MEE is working on a new research project that concerns the health of the black community. DC is one of three locations where MEE is conducting focus groups. Focus group research will help develop messages to promote mental wellness in the community. MEE is looking for the following groups of participants: African American females (ages 20-22); African American males (ages 20-22); African American mothers (ages 35+) of sons (ages 14-17); and Service providers who work with African American adolescents and young adults. All participants should live in the 20003 and 20019 ZIP codes. Service providers can live outside of 20003 and 20019, but must work with clients living in those ZIP codes. Stipend amount is $75 for participants who arrive on time to complete the 2-hour focus group. Focus group dates and times: Service providers who work with African American adolescents and young adults, Thursday, January 22nd, 12 - 2 pm; African American mothers (ages 35+) who have sons (ages 14-17), Thursday, January 22nd, 6 - 8 pm; African American females (ages 20-22), Friday, January 23rd, 4 - 6 pm; and African American males (ages 20-22), Friday, January 23rd, 7 - 9 pm. All potential participants MUST: Be referred through a community-based organization (service providers may refer themselves); and Be prescreened by MEE to determine whether they're eligible to participate in the group. If you work at a community organization and you have clients or members who may be interested in participating in any of these groups, contact Aasha Cameron at 1-877-MEE-PROD (633-7763) or at (215) 829-4920. She'll ask you to provide her with a list with the name, age, phone number, and ZIP code of interested participants. For more info, contact Aasha Cameron or Cynthia Platts at (877) 633-7763 or (215) 829-4920, or by fax at (215) 829-4903.
.
By Darryl Fears, The Washington Post, Friday, January 23, 2009
From: Rachel Wick <rwick@
Date: Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 5:26 PM
Subject: FW: DC's high rate of HIV/AIDS is a capital offense
To: laurenspiro1
Lauren, see the article below from the Post. There are lots of opportunities for the consumer groups to play a role in this transition, it seems.
Rachel Wick, MPH
Program Officer - Health Policy & Evaluation
Consumer Health Foundation
From: DCPCA Daily Local Health Alert [mailto:dcpca@mail.democrac
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 4:24 PM
To: Rachel Wick
Subject: DC's high rate of HIV/AIDS is a capital offense
|
|
| DC Primary Care Association CONTENTS 1. Article: DC's high rate of HIV/AIDS is a capital offense 2. Article: Mentally ill will be shifted to private clinics 3. Article: Southeast hospital improves, regains accreditation 4. Article: FDA and Washington Adventist Hospital to collaborate 5. Article: Hospitals hurt by slumping economy put off projects 6. Article: The science of hand washing to ward off cold, flu bugs 7. Article: Drop pounds with all-day activities, not exercise 8. Article: President Obama dumps Dybul at AIDS office 9. Article: Alice Rivlin says that economists are too optimistic 10. Commentary: Privacy issue complicates push to link medical data 11. Commentary: DC leaders hope for voting rights 12. Update: WHC's FREE seminars on living well with cancer Click here for > EVENTS / JOB POSTINGS / RESOURCES (also listed below) The District of Columbia Primary Care Association is a nonprofit health care reform organization founded in 1998 to improve the health of DC's vulnerable residents by ensuring that they receive high quality primary health care -- regardless of their ability to pay. The Daily Local Health Alert is prepared to share with colleagues news about health reform efforts, DC politics, local events, jobs, and resources. The summaries are provided for your information only and do not necessarily reflect the views of DCPCA. Hold down the "Ctrl" key and left click on titles to read full articles. Click to: Unsubscribe, Join DCPCA, or Donate to DCPCA. 1. Article: Capital Offense Summary: In the District, African American women account for 90% of new HIV-infected females. Too many black women in DC are still getting sick. In interviews with local officials, health care professionals, community advocates, and national experts, there's consensus that DC's epidemic is rooted in a variety of complex, interlinking factors ranging from drug abuse, lack of comprehensive HIV education, and economics. Underscoring it all is the way the District leadership responded to the crisis over the years: inadequately, slowly, and without a master plan. The District is facing a unique set of circumstances -- a collision of social and political factors that lead to disaster. Women are aware that HIV is an issue, but they don't have a sense that it could impact them -- so they sometimes choose not to use condoms during sex. In DC, lines that delineate African American social networks from