INFORMATION RESOURCES
APHA Health Reform Update 
April 2013 Edition
The latest edition of APHA’s Health Reform Update focuses on efforts to educate and assist health care consumers, including the Navigator program. The newsletter also gives updates on prevention funding and highlights resources for public education and outreach.
New Family Health Management Tool
Downloadable App for Apple Devices
The HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion healthfinder.gov Mobile App Challenge winner is: myfamily . This app helps individuals manage their families’ health through prevention information personalized for each family member all in one simple planning tool. Users can:
- Access customized prevention information from healthfinder.gov
- Save relevant tips and tools for each member of the family
- Create personal health alerts and reminders
- Keep track of medical check-ups and vaccinations
Developed by Lyfechannel, myfamily was designed with user-input both online and in person. The free app is available in the Apple store and will be available for Android soon.
New MCH Epidemiology Resource
MCHB Listserv
Subscribe to this new Listserv to receive information on:
- MCHB Epidemiology and Statistics Program
- DataSpeak webinars
- MCHB news and events
- Upcoming and past publications and presentations
- Reminders about upcoming MCH epidemiology training
- Updates on national surveys and chart books
List members are invited to post preapproved announcements regarding MCH Epidemiology and Statistics Program updates, training opportunities, and other information relevant to the MCH Epidemiology community.
MCH Navigator New Features
MCHB Website Update
This portal to free online professional development resources has been updated with new content and features:
- Instructional postings on various topics such as facilitation skills, public health messaging, and place-based change strategies
- Spotlight on quality improvement resources
- Feature within the self-assessment section on MCH leadership competencies
- Sample strategies for using the Navigator for staff development in group settings
If you are an MCH professional interested in reviewing new materials and features, contact Meredith Morrissette or Holly Grason.
Federal Home Visiting Legislation and Its Implementation in Region X
Spring 2013 Northwest Bulletin
This issue provides an overview of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting legislation and its implementation in Region X, and is the first issue in a 2-part series focusing on the Affordable Care Act and its implications for Title V MCH programs. Contributors include Dr. David Willis, Director of the Division of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems, MCHB and Lorrie Grevstad, Region X Project Officer for the MIECHV program.
Enhanced National CLAS Standards in Health and Health Care
The enhanced National CLAS (Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services) Standards were released on April 24, 2013. Intended to advance health equity, improve quality, and help eliminate health care disparities, the enhanced standards have a broader reach with an enlarged definition of culture. They include geographical, religious and spiritual, and biological and sociological characteristics as well as an explicit definition of health that includes physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being. A guidance document for implementing each standard, A Blueprint for Advancing and Sustaining CLAS Policy and Practice, is available on the website, along with other resources. Over the summer, the Office of Minority Health will host a series of webinars focusing on the National CLAS Standards.
TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Chronic Coughing in Children Satellite Conference and Webcast
May 16, 2013
1:00pm – 3:00pm EDT
The Coughing and Kids: When It’s Not Just Asthma satellite conference and webcast, presented by the Alabama Department of Public Health, will discuss a common occurrence in the pediatric clinic: chronic, recurring cough. While asthma is often the cause, this cough can often signal a more serious, underlying health concern. Program faculty will outline various symptoms and discuss the process and diagnostic rationale in evaluating a chronic cough as well as maintenance strategies. The program will be presented by Wynton C. Hoover, MD, FAAP, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Pediatric Pulmonary Center, and Kristin Bradford whose child has chronic respiratory symptoms.
Download the Chronic Coughing Webcast Flyer
Mental Health: Healthy People 2020 Indicator Webinar
May 23, 2013
12:00pm – 12:45pm EDT
HealthyPeople.gov is conducting the webinar Who’s Leading the Leading Health Indicators? Mental Health, that will provide an overview of Mental Health as 1 of the 12 Leading Health Indicator (LHI) topics released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The event will also highlight one program’s success around suicide prevention in a Tribal community. The program will be presented by Don Wright, MD, MPH, Director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
Early Childhood Development Webinar
June 4, 2013
1:30pm – 4:00pm EDT
Early Childhood Development: Investing in Our Children and Our Future is the 19th National Health Equity Research Webcast. It will be broadcast with a live audience from the UNC School of Social Work. Presenters include:
- Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, BA
Director of the Office of Head Start - Portia R. Kennel, MSW
Senior Vice President of Program Innovation at the Ounce of Prevention and Executive Director of the Educare Learning Network - Sarah L. (Hicks) Kastelic, MSW, PhD
Deputy Director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association - Moderator: Khari M. Garvin, MEd
Director of the North Carolina Head Start State Collaboration Office
Social Determinants and Clinical Care Satellite Conference and Webcast
June 13, 2013
1:00pm – 2:30pm EDT
Reinventing MCH: Coordinating the Boundaries between Social Determinants and Clinical Care satellite conference and webcast, presented by the Alabama Department of Public Health, will discuss innovative approaches needed to address critical issues in MCH public health. Program faculty will discuss the role each public health professional can play in contributing to Life Course, a system change and social movement within MCH. The program will be presented by Mario Drummonds, MS, LCSW, MBA, from the Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership, Inc.
Download the Social Determinants and Clinical Care Webcast Flyer
Mentor Experiences
Webinar Archive
The Division of MCH Workforce Development initiated a new Trainee Webinar series aimed at providing current and recent MCH Training Program trainees with networking and professional development opportunities. Mentorship Experiences held on March 28, 2013, explored trainee perspectives on the following topics:
- How trainees connected with a mentor
- Benefits of the mentoring relationship
- Lessons learned (considerations for trainees seeking a mentor and for training programs connecting trainees with a mentor)
Presentations were provided by a panel of current and former trainees from MCHB-funded training programs, including Mahelet Kebede from Tulane University, Calae Philippe, MBBS, MPH from the University of Minnesota, and Shauna Acquavita, PhD, MSW from the University of Maryland.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
CDC – State Oral Disease Prevention Program
May 29, 2013
Assist state health departments to build and maintain effective public health capacity for implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of best practices in oral disease prevention and advancement of oral health objectives. Estimated program funding is $29,827,500.
Contact CDC PGO TIMS at 770-488-2700.
USAID – Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Project
June 7, 2013
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) seeks support for the introduction, scale-up and sustainability of high-impact reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health interventions in: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, and Zambia. Contact Agreement Officer Boryana Boncheva at 202-567-5036.
HRSA – MCH Workforce Development Centers
June 7, 2013
The purpose of the program is to support State Title V workforce development programs to meet MCH public health policy and programmatic imperatives in key topic areas:
- Access to care
- Quality improvement
- Systems integration
- Population health management
National training hubs based in institutions of higher education will coordinate training efforts to enhance the capacity of the MCH workforce. Estimated award ceiling is $460,000.
CDC – STD Prevention Program Capacity Enhancement
June 16, 2013
This opportunity provides funds for a national sexually transmitted disease (STD) membership organization to enhance the workforce and operational capacity of state, local and territorial STD programs. Estimated total program funding is $3.25 million.
Contact CDC PGO TIMS at 770-488-2700.
CDC – Youth Violence Training and Assistance
June 24, 2013
Develop and provide training and technical assistance to local health departments and their partners in 12 high-risk communities to address high rates of youth violence. Estimated program funding is $3.75 million.
Contact CDC PGO TIMS at 770-488-2700.
HRSA – MCH Measurement Research Network
July 1, 2013
The purpose of the MCH Measurement Research Network (MCH-MRN) is to support a forum that will create a national agenda for health measurement research by producing a compendium of measures of MCH and by identifying gaps in existing measures. The MCH-MRN will provide national leadership in enhancing and developing a set of culturally competent health measures. Goals of the research network include gathering interdisciplinary experts who represent the MCH lifespan, formulating a national research agenda for existing and needed health measurements, collaborating in the development, validation and implementation of new MCH health measures, and translating and applying these findings in the MCH world. The award ceiling is $300,000.
NIH – Aspects of Embryonic Development
July 5, 2013
Applications from institutions or organizations that propose to advance our knowledge in the area of the physics and mechanics of embryonic development are requested. Applicants must propose hypothesis-driven developmental research with the prospect of gaining new and critical information about tissue mechanics relevant to vertebrate development and understanding the basis for developmental disorders. Investigators are encouraged to explore approaches and concepts new to the area of developmental tissue mechanics, and use newly developed techniques superior to the ones currently used in the field.
NIH – Autism Spectrum Disorders Research
July 5, 2013 (R01)
July 16, 2013 (R03, R21)
Submit applications to support research designed to elucidate the etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and optimal means of service delivery in relation to autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Basic, clinical, and applied studies are encouraged. Three award mechanisms are available.
- Research Project Grants (R01)
- Small Grant Programs (R03)
- Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (R21)
RWJF – Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity
July 10, 2013
Healthy Eating Research: Building Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity is a national program of the RWJF that supports research on environmental and policy strategies to promote healthy eating among children to prevent childhood obesity, especially in at-risk populations. There are 2 award types. Approximately $1.4 million will be awarded.
RWJF – Health & Society Scholars
September 20, 2013
The program provides 2 years of support to postdoctoral scholars to build the research and leadership capacity to address population health determinants and contribute to policy change. Its goal is to improve health by training scholars to investigate the connections among, and develop, evaluate and disseminate knowledge, interventions, and policies that integrate and act on determinants to improve health. Up to 12 scholars will receive an annual stipend of $80,000.
NIH – Pediatric Suicide Prevention in Emergency Departments
October 8, 2013
This cooperative research project grant is aimed at developing and determining approaches to screening youth at risk for suicide to improve Emergency Department care. Applications should develop screening and risk stratification approaches that can be tested across many emergency department settings. Improved screening would inform intervention to target risk factors within high-risk groups. Estimated total program funding is $12 million.