Healthy Aging Month

September is Healthy Aging Month. The month, created by Educational Television Network over 15 years ago, is part of the Healthy Aging® Campaign, a national, ongoing health promotion designed to broaden awareness of the positive aspects of aging and to provide inspiration for adults, ages 50-plus, to improve their physical, mental, social and financial health. Having a positive attitude towards aging helps one age more healthy! For more information, please visit the Healthy Aging website.

Sept 6-12 is Suicide Prevention Week

September 6-12, 2009 is Suicide Prevention Week. In the United States, one person takes their own life every 16 minutes. Each suicide affects at least six other people, including family members, friends and treating professionals. Ohio ranks #29 among all the states in number of suicides. Risk factors include mental illness, substance abuse, previous suicide attempts, hopelessness, access to lethal means, recent loss of loved, ones, unemployment and vulnerability to self-harm (just a few examples). For more information, or to download the informational kit for National Suicide Prevention week, please visit the American Association of Suicidology website.

August 9-15th is National Health Center Week

Did You Know? August 9-15^th is National Health Center Week. This week is dedicated to recognizing the service and contributions of Community, Migrant, Homeless and Public Housing Health Centers in providing access to affordable, high quality, cost-effective health care to medically vulnerable and underserved people in the U.S.

This year's commemoration is especially important as the National Association of Community Health Center sets its sights on the goals of our ACCESS for All America plan to serve 30 million people by 2015. Community, Migrant, and Homeless Health Centers are partnerships of people, governments, and communities working to meet health needs. They constitute a vital safety net in the nation’s health delivery system that is meeting escalating health needs, reducing health disparities, and bringing doctors and health services into medically underserved areas. Today, this growing nationwide network of over 1,200 health centers serves more than 18 million people at 7,000 urban and rural communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For more information, please visit the National Health Center Week website at http://www.healthcenterweek.org/. For the list of Ohio observances, please visit this direct link.

APA 2009 Convention: Public Interest Program Highlights

Incarceration prevention, treatment, and parole; aging and health care reform; child maltreatment; children's literacy and learning; practice issues related to individuals with disabilities; psychosocial issues related to the end of life; ethnic minority training; ethnic minority research; HIV/AIDS and personality disorders; homelessness; therapeutic responses to sexual orientation; research and training funding; violence and ethnic minority youth; women's leadership training; and trafficking. These are just a few of the topics addressed by Public Interest related programming at APA's 2009 convention. Visit http://www.apa.org/convention09/program/pi-program.html for deta ils and highlights.

ASL Video Podcast

The National Network of ADA Centers announces new episodes on the Disability Law Lowdown website. The first video podcast series in American Sign Language bring a new level of service to the Deaf community by expanding traditional audio-only podcasts to include video that allows subscribers too see native Deaf speakers signing the show’s content. The podcasts deliver the latest in disability law information via American Sign Language, captioning, voice-over, and transcripts to maximize accessibility. Free subscriptions to the ASL podcasts are available to have shows automatically delivered to MP3 players. The ASL podcasts are also available on the Disability Law Lowdown website, where transcripts of the shows are simultaneously available. For the fastest viewing, go to www.youtube.com/disabilitylawlowdown .

Topics currently available include: Tax Incentives, Voting Rights, Ticket to Work, Housing, Your Rights with Law Enforcement, Workplace Accommodations, Your Legal Rights as a College Student, Legal Obligations of the Hospitality Industry, Requesting an Interpreter, and an Overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Disability Law Lowdown is provided by the Disability Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC), a national network of ten ADA Centers across the country, offering technical assistance and training in the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability-related laws. To reach the center that serves your area call 1-800-949-4232 v/tty. To subscribe, look for the ASL Disability Law Lowdown podcast on iTunes, or visit ASL.DisabilityLawLowdown.com.

Sources of Multilingual Health Information

RHIN
The Refugee Health Information Network (RHIN) is a national collaborative partnership managed by refugee health professionals whose objective is to provide quality multilingual, health information resources for those providing care to resettled refugees and asylees.

EthnoMed
University of Washington started with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation. It provides free access to patient education materials and information about numerous language and cultural groups.

Health Information Translations
This site, formed by three of the largest health care organizations in the state of Ohio, offers patient information in 17 languages, on topics such as disaster preparedness, surgeries, pregnancy, and various other subject areas.

National Network of Libraries of Medicine
This website includes links to an array of in-language materials and other resources.

Healthy Roads Media
This portal houses materials in 18 different languages in many formats, including print materials, audio, multimedia, web video, and mobile video (iPod).

24 Languages Project
This effort from the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library has audio recordings and brochures in English as well as -- you guessed it -- 24 other languages.

Language Services Resource Guide For Healthcare Providers
See page 74 for a list of sources for multilingual health information.

Medline Plus: Health Information in Multiple Languages

SPIRAL
Selected Patient Information Resources in Asian Languages

Hmong Health Website

The Diversity Health Institute Clearinghouse
The Diversity Health Institute Clearinghouse is a central access point for information on multicultural health in Australia and contains links to a range of translated health information. The Clearinghouse is funded by the NSW government but sources content from across Australia and internationally if the information is relevant to the Australian community.

New CDC Website for Youth Violence Statistics

Violent injury and death disproportionately affect adolescents and young adults in the United States. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among youth aged 10-24 years. Violence is also a major cause of nonfatal injuries among youth. However, it is possible to prevent violence and help our youth to live healthier and more fulfilling lives. Monitoring and tracking trends in youth violence across the United States provides critical data to help prevent youth violence.

CDC's new website provides national and state-specific statistics on youth homicide and non-fatal assault-related injury rates. These data can help public health officials, researchers, practitioners and the public to describe and monitor youth violence trends and to develop and evaluate prevention programs and strategies. Together we can create communities in which youth are safe from violence.

To view the new Youth Violence Statistics website, click here.

June 15-21: Men's Health Week

Did You Know? June 15-21, 2009 is Men's Health Week.The purpose of Men's Health Week is to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys. This week gives health care providers, public policy makers, the media, and individuals an opportunity to encourage men and boys to seek regular medical advice and early treatment for disease and injury. For more information, please visit the Men's Health Week website.

June 7-13 is National Headache Awareness Week

During National Headache Awareness Week (June 7-13, 2009), the National Headache Foundation (NHF) is launching “Headache U: It’s all about YOU,” the first headache education program of its kind designed to help people with headache take important steps toward getting relief. Each year, 90% of all men and 95% of all women have at least one headache . Despite many people having frequent and sometimes severe headaches that affect their family, social and work life, most do not actively seek relief from their condition .

Four simple strategies can get sufferers on the right course to relief:

- Realize that headaches matter, and take your headaches seriously;
- Learn all you can – be a student of your own headaches;
- Pay more attention to your personal headache patterns – track your headaches, and try to find clues to triggers and solutions;
- Take control and get the help and care you deserve: many resources are available.

For more information, please visit the National Headache Awareness Week website or go direct to the "Headache U" website.

Did You Know? June is Aphasia Awareness Month

June is National Aphasia Awareness Month. Aphasia is a communication disorder that impacts an individual's ability to process language, and affects approximately one in 250 people in the United States. Although aphasia most commonly affects older adults, it can occur in individuals of all ages, ethnicities and gender. Individuals with aphasia may struggle with depression secondary to the difficulty communicating thoughts and feelings, and the treatment of depression allows the individual to cope with the aphasia and focus on recovery. For more information about aphasia, please visit the National Aphasia Association.