others -- class, social standing, geography, lifestyle -- are blurred. Here in "Chocolate City," folks from all walks of life easily meet, mix, and mingle. DC also has a high population of late testers -- those who learn of their HIV status within a year of contracting full-blown AIDS. Without knowing their status, many late testers spread the virus for decades. A report by the DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice found that in 2006 more than half of DOH's $1.3 million budget was spent on 80,000 rapid oral swab tests -- some of which expired before they were used. And then thousands of free condoms were returned to DOH after community groups complained that the flimsy packaging was getting damaged in purses and pockets and clients refused to use them. Appleseed would like to see Mayor Adrian Fenty speak out about the issue and help lessen the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. Family and Medical Counseling Service moderates weekly two-hour meetings for women with HIV/AIDS. 2. Article: Mentally Ill Will Be Shifted to Private Clinics Summary: The Fenty administration will close the agency that serves the mentally disabled in March 2010 -- sending 4,000 clients for treatment at private clinics and nearly 300 public mental health employees in search of jobs. DMH officials said the Implementation Plan for the Transition and Closure of the District of Columbia Community Services Agency will save $11-14 million and end most managed mental health care. Union officials said the plan will disrupt the care of some of the District's most vulnerable residents and send them to agencies not equipped to provide appropriate care. DMH officials said that it serves nearly 14,000 clients overall, more than half through private agencies. The District will monitor the private care facilities for the 3,600 adults and 450 children being transferred. Starting in March, DC officials plan to hold fairs to introduce CSA clients to private providers. By August, they hope to place 2,500 people with 24 corporate and nonprofit clinics. The private agencies said they would need more money to accommodate additional patients. Nine of the 24 private agencies that responded to a DMH survey to determine their resources said they also would need more space, and some proposed using government facilities. The department proposed paying the agencies $6.5M over 12 months to augment their services -- nearly $4M in FY09 and the rest the next year. The report angered union officials who represent CSA workers. For more info, read: Report to the Council of the District of Columbia on the DC Community Services Agency. 3. Article: Troubled Hospital in Southeast Improves, Regains Accreditation Summary: After a near-death experience, months of intensive care, and an extreme makeover, the United Medical Center (formerly Greater Southeast Community Hospital) is up and running again and regained a steady pulse. The hospital got its accreditation back. The Joint Commission, a group that accredits health care organizations, confirmed that the hospital earned accreditation slightly more than a year after losing it in December 2007. Last month, the hospital passed a surprise inspection and UMC's accreditation became effective Jan. 14, a week before the hospital was notified. Specialty Hospitals of America renamed the hospital and with the District's help invested $30 million in improvements and renovations. Damaged and waterlogged top-level floors were refurbished. Broken radiology equipment was replaced, and the facility was no longer on the verge of running out of food for patients. The Joint Commission awards accreditation based on a hospital's performance in specific areas to assure that patients are cared for in a safe environment. It studies infection prevention and control, life safety, medication management, record of care and treatment, and whether the rights of patients are observed. Also read: District hospital regains accreditation by Teddy Kahn, The Examiner, January 23, 2009; and United Medical Center gets reaccredited by Tierney Plumb, Washington Business Journal, Thursday, January 22, 2009. 4. Article: FDA and Washington Adventist Hospital to collaborate Summary: The FDA and Washington Adventist Hospital, which is planning to move into the agency's neck of the woods in a few years, announced an initiative to collaborate on medical and scientific issues. The FDA, which employs 500 medical officers, will get access to the Montgomery County hospital's medical technologies and environments in clinical, emergency room, and direct patient service areas. Rockville-based Adventist HealthCare System, which runs the 292-bed hospital in Takoma Park, is planning to move the hospital to an improved and more accessible 48-acre campus off Plum Orchard Drive near Cherry Hill Road and Route 29. The two groups will begin working together now and expect collaboration to grow