APHA Meetings Blog

Learning from the lessons of history

2011-11-02T17:34:00.015-04:00

Just this past weekend, six workers were killed in a grain elevator explosion in Atchison, Kansas. Four of them were younger than 25 years old. It was a sad reminder of why we need strong workplace health and safety standards, said David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, during today’s Closing General Session, which focused on “The case for workplace health and safety: 100 years after the Triangle Fire.”

Hundreds of the 13,000 attendees at this year’s Annual Meeting packed into a convention center room to hear about the progress we’ve made so far and the very real — and sometimes successful — attempts to roll back workplace safety standards happening today. But let’s start with the inspiration for this year’s closing session and the deadliest industrial disaster in New York City’s history: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.

One hundred years ago, 146 people died — 125 of them young women — when a fire broke out at the garment factory, which was located on the eighth, ninth and 10th floors of a building. The workers ran toward the exit, but it was locked. Many workers jumped from the windows of the factory; some so that their parents would have something to bury. When police found the women’s bodies, they noticed their nails had torn off, as they had tried to claw their way out. During their funerals, 100,000 workers marched through the streets demanding change. The outrage eventually led to sweeping reforms, such as the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act, minimum wage requirements and the elimination of sweatshops.

Fast forward to today and there’s much to celebrate, Michaels told attendees. Since the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the rate of fatal workplace injuries has declined dramatically. The agency conducts about 40,000 inspections a year and offers a variety of health promotion tools and campaigns, such as a smartphone app in English and Spanish that tells workers how to work safely in dangerous temperatures.

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news, Michaels noted. Twelve workers die in the United States every day from workplace injuries and as many as 50,000 workers die from illnesses in which workplace exposures were a contributing factor. And the current anti-regulatory political climate is hardly a friendly place for making more inroads, especially when the popular mantra is that regulations are job killers. Of course, the data shows otherwise, as safe workplaces promote productivity and decrease time away from the job.

“OSHA standards don’t kill jobs; they stop jobs from killing workers,” Michaels said to loud applause.

Outside our borders, shameful working standards are making it even harder to maintain current U.S. standards and continue moving forward. That’s why we all have to join forces — worldwide — for workers’ rights and safety, said closing session speaker Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers. Before beginning his address, Gerard showed film footage similar to that of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Except this footage happened just last year in a garment factory in Bangladesh, where a fire broke out and the exits were locked. Dozens were killed or injured; again, some jumped to their deaths. The factory produced popular brand-name clothing sold here in the United States; its workers paid hardly enough to live on. That’s why there’s a responsibility on all of us to internationalize the workplace standards we enjoy here at home, Gerard said, noting that we can’t allow “globalization and rotten trade deals to cause health and safety regression anywhere in the world.”

“If we don’t do it, our kids and our grandkids will have a lesser quality of life,” Gerard said. “Worst of all, we’ll be allowing workers in other countries to get killed while we stand silent.”

Worker safety is an issue “we need collective action on,” said session speaker Darryl Alexander, director of health and safety for the American Federation of Teachers. Currently, Alexander said, we’re seeing working conditions deteriorating like never before — today, workers are being sent the message that “hazards and exposures…are just part of the job.” In fact, many of today’s workplace injuries simply go unidentified. But with your help, she urged session attendees, we can make a difference.

“From a public health perspective, (work is) probably the most important social determinant for health that there is,” Alexander said.

Well, dear readers, it’s been another energizing APHA Annual Meeting — this blogger feels refreshed and ready to speak up in support of public health. As new APHA President Mel Shipp said at the closing session: “This coming year will be important — no, critical — for public health.”

See you next year at APHA’s 140th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, where the theme will be “Prevention and Wellness Across the Lifespan.” And don’t forget about APHA’s 2012 Midyear Meeting in Charlotte, N.C., which has a theme of “The New Public Health: Rewiring for the future.”

— K.K

Above, from left to right, Closing General Session speakers David Michaels, Leo Gerard, outgoing APHA President Linda Rae Murray and Darryl Alexander. Photo courtesy Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

A world of possibilities

2011-11-02T14:16:00.004-04:00

We can begin to end the AIDS epidemic now.

If there’s one message we should take to Congress and to other government leaders contemplating cuts to global health programs, it’s that.

Chris Collins, vice president and director of public policy for amfAR, told Annual Meeting attendees that the state of global health hangs in the balance with the current budget crisis. Reducing federal funding for global health programs will only backfire on American initiatives at home and abroad and cost more in the long run.

“By cutting funding, you don’t solve the problems, you do more damage,” Collins said.

Funding for global programs cost the U.S. government “only one-quarter of one cent, but the economic, humanitarian and diplomatic returns are huge,” Collins said during this morning's session on the “State of the U.S. Global Health Initiative.”

Ann Starrs, president of Family Care International, said global health initiatives seek to achieve more “value for the money” when it comes to health.

