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Greetings!
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Take Advantage of Early Bird Registration for the
2011 Patient Education Conference!
Register by Tuesday, June 21, and take advantage of the early bird discount for the 2011 National Patient Education Conference in San Francisco. Members and non-members save an average of 20-25 percent off the regular price! Don't miss out on this great opportunity to reserve your ticket at the lowest price!
The conference takes place Friday, July 8, through Sunday, July 10, at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square.
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Social Security to Hold Hearing on Autoimmune Diseases
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 The Social Security Administration (SSA) will hold a hearing in March to focus on seriously disabling autoimmune diseases that may qualify for SSA's list of Compassionate Allowances. The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) is asking patients and patient representatives to submit information to SSA to help add diseases such as scleroderma to the Compassionate Allowances List.
The Compassionate Allowances Program was established to reduce unnecessary delays patients with rare diseases often encounter when they apply for Social Security disability assistance. Through this program, SSA created a list of diagnoses that qualify patients for expedited review of applications for assistance.
If you are a patient or represent a patient with one or more autoimmune diseases that you feel should be considered for the Compassionate Allowances list, write to mdunkle@rarediseases.org with a brief summary of how scleroderma has impacted you or someone else. If possible, include links to any recent medical journal articles about the disease.
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SwipeGood: Use Your Card, Help the Scleroderma Foundation
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 The Scleroderma Foundation has teamed up with SwipeGood so every time you use your credit or debit card, your transaction is rounded up and the difference is automatically donated to support the Scleroderma Foundation. It's a simple way to support our cause and mission! Sign up today!
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Nutrition and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
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 Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a form of high blood pressure isolated to the arteries running from your heart to your lungs. Medications and surgical procedures are often used to slow the progression of the disease; however, doctors recommend nutritional changes to better manage the condition.Read more from Livestrong.com. |
A Quick Guide to Health Literacy
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 Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.
Health literacy is dependent on individual and systemic factors:
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Communication skills of lay persons and professionals.
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Lay and professional knowledge of health topics.
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Culture.
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Demands of the healthcare and public health systems.
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Demands of the situation/context.
Learn more about health literacy.
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