after the new hospital opens, which could happen by 2013. Current opportunities include: training and exchange of medical professionals and staff by the two organizations; clinical research collaboration; sharing facilities and equipment for increased cost efficiencies for scientific research; and identifying and eliminating health disparities. Washington Adventist Hospital got unanimous approval of its site plan last month from Montgomery County and will send a Letter of Intent to the state in early February. A more comprehensive Certificate of Need, asking for permission to relocate to the White Oak/Calverton area of Montgomery County, will be filed with the state in April. Also read: Montgomery County: Adventist Hospital, FDA Ink Partnership Deal by Lori Aratani, The Washington Post, Maryland Briefing, Friday, January 23, 2009 (scroll down). 5. Article: Hospitals hurt by slumping economy put off projects Summary: Many hospitals are delaying expansion plans, putting new equipment purchases on hold and freezing hiring, blaming an ongoing credit crunch, tattered investment portfolios, and more patients who are putting off some treatments. As a result of the economic crunch, 45% of hospitals postponed upcoming improvement projects and 13% halted expansions already underway, a survey of 639 hospitals finds. Among hard-hit projects: Expanding medical wards, buying new diagnostic equipment, and boosting staff or technology in emergency departments. Hospitals are taking action by postponing construction, cutting staff, or imposing hiring freezes. As hospitals struggle with tougher credit, they face two other problems: Patient visits were flat or declined in the third quarter of last year, and hospitals saw an 8% jump in unpaid bills. With all the layoffs and the economy slowing down, many people are postponing anything even remotely elective, such as colonoscopies and joint replacements. People are losing their jobs, so they're losing their insurance. The downside is that struggling hospitals in underserved areas may close, creating a further divide between the haves and the have-nots. 6. Article: The science of hand washing to ward off cold, flu bugs Summary: There's one cheap, easy, clinically proven way to avoid catching a cold or the flu: Wash your hands. Scrub vigorously with water and soap until lather appears, making sure to get between your fingers and fingernails. Use a nail brush if you have one. Briskly dry with a towel. Do it often and you'll stay a lot healthier -- 24% less like to get a respiratory illness and 45% to 50% less likely to get a stomach bug. Hand washing has a huge health impact. Water isn't the most important part, it's the friction and duration. You really need to scrub vigorously for about 20 seconds. Eighty percent of infections are transported by touch, so hand washing is the No. 1 thing you can to do prevent infection. Take a hand-washing break. Any time you're touching something that other people frequently touch, wash your hands. According to a 2007 survey, 92% of Americans say they always wash after using a public restroom. When researchers actually watched, it turned out only 83% did. When people wash their hands, only 33% use soap and only 16% adequately wash. The average hand-washing time was 11 seconds. Alcohol hand gels aren't as effective as soap and water, but they're better than nothing. Soap and water help dislodge dirt, bacteria, and viruses so they can go down the drain. With gels, the bacteria has nowhere to go. There's little evidence that antibacterial soap is any more effective. 7. Article: Q&A: How to drop pounds with all-day activities, not exercise Summary: Many overweight people in the U.S. have "sitting disease" and would lose weight if they did more walking, standing, and moving around during the day. Endocrinologist James Levine of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is talking about increasing your NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis, which accounts for much of your movement and therefore caloric expenditure throughout the day. These are activities such as walking to lunch, pacing while on the phone, cleaning the house, cooking, climbing stairs, standing while you talk to a friend, and folding laundry. It doesn't include the calories you burn during intense exercise: jogging, aerobics, or power walking. NEAT is a crucial part of people's total caloric expenditure, but it has been leeched out of people's lives, robbing them of using 1,500 to 2,400 calories a day and contributing to excess weight and obesity. Levine has written a new book, Move a Little, Lose a Lot, with Selene Yeager to help people find new ways to move more and lose weight. 8. Article: Obama dumps Dybul at AIDS office: sources Summary: President Barack Obama decided to remove Mark Dybul from his position as the coordinator of the U.S. Global AIDS office. Sources claim that Obama's senior advisers were concerned about the negative reaction from some AIDS activists and reproductive rights groups to news that Dybul would be staying on. The development comes just a week after Dybul reportedly was asked to rescind his resignation and stay in his job. Dybul was appointed by former President George Bush. In his role as Global AIDS Coordinator, Dybul, a physician, has been in charge of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -- a multi-billion dollar program to fight AIDS in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. The program enjoys widespread bipartisan support and is considered one of Bush's most successful initiatives. A number of AIDS and reproductive rights groups urged Obama to replace Dybul with someone the groups see as more likely to change the Bush administration' 9. Article: Alice Rivlin: Economists are too optimistic Summary: Alice Rivlin was Federal Reserve Board vice chairwoman, head of the Office of Management and Budget, and founded the Congressional Budget Office. Rivlin told an audience at a luncheon that it's obvious the economy in a serious recession, and took a stab at answering the questions on everyone's minds: How deep? How long? When will we get out of this? The only honest answer is: We don't know. Rivlin thought forecasters who work for giant banks and companies, who coalesced around the idea of a recovery sometime in the second half of 2009, are too optimistic. The professional forecasters are actually not all that gloomy. CBO forecasts a slow recovery beginning late in 2009, with 1.5% gross domestic product growth in 2010, and an unemployment rate that would rise above 9% in 2010. Rivlin is skeptical that even that forecast is gloomy enough. All the models forecasters use look at how the recessions and recoveries in 1975, 1980-81, 1991, and 2001 unfolded. But that's not very relevant. In none of them was the basic problem a meltdown of the financial sector. She predicted this'll be the most severe recession in 64 years, and that it could go on for several years. Banks, companies, and households took on too much debt. We cannot return to the bubble economy. People will be shocked into saving more. If your business is retail, then that isn't very good news. The de-leveraging has begun, and is taking a lot of the economy with it. 10. Commentary: Privacy Issue Complicates Push to Link Medical Data Summary: President Barack Obama's plan to link up doctors and hospitals with new information technology is imperiled by a bitter, seemingly intractable dispute over how to protect the privacy of electronic medical records. Lawmakers, caught in a crossfire of lobbying by the health care industry and consumer groups, are unable to agree on privacy safeguards that would allow patients to control the use of their medical records. Congressional leaders plan to provide $20 billion for such technology in an economic stimulus bill whose cost could top $825 billion. According to Obama, digital medical records could prevent medical errors, save lives, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. So far, the only jobs created have been for a small army of lobbyists trying to secure money for health information technology. Doctors, hospitals, drugstores, and insurance companies would be much more efficient if they could exchange data instantaneously through electronic health information networks. Consumer groups and some members of Congress insist that the new spending must be accompanied by stronger privacy protections in an era when digital data can be sent around the world or posted on the Web with the click of a mouse. 11. Commentary: D.C. leaders hope for voting rights Summary: A subcommittee of the 111th Congress convenes for a hearing on legislation that would give the District full voting representation in the House of Representatives. Mayor Adrian Fenty thinks that President Barack Obama is fully committed to full congressional representation for DC residents. The president isn't only a supporter of the District's voting rights efforts, but is also vocal about his commitment to ensuring District representation in Congress, Fenty said. The president gave the District his support and commitment, and Fenty is confident his administration will work fast to achieve this goal. As a U.S. senator, Obama was a co-sponsor of the DC voting-rights measure that was introduced last session to grant the District's nonvoting delegate full representation, including voting privileges on the floor of the House. Non-voting Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) reintroduced the DC House Voting Rights Act on Jan. 6, but Obama is reluctant to push quickly on the issue if it encounters Republican opposition. Supporters made the push for voting rights an integral part of the inaugural festivities by posting thousands of DC statehood signs across the District and by mounting an electronic message board outside