Visit CALPACT at the APHA Annual Conference in San Francisco!

The 140th Annual Meeting & Exposition for the American Public Health Association (APHA) is coming up in San Francisco from October 27-31, 2012. This year's theme is Prevention and Wellness Across the Life Span and the meeting promises some can't miss sessions on what's happening now in public health to meet the challenges we face. There's also many opportunities for connecting and networking! We're hoping you'll come by the Pacific Public Health Training Consortium (PPHTC) booth in the Exposition Hall to learn more about the Public Health Training Centers serving California, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, and the Associated Pacific Territories. Looking forward to seeing you there!

For more information, click here.

Upcoming event! The Pacific Global Health Conference

The Pacific Global Health Conference is coming up next week, 

on October 8-10, 2012 in Hawaii. CALPACT will be in attendance

with other public health practitioners, academics, and 

policymakers to discuss current and emerging public health 

issues and explore  how to develop strategies for the future. 

Stay tuned for updates! 

Visit here to learn more:

http://www.hawaiipublichealth.org/PGHC

Health Communication Matters! The Ongoing Challenge to Explain and Implement the ACA

The most sweeping health policy change in decades – the Affordable Care Act (ACA), has created a myriad of challenges in how to convey a complex subject to the public, the media, policymakers, and other professionals.

On September 27, CALPACT co-sponsored an exciting webinar with experts in ACA-related health literacy and health insurance literacy initiatives, including Linda Neuhauser, DrPH, MPH, Clinical Professor, Community Health and Human Development at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health, and Kathy Paez, RN, PhD, Principal Researcher with the American Institutes for Research (AIR). We explored the ongoing areas of challenge after the passage of the ACA and our experts presented the health communication principles that are effective for delivering understandable and compelling content to diverse audiences. To learn more, please click on the links below!

You may view the recording of this webinar here: https://cc.readytalk.com/play?id=1uy478

To view the slides from this webinar, please visit: 

http://www.slideshare.net/SPHCalpact/calpact-training-health-communication-matters-webinar-092712

For related resources, please see:

Health Literacy Undervalued by Public Health? A tool for Public Health Professionals

http://www.slideshare.net/SPHCalpact/plain-writing-training-tool

Glossary of Health Coverage and Medical Terms

http://www.slideshare.net/SPHCalpact/uniform-glossaryfinal1

Healthy Weight Plans: Developing, Implementing, and Engaging Partners in the Process

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

1:00pm–2:30pm (EDT)
12:00pm-1:30pm (CDT)
11:00am-12:30pm (MDT)
10:00am-11:30am (PDT)

NICHQ and HRSA invite you to join the seventh in a series of free webinars to educate individuals engaged or interested in the
Collaborate for Healthy Weight project on topics critical to reversing
the obesity epidemic.

This call will focus on the process of developing and implementing
Healthy Weight Plans and engaging partners in the process in order to
further the goals of community-based obesity prevention initiatives.

Register HERE.

For more information, check out their website.

Ten Attributes of Health Literate Health Care Organizations

Good news! The Center for Disease Control’s blog, Bridging the Health Literacy Gap–is back!

In its come-back post, Dr. Cynthia Bauer highlights a recent contribution to the health literacy field, a publication issued by the Institutes of Medicine titled “Ten Attributes of Health Literate Health Care Organizations.” In some ways, it’s a health literacy manifesto for organizations. As Dr. Baur shares, this discussion paper provides steps health care organizations can take to make it easier for people to use the health care system. It states that:

A health literacy health care organization:

1. Has leadership that makes health literacy integral to its mission, structure, and operations.

2. Integrates health literacy into planning, evaluation measures, patient safety, and quality improvement.

3. Prepares the workforce to be health literate and monitors progress.

4. Includes populations served in the design, implementation, and evaluation of health information and services.

5. Meets the needs of populations with a range of health literacy skills while avoiding stigmatization.

6. Uses health literacy strategies in interpersonal communications and confirms understanding at all points of contact.

7. Provides easy access to health information and services and navigation assistance.

8. Designs and distributes print, audiovisual, and social media content that is easy to understand and act on.

9. Addresses health literacy in high-risk situations, including care transitions and communications about medicines.

10. Communicates clearly what health plans cover and what individuals will have to pay for services.

Turning Health Literacy Attributes into Best Practices

Prior to the recent health care decision, Kaiser’s Health Tracking Poll reported:

§ Six of every 10 Americans said they didn’t know enough about the basics of health reform to judge its potential impact on their lives.

§ Four in 10 weren’t sure whether it’s still the law of the land or they thought it’s already been overturned.

§ Roughly 60 percent seem fine with the confusion — they say they’re either not closely following news of the looming health reform case or they’ve tuned it out altogether

Given that 9 out of 10 Americans experience limited health literacy, confusion around health reform shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Thus, we’d hope health care organizations would quickly adopt these attributes, making them best practices. However, imagine this: What if every organization adopted these attributes?

Any organization with employees and a staff has an opportunity to be a leader in transforming the conversations around our health. From explaining health insurance to implementing health promotion and corporate wellness programs, progress is possible.

Special Webinar:The Supreme Court's Decision on the Affordable Care Act: Implications for Prevention and Public Health

Thursday, July 5th: 3 p.m. -- 4 p.m. EDT / 12 p.m. -- 1 p.m. PDT

Join APHA, the Public Health Institute, the Prevention Institute, Trust

for America's Health, PolicyLink, and leading public health law experts

from the National Health Law Program and the Network for Public Health

Law, and George Washington University for analysis and discussion of the

Supreme Court's decision upholding the constitutionality of the

Affordable Care Act, and what that decision means for the public health

and prevention provisions of the ACA.

Register Now http://action.apha.org/site/R?i=gwLa3nl1W6Ku28jgkdMgIg

Webinar: Reframing Disability: Implications for Creating Accessible and Inclusive Communities

With Live Q/A session after Presentation!

Tuesday, July 17th 2012 12:00-1:00PM, MST

This training, presented by Dr. Amanda Kraus, will analyze how we commonly frame disability in society and examine how these frames influence professional practice.  Dr. Kraus will discuss language, media and design and the power of each to shape the disability experience.  By analyzing existing systems, she will discuss concepts of universal design and identify ways for participants to increase access by removing the barriers that exclude individuals from participation. Finally, she will review the resources available on campus to faculty, staff and students through the Disability Resource Center. 

Learning Objectives

• Recognize the dominant societal frames for understanding disability and their impact on professional practice
• Understand the power of language, media and design in shaping the disability experience
• Identify ways to design more sustainable and accessible experiences:
• Apply new concepts of disability and design to professional practice
• Be aware of resources and services offered through UA’s Disability Resource Center

Amanda Kraus, Ph. D., serves as Assistant Director and Director of the Disabled Veterans Reintegration and Education Project at the University of Arizona Disability Resource Center.   Dr. Kraus is also adjunct faculty in the Center for the Study of Higher Education, where she instructs graduate courses on Student Development, Student Services, and Disability in Higher Education.  Her research focuses on the disability identity in a context of higher education, and the experience of disability for student veterans. 

REGISTRATION/MORE INFORMATION

Where?               

Arizona Public Health Training Center (www.azphtc.arizona.edu)  Log in and go to classroom. Click on “Reframing Disability: Implications for Creating Accessible and Inclusive Communities”)

When?                

Tuesday, July 17 2012 12-1 PM, MST

Questions? Contact Dave Dawley at dawley@email.arizona.edu