, President/CEO of University Health System. As the area grows, so does the demand for more health care services.

Debbora A. Thompson, CEO of CommuniCare stated, "This collaboration is a reflection of the history of what we have established since 1972. Our growth and our reputation for care has developed because of our strong community partners." The clinic will open in the fall of 2012 and will be managed by CommuniCare.

CommuniCare Health Centers is a Federally Qualified Health Center that operates two full health centers in San Antonio and two in Hays County.

For more information about CommuniCare, please visit www.communicaretx.org.

Care Alliance Health Center: Revealing the Value of Volunteers

Year after year, Care Alliance in Cleveland, OH has risen to the challenge of serving more patients, and much of this accomplishment can be credited to our incredible volunteers.

In 2011, Care Alliance hosted about 100 volunteers, students and work experience placements, who spent more than 6,500 hours working with our staff - at a value of more than $136,000!

The people who volunteer at Care Alliance leave an unforgettable mark on the center's history, and serve as a model that can be replicated at other community health centers. As Care Alliance Health Center's volunteer program coordinator Reanna Karousis reiterated:

"In 2012, we ask our past, present and future volunteers for a simple resolution: Stay engaged with us".

To learn more ways community partners have helped Care Alliance Center, click here.

Are you a Public Housing Primary Care Program Grantee? We would love to hear about your success! Send us your success story to info@nchph.org.

Cultural Awareness Corner

Socioeconomic Status May Explain Racial Disparities in Diet, Exercise, and Weight

According to New Study Published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association

Large disparities exist in obesity and other chronic diseases across racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Are racial differences in diet, exercise, and weight status related to better knowledge about healthy eating and awareness of food-related health risks? Or are they more closely related to differences in socioeconomic status (SES)? A new study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association finds that people with a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be overweight, regardless of racial/ethnic background, and that the level of nutritional knowledge and health awareness did not lead to significant racial differences in weight and diet.

(Source: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)

Which Disparities Interventions Work?

How Can Efforts to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Care Succeed?

In 2005, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change, a national program focused on discovering and evaluating interventions that can reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care. In 33 sites across the country, Finding Answers researchers focus on reducing disparities in care for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression: diseases where the evidence of disparities in care is strong and the recommended standards of care are clear.

By testing intervention strategies in a variety of settings, Finding Answers is gaining a better understanding of which strategies work best and how to implement them. An update on the Finding Answers program and its 33 funded projects is now available. Hear from the researchers and find out more about solutions that will help reduce health care disparities.

Read the updates and view the video.

New CDC and US Census Bureau Data Available on Health Insurance Coverage

The Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC) recently announced that an important new data set is now available via the internet: Health Insurance Coverage Status by Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex and Income for Counties and States: 2008 and 2009. The estimates were released to the public on October 13, 2011 by the US Census Bureau: Small Area Health Insurance Estimates.

These are estimates of the low-income, uninsured populations at both the state and county levels. Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) are currently the only source for estimates of health insurance coverage status for all counties in the nation.

The estimates are the result of a multi-year collaboration between CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control and the Census Bureau's Small Area Estimates Branch. At the website, you may construct your own tables, download the entire data set, utilize the interactive mapping tool, and/or read the methodology.

(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)

Health People 2012: Leading Health Indicators

Healthy People 2020 provides a comprehensive set of 10-year, national goals and objectives for improving the health of all Americans. Healthy People 2020 contains 42 topic areas with nearly 600 objectives (with others still evolving), which encompass 1,200 measures. A smaller set of Healthy People 2020 objectives, called Leading Health Indicators, has been selected to communicate high-priority health issues and actions that can be taken to address them.

To view these, click here.

Why Men From Rural Communities Avoid Seeking Mental Health Counseling

Men, in general, are far less likely than women to seek professional help for mental health problems. But a new study, led by Joseph H. Hammer and David L. Vogel of the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University, suggests that men from rural communities are even more resistant than urban-dwelling men when it comes to getting psychological counseling. The study expands upon previous research by the team and explores the factors that create barriers to treatment.

To read more about this study, click here.

Adoption of Health Informational Technology in Rural Health Clinics

As the nation, including rural areas, moves swiftly toward the adoption of health information technology (HIT), the progress by the Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in adopting and implementing HIT remains unknown. There are approximately 3,800 RHCs located throughout the United States, yet an aggregate catalogue and contact list for all currently operating RHCs does not exist. To address these issues, the Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC), a program of the National Rural Health Resource Center, and the Maine Rural Health Research Center (MRHRC) at the University of Southern Maine are developing a database of RHCs and will be utilizing this information to conduct a national survey focusing on meaningful use of HIT by RHCs.

To learn more about this national survey and project, click here.

Advocacy and Policy

$200 Million Increase in Funding for Growth & Expansion in FY12

Grassroots Advocacy Makes the Difference Once Again

In early December, Congress passed the Fiscal Year 2012 Omnibus Appropriations Act, a bill that will fund the Health Centers Program at a total programmatic level of $2.78 billion. This legislation will not only maintain current federal grant support for all existing Health Centers, it will also provide enough additional funding to extend access to care to nearly 1.5 additional people in need of care.

This decision demonstrates that Congress and the Administration recognize that the overwhelming demand for care in communities currently without it deserves a response. As new fights arise, remember this win as proof that even in today's fiscal and political environment, the power of grassroots advocacy is very real.

To read more about the bill, click here.

Home for Good Victory, Keep the Momentum Going

Last Friday, the administration made two announcements critical to reviving the housing market. First, President Obama made good on his State of the Union promise, and created a new investigative working group that would take on the abuses that triggered the housing crisis. He has wisely chosen New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman-a champion in defending homeowners-to lead this unit focused specifically on lending fraud and mortgage abuses. Second, the administration tripled incentives for mortgage servicers to grant homeowners principal writedowns. For the first time, these writedowns are offered on loans owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Principal writedowns have proven to be one of the most effective methods of helping underwater families hold onto their homes and preserve our neighborhoods.

Research

Study Highlights Features of High-Quality Primary Care

Interventions promoting access to comprehensive, patient-centered care might cut health disparities

Race, Gender, Dementia May Affect Parkinson's Survival

Can electronic health records erase disparities?

Children's Use of Asthma Controller Drugs Doubles

Silent Strokes Lead to Memory Loss in Elderly

Health Risks Among Sexual Minority Youth: A New CDC Report

The National Center for Health in Public Housing
North American Management Health and Family Services
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This publication was made possible by grant number U30CS09734 from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Primary Health Care and its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA.