National Drug-Free Work Week

Did You Know? October 19-23 is National Drug-Free Work Week. This is a week sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, dedicated time each year to highlight the benefits that drug-free workplace programs bring to employers, workers and communities. It’s also a time to work toward making every week a drug-free work week!

According to recent research, it’s a message that many workers need to hear.

• 75 percent of the nation’s current illegal drug users are employed—and 3.1 percent say they have actually used illegal drugs before or during work hours.
• 79 percent of the nation’s heavy alcohol users are employed—and 7.1 percent say they have actually consumed alcohol during the workday.

For more information, visit the DOL's Drug-Free Work Week website.

OPA Convention

October 21-23 is the Ohio Psychological Association's 60th Convention! For more information, please visit their convention website. The convention will be held at Quest Conference Centers in Polaris (north of Columbus, OH). There are numerous presentations on social responsibility and social justice issues throughout the conference -- please browse the presentations and consider attending!

October 1st: International Day of Older Persons

Today is the 19th Annual Celebration of the International Day of Older Persons. This special day recognizes the contributions of older persons and draws continued attention to the issues of global aging.

This year also marks the tenth anniversary of the International Year ofOlder Persons. The theme - "Towards a Society for All Ages" - continues to guide nations in creating communities for both young and old. In his message for the International Day of Older Persons, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon noted that this motto emphasizes the need to treat older persons as both agents and beneficiaries of development. This emphasis on the positive contributions of older persons -- and theUnited Nations Principles for Older Persons -- take on even greater importance as the world struggles to confront global food, energy, climate, financial and economic crises. Secretary Ban Ki Moon also urged nations to end age discrimination, abuse, neglect and violence against older persons. The 19th Annual Commemoration of the International Day of Older Persons "Aging Activism: A Global Tool to Create a Society for All Ages" will be held on October 8, 2009, United Nations Headquarters, New York.

For more information about this year's celebration of the International Day of Older Persons, go to http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/un_meetings.html.

Recovery Month 2009

Did You Know? September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. More than 23 million people aged 12 or older needed treatment for a substance use disorder in the United States in 2007, and in Ohio alone, over 900 thousand individuals over the age of 12 per month report dependency and/or addiction to alcohol or illicit drugs. Many people do not understand that addiction is a treatable disease, and this misconception can keep people from getting help. In 2007, as many as 20.8 million people nationwide needed but did not receive treatment at a specialty facility. For more information, please visit the National Recovery Month 2009 website.

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.