the Wilson Building -- a few blocks from the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route where TV cameras and passers-by would see it. 12. Update: The Journey through Cancer: Charting a Healthy Course Summary: Cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers alike are invited to attend Washington Hospital Center's 2009 series of three, free seminars on The Journey through Cancer: Charting a Healthy Course. The series kicks-off on Saturday, January 31, 2009 with subsequent seminars on Saturday, February 28, and Saturday, March 28. Validated parking is free in the Blue Parking Garage next door to NRH. The first seminar -- Saturday, January 31 -- focuses on how a diagnosis of cancer changes other aspects of your life and how to manage them. Key topics include understanding your rights; taking care of your emotional, spiritual, and physical health; and when and where to turn for help. Presenters include: attorney Patricia Smith, and social worker Karen Johnson. The seminar will take place in the National Rehabilitation Hospital auditorium on the Hospital Center's Campus, 102 Irving Street NW, on Saturday, January 31, 2009, 8:30 - 11:30 am. Register online or contact Lorna DeLancy at (202) 877-3915. Click on > EVENTS < for details: 1. Event: Public Oversight Roundtable on Whitman-Walker Clinic, January 28th, 2 pm 3. Event: Health Action 2009, January 29th - 31st 4. Event: Pain and Sleep, A Scientific and Clinical Conference, March 1st - 2nd |
Click on> JOB POSTINGS < for details:
1. Job: Intern, Adolescent Wellness Initiative, DCPCA
The AWI intern's work will support DCPCA's efforts to educate DC teens on wellness and social justice issues and build a robust program to improve health literacy and community engagement among DC youth. AWI works directly with DC youth age 14-21 providing holistic wellness education that connects the dots between prevention of HIV/AIDS, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy; and the reinforcement of positive goals and pursuits, including health, safety, education, community, career development, opportunity, entrepreneurship, entertainment, and creativity. Our "well life" prevention strategies address the root causes of obesity, chronic disease, and health disparities in DC by empowering youth on health, economic, legal, and community issues through positive education and individual goal development. The AWI intern can choose to focus in on any of these wellness areas according to interest and educational background to satisfy academic requirements, if necessary. [Posted December 8]
2. Job: Bilingual Community Health Workers, DCPCA
Spanish speaking-bilingual workers needed for Community Health Workers. For more info, or for consideration, send resume and cover letter to Ms. Ivy Mosley, Administrative Services Manager, or fax to (202) 638-4557. [Updated November 13]
3. Job: Montgomery Cares Program Administrator Manager II, Montgomery County Government, DHHS [Posted January 22]
4. Job: Executive Director, Our Place, DC [Posted January 22]
5. Job: Medical Director, Community of Hope [Posted January 16]
6. Job: Family Practitioner, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care [Posted January 16]
7. Job: Family Practitioner, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care [Posted January 16]
8. Job: Internist, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care [Posted January 16]
9. Job: Director of Grants & Contracts Administration (full-time) Bilingual, La Clínica del Pueblo [Posted January 14]
10. Job: Early Childhood Education/Child Care Organizer (full-ime), Empower DC [Posted January 14]
11. Job: Development Associate, DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy [Posted January 12]
12. Job: Accounting Clerk (part-time), Regional Addiction Prevention, Inc. [Posted January 12]
13. Job: Bilingual HIV Case Manager (full-time), La Clínica del Pueblo [Posted January 9]
14. Job: Various Positions, Unity Health Care, Inc. [Posted January 9]
15. Job: Physician Assistant (full-time), Regional Addiction Prevention, Inc. [Posted January 7]
16. Job: Volunteer as a Tax Preparer or Savings Promoter, DC Earned Income Tax Credit Campaign [Posted January 7]
17. Job: Family Practitioner, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care [Posted January 7]
18. Job: Family Practitioner, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care [Posted January 7]
Click on > RESOURCES < for details:
1. Resource: FREE Program for DC Youth with Epilepsy
The Epilepsy Foundation Metropolitan Washington's Youth in Transition program is FREE for DC youth with epilepsy, ages 12-17. This program will enable youth to acquire the tools to transition to adulthood, pursue education and career goals, learn how to live with epilepsy, manage their health care, and become self-advocates. To enroll in the Youth in Transition program, contact Melissa Stallings at (301) 918-2121.
2. Resource: MEE Recruiting Participants for Paid Mental Wellness Focus Groups
MEE is working on a new research project that concerns the health of the black community. DC is one of three locations where MEE is conducting focus groups. Focus group research will help develop messages to promote mental wellness in the community. MEE is looking for the following groups of participants: African American females (ages 20-22); African American males (ages 20-22); African American mothers (ages 35+) of sons (ages 14-17); and Service providers who work with African American adolescents and young adults. All participants should live in the 20003 and 20019 ZIP codes. Service providers can live outside of 20003 and 20019, but must work with clients living in those ZIP codes. Stipend amount is $75 for participants who arrive on time to complete the 2-hour focus group. Focus group dates and times: Service providers who work with African American adolescents and young adults, Thursday, January 22nd, 12 - 2 pm; African American mothers (ages 35+) who have sons (ages 14-17), Thursday, January 22nd, 6 - 8 pm; African American females (ages 20-22), Friday, January 23rd, 4 - 6 pm; and African American males (ages 20-22), Friday, January 23rd, 7 - 9 pm. All potential participants MUST: Be referred through a community-based organization (service providers may refer themselves); and Be prescreened by MEE to determine whether they're eligible to participate in the group. If you work at a community organization and you have clients or members who may be interested in participating in any of these groups, contact Aasha Cameron at 1-877-MEE-PROD (633-7763) or at (215) 829-4920. She'll ask you to provide her with a list with the name, age, phone number, and ZIP code of interested participants. For more info, contact Aasha Cameron or Cynthia Platts at (877) 633-7763 or (215) 829-4920, or by fax at (215) 829-4903.
3. Resource: Grant Opportunity for HIV Prevention Programs
4. Resource: Yes We Can -- Remember and Renew Our Dreams, DCPCA, DC Primary Care Reformer (Vol. 3, No. 3), January 7, 2009
5. Resource: Spanish Language Health Care Discussion Guides
6. Resource: Change.gov
7. Resource: Title X Family Planning Project Funding Opportunity for Health Centers
8. Resource: The Compendium of Physical Activities Tracking Guide
9. Resource: From Volume to Value: Transforming Health Care Payment and Delivery Systems
10. Resource: Maternal and Child Health Post-Graduate Leadership Academy
11. Resource: New Books on Mental Health
12. Resource: Excess Office Furnishings and Supplies
13. Resource: Center for Health & Wellness
14. Resource: "Management Learning Experiences of CEOs"
15. Resource: Politically Appointed Jobs with the New Administration
16. Resource: Contest: "What Does It Mean to Be a Washingtonian?
17. Resource: DC Included in Federal Loan Repayment Program
18. Resource: DC Office of Partnerships and Grants Development'
19. Resource: DC Council's Bi-Weekly Calendar (January 19 - 30, 2009). For updates, call the 24-hour info-line: (202) 724-8554.
DCPCA's Member Directory includes: Community Health Center and Organizational members.
MEMBERSHIP: Join us leading the health care future of the District. DCPCA members provide leadership, hard work, and savvy for improving the health care system for vulnerable DC residents. For more info, contact Audrey Kudler at (202) 638-0252 (ext. 246).
E-BRIEFINGS: The circulation for DCPCA's Daily Local Health Alert is 4,896 recipients. To unsubsribe, send an e-mail to dha@dcpca.org. Our quarterly electronic newsletter, the DC Primary Care Reformer, is designed to cover in-depth DCPCA news. To subscribe to the Alert or Reformer, contact Karen A. Szulgit.
SUBMIT A POST: Send a brief summary (100 words or less) to dha@dcpca.org. Include links for fliers and/or your organization. If you don't have a Web site or immediate posting capabilities, send an attachment. In the subject line, write DLHA POST and the event's DATE.
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Everyone Cared For.
Anyone Can Help.
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Lauren Spiro
Director of Public Policy
National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations
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V: 877-246-9058
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