Healthy People 2020 Public Comment Site Up and Working November 6, 2009
http://www.healthypeople.gov/hp2020/comments
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services invites you to comment on the DRAFT set of objectives for Healthy People 2020. For three decades, Healthy People has provided a set of national 10-year health promotion and disease prevention objectives aimed at improving the health of all Americans. [Healthy People Listserv http://www.healthypeople.gov/Contact/ ]
Photo Database Free to Nonprofits for Educational Use November 4, 2009
Phtographs and illunstrations are very important in understanding information. “K4Health Photoshare http://www.photoshare.org/ is a leading editorial photography collection showcasing international health programs in action and the people they serve. Developed exclusively for nonprofit educational use, Photoshare’s collection of over 17,000 images are available upon request and free-of-charge.“
…as seen on BHIC blog today.
New Features on MedlinePlus November 2, 2009
The following comes from Naomi Miller; Manager, Consumer Health Information
National Library of Medicine.
“Today, MedlinePlus released a new version of the A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.htmlthat includes approximately 400 new Patient Instruction pages, covering pre-operative information and instructions, discharge instructions, self-care instructions, and questions to ask your doctor.
The Patient Instruction pages are available in both English and Spanish, and you will be able to find them in the MedlinePlus search engine and A-Z index pages for the encyclopedia. Additionally, you will see links to related Patient Instructions in the side-bar of many encyclopedia articles. Hope you find them useful. Naomi
Newly Revised Health Literacy Special Collection October 30, 2009
Through a posting this morning, Julie McKinney, the Health Literacy List Moderator, announced “…I am excited to announce that the Health Literacy Special Collection has been completely updated and expanded and is now up online with an expanded focus and collection of resources for people doing any kind of health literacy work.
This revised collection has more curricula, easy-to-read and multilingual health information, along with links to research sources, but it also has information on collaborations between health and literacy agencies, professional development and tranining opportunities, plain language resources and more.
I hope that you can all use this as a springboard to resources that will help you in your helath literacy efforts, whatever they may be.
The Health LIteracy Special Collection
www.healthliteracy.worlded.org/”
Julie McKinney; Health Literacy List Moderator; World Education
Public Comments Invited on the Proposed Healthy People 2020 Objectives October 30, 2009
Public Comments Invited on the Proposed Healthy People 2020 Objectives
http://www.healthypeople.gov/hp2020/Objectives/TopicAreas.aspx
The Healthy People 2020 objectives that were reviewed by the Federal Interagency Work Group are posted online for public comment.
2010 Health Literacy Summer Institute in Maine October 26, 2009
The 2010 Summer Institute will be held June 6-9 in Freeport, Maine
http://www.healthliteracyinstitute.net/
This invitation comes from the Institute …
Hello colleagues,
…, let me invite you to the 2010 Health Literacy Summer Institute in Maine.
This is the premier opportunity to learn plain language skills to plan, write, and design effective, accessible information for print and web. This Institute has been sponsored by the University of New England in Maine for 18 years.
See: www.HealthLiteracyInstitute.net
The 2010 Summer Institute will be held June 6-9 in Freeport, Maine, home of LL Bean, and just 20 minutes from Portland. The area offers wonderful venues to explore, both indoors and outdoors.
Good news for hard times: Institute cost stays at 2006 price!
All details and registration information are at this website: www.HealthLiteracyInstitute.net
The Institute is limited to 30 participants, so register early to hold your place.
For More Information: Contact the Institute Director, Sue Stableford, MPH, MSB at: sstableford@une.edu
Please share this announcement with colleagues. Thank you.
Sue Stableford, MPH, MSB, Director
Health Literacy Institute
Center for Health Policy, Planning & Research University of New England
716 Stevens Ave.
Portland, Maine 04103
Tel: 207-221-4567
email: sstableford@une.edu
fax: 207-523-1914
www.HealthLiteracyInstitute.net
Do You Have H1N1 Flu??? October 23, 2009
Two interactive websites have been created to assess your symptoms to determine if you may have the flu They are not to diagnosis — rather they use algorithms to determine if you need to see a doctor for your symptoms. Some have said the Emory site is easier to use. Check them out!
The first site is located at Flu.gov. The self-evaluation has been posted to flu.gov at http://www.flu.gov/evaluation/. This assessment tool is designated for people 18 years and older.
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Information on the second site was posted with the following – ” Please use and share this information from the National Institute for Literacy; Health and Literacy mailing list HealthLiteracy@nifl.gov
Using the Web to Diagnose Swine Flu
“Are you wondering whether you or your kid is sick enough to see a
doctor to get treated for swine flu? Microsoft Corp., working with
doctors at Emory University, announced the availability of
an interactive web site [at https://h1n1.cloudapp.net/Default.aspx ] to help.
If you click on that link, you’ll see it asks for your age and a
series of questions about whether you or your child is suffering from
a fever or other symptoms or has any other health problems. It can
only be used for kids age 12 and older.
It may tell you that it is indeed swine flu, known officially as the 2009
H1N1 virus, but that all you need to do is rest and get plenty of
fluids. Or it may say you should seek immediate medical attention
because “you may be very sick.”
The site, which has been endorsed by the American College of Emergency
Medicine, is part of a broader effort to minimize the number of people
who are running to the doctor or the local emergency room because they
are worried about swine flu. Officials are worried that the health
system could get overwhelmed if that happens. Most people who get the
virus will suffer relatively mild symptoms and recover without needing
to see a doctor. But there are some people who are at risk, such as
pregnant women and people with other health problems, such as asthma, diabetes and obesity.”
More about the site:
The site (survey questions and information on what to do if you have
flu-like illness) was adopted by Microsoft and is being offered to the
public at no cost. Emory provided the content to populate the site at
no charge, and will collect no licensing fee. Micosoft’s site has “gone live”
at www.H1N1ResponseCenter.com.
Staff at Emory will continue to work closely with the CDC (where they
have posted the adult version of the algorithm developed at Emory to
help clinicians and call centers assess cases of H1N1). The CDC
content for call centers can be found at the following location:
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/clinicians/pdf/adultalgorithm.pdf.
A web site based on the Emory algorithm has been deployed by the V.A.
health system, and is posted at www.publichealth.va.gov/h1n1flu The
VA engaged an internal team to translate the recommendations of our
algorithm. It is technically accurate, but not as health literate as
the version we worked to create.
Also, for the past 2 weeks, Emory staff worked closely with officials
at HHS and the White House Office of New Media to create a federal
version of our web site. Now that CDC has adopted our algorithm as
its own, it is likely that HHS will post an interactive site for the
public at www.flu.gov. This could happen within the next few days.
Emory staff worked with members of professional societies, federal
agencies, clinicians…and importantly with patients and consumers to
develop “health literate” information. They hope this will help people
figure out what to do if they have flu like symptoms. They will
continue to work closely with HHS agencies and Microsoft to keep the
materials up to date and “health literate”.
A Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms October 23, 2009
“The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, launched the next generation of its online Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms. The glossary contains several new features, including more than 100 colorful illustrations and more than two dozen 3-D animations that allow the user to dive in and see genetic concepts in action at the cellular level. The updated glossary, announced at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), gives students, teachers and the public a reliable online resource for more than 200 terms and basic concepts behind today’s breakthroughs in genetics and genomics. The glossary is available at http://www.genome.gov/glossary [Read the complete NIH News Release online http://www.nih.gov/news/health/oct2009/nhgri-20.htm]“
Plain and Simple Readability Tools October 19, 2009
A variety of web-based readability tools have been collected on the Plain & Simple web site at http://www.idph.state.ia.us/health_literacy/readability.asp.
This information was provided by Don McCormick; “Plain & Simple” Health Literacy Coordinator; Iowa Dept. of Public Health; www.idph.state.ia.us/health_literacy