“We don’t just want to prevent death,” Starrs said. “We want to promote health.”

Starrs works specifically on improving health conditions for women and girls via strategic coordination and integration as well as using gender equity approaches.

“We want to make services more convenient for the user and more efficient for the institution implementing the services,” she said.

Katherine Monahan, deputy executive director of the U.S. State Department’s Global Health Initiative Office, said the United States is a world leader in global assistance and that it’s important to sustain that leadership.

“We have much to share with the world,” Monahan said. “We are making a difference in the lives of people all over the world because Americans care.”

The immediate budget crisis may pose a challenge to Global Health Initiative goals, but it is important to continue to bring America’s best policies and practices to the global table to help in three strategic areas: saving more mothers and children, creating an AIDS-free generation and challenging the world to step up to health challenges.

“The future is looking really good,” Monahan said. “We’re really excited.”

John Donnelly, vice president and senior editor at Burness Communications and a correspondent for the Global Post, said it is important to have storytellers both here in the states and in Global Health Initiative countries promote the initiative's activities.

Through his work as a global health journalist, he’s found mainstream coverage of global health issues decreasing.

“There’s almost no one covering global health policy anymore,” he told session attendees. “They find it dull.”

Without storytellers on the ground, he said, it is difficult to garner political support for global health programs that ultimately affect the way we live here in the states. He and others on the session panel urged the audience to speak to their congressional representatives about the importance of supporting global health programs.

“Bring a story with you of how (the Global Health Initiative) impacts you on the local level,” he suggested.

Donnelly, who has spent much time traveling through Africa and seeing first-hand how U.S. global health initiatives make a difference, noted that when in-country organizations and American initiatives work together to support the same goals, progress can be made.

“Things succeed when relationships are strong,” Donnelly said. “When it’s working well, there are advances.”

— L.R.

The winning team

2011-11-02T14:08:00.004-04:00

Are you ready for battle?

Because today's public health leaders are carving away at some of today’s greatest health risks. In fact, when we approach it from a winnable battles framework, anything is possible.

That was the focus of this morning's session on "Winnable Battles," a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiative addressing 10 key public health topics, including food safety, HIV, motor vehicle injuries, nutrition and obesity, teen pregnancy and tobacco. The topics were chosen based on the magnitude of these health problems across the United States.

Session presenter Thomas R. Frieden, director of CDC, discussed progress on the Winnable Battles front and called on attendees to avail themselves of all available resources to help improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities. Frieden emphasized that although we’re facing significant public health challenges today, there has been considerable progress in recent years, such as increased life expectancy and, in some states, improved air quality. For instance, the Million Hearts program is just one example of CDC-led efforts to work across federal agencies as well as with private and nonprofit partners to reduce heart attacks and stroke. Frieden said he is confident the program will meet its ambitious goal of preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years.

John Auerbach, public health commissioner in Massachusetts, described how CDC’s Winnable Battles campaign has helped states focus their program efforts toward changes that have a wide impact, but cost little.

For example, in Oregon, the Multnomah County Health Department is developing and implementing strategies to address nutrition-related health risks and developed a countywide action plan to improve health. Aurbach explained that health departments are successfully engaging with policy and other decision-makers, as “Winnable Battles is a non-partisan issue, and everyone can be involved.”

Frieden called attendees to action with a quote from President Franklin Roosevelt: “There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.”

Click here for more info on CDC's Winnable Battles initiative.

— M.S.

Above, CDC Director Thomas Frieden smiles at a Wednesday morning Annual Meeting session. Photo courtesy Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

A little birdie told me so: Tweet of the day

2011-11-02T12:16:00.003-04:00

On this last day of the 139th APHA Annual Meeting, the tweet of the day comes from Twitterer LeahHealth, who said: On the shuttle for last day of #APHA11 it is like riding the public health school bus.

Advocacy in action

2011-11-02T11:54:00.002-04:00

This morning, APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin took a short break from his busy Annual Meeting schedule to lend APHA's support to a key piece of public health legislation.

Standing on the grounds of the Capitol building along with members of Congress and fellow public health advocates, Benjamin reaffirmed APHA's commitment to the Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act. Introduced today by Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., the legislation calls for developing a national strategic plan that will equip public health agencies with the tools to prepare for, identify and respond to the health threats of climate change. In addition to supporting the bill, APHA was also involved in developing its language.

"Climate change poses a real and present health threat for our country today," Benjamin said in an APHA news release. "It can affect the air we breathe and the water we drink. It also can severely threaten our nation's food supply. If left unaddressed, climate change could exact an enormous toll on communities across the nation. The bill introduced today would send a real lifeline to public health officials who are on the frontlines of protecting our health, preventing disease and keeping families safe."

If you want to take action on behalf of the Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act, call the U.S. House of Representatives switchboard at 202-225-3121 to connect with your member of Congress and urge them to sponsor this bill. For more info on climate change and health or to download a free copy of APHA's new publication, "Climate Change: Mastering the Public Health Role," visit www.apha-environment.org.

Above, APHA's Georges Benjamin speaks at a Wednesday morning news conference in front of the Capitol in support of the Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act. Behind him is Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., and Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health. Photo courtesy Don Hoppert

Won't you be my (smoke-free) neighbor?

2011-11-02T10:51:00.005-04:00

Anti-tobacco advocates have conquered restaurants and bars, public outdoor spaces and many college campuses. Now, they’ve got their sights set on engaging residents of apartment buildings and condominium complexes in efforts to make healthier living spaces.

There’s a growing movement across the country to enact smoking bans in multi-unit housing, and California is leading the charge. The communities of South Pasadena, Richmond, Belmont and Sebastopol have all prohibited smoking in apartment buildings and condos. And there seems to be more on the way.

“It’s a public health issue," said Statice Wilmore, tobacco control coordinator for the Pasadena Public Health Department. "It’s a quality of life issue.”

Wilmore spoke yesterday on a panel with other anti-tobacco advocates during a session on “Don’t Catch My Drift: Smoke-free Multi-Unit Dwellings.”

Wilmore gave an overview of how Pasadena succeeded in prohibiting smoking on patios, balconies and outdoor common areas in multi-unit housing. The Pasadena Public Health Department also was pivotal in establishing smoking bans in new housing construction projects effective immediately. Most importantly, the department successfully advocated for a gradual phase-in of completely smoke-free multi-unit housing by 2013.

Pasadena’s smoke-free campaign began with a comprehensive survey of the community’s attitudes toward smoking. The survey revealed that 77 percent of the community supported prohibiting smoking in outdoor areas; 63 percent supported a smoking ban in residential areas; 80 percent favored laws to create non-smoking multi-unit housing; and 72 percent wanted to live in a completely smoke-free building.

“Framing the issue is very important,” Wilmore said.

Instead of focusing on individual health benefits of smoke-free policies, the public health department presented other benefits, such as a reduction in fire hazards in the home, decreasing insurance premiums and decreased expenses for landlords to clean out smokers’ units for rental purposes.

In a pilot test conducted in a small part of Alachua County, Fla., Lisa Nackers, a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida in Gainesville, found that residents preferred an incremental, stepwise policy change toward going smoke-free in multi-unit housing. That process would start with smoking bans in indoor common areas, then in outdoor common areas and on to individual units until a total ban on smoking is reached. This “foot-in-the-door” technique has the potential to affect policy change throughout the county, she said.

“We all know there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke,” Nackers told session attendees. “And we know that most exposure is in the homes.”

Nackers’ research suggests that anti-tobacco advocates work closely with multi-unit housing property managers to implement policy changes. As tenants and building owners’ awareness increase, smoke-free dwellings will be the way of the future, she said. In fact, property owners should offer smoke-free units as a benefit of living in their buildings.

Warren Ortland, staff attorney with the Public Health Law Center in St. Paul, Minn., surveyed owner-occupants and interviewed property managers, finding that before drafting any policy, advocates should first provide education to all parties and assess attitudes toward the policy. Policies should be based on the activity — smoking — and not on any individual’s status, a position often taken by smokers who believe bans infringe on their personal rights.

Ortland suggests residential associations take up smoking bans and decide for themselves how to best implement them. Changing associations’ declarations are more likely to withstand legal challenges, he noted, and courts are generally deferential to association decisions.

— L.R.

Happy teeth

2011-11-02T10:32:00.004-04:00

Even though it's preventable, oral disease is the No. 1 chronic disease in children. Unfortunately, oral health is not often the first thing that comes to mind when you think of primary care — a problem many advocates and practitioners have been trying to change.

Gum disease and cavities don't just affect a child’s appearance. Oral health problems can inhibit nutrition and physical development and without access to good preventive care, they can be exceptionally costly to fix.

In Tuesday afternoon’s session on “Mouths Matter: Maryland Leading the Way,” Harry Goodman, director of Maryland’s Office of Oral Health, discussed ways in which Maryland is blazing the trail for improved oral health services for children. Oral health advocates and leaders at the state and national levels jumped into high gear when the state suffered a devastating loss that got significant media attention: Deamonte Driver, a 12- year-old boy from Prince George’s County, Md., had an untreated dental infection that resulted in more than $250,000 in medical costs and ultimately led to Driver's death in 2007.

Goodman showed a picture of Driver and asked session attendees to “never to forget this face.” Driver’s life could have been saved by routine preventive care, Goodman said.

Since Driver’s death, Maryland has advanced a number of policy efforts that are bringing the opportunities for better oral health to the state's under-served children. Among the efforts: Maryland established an oral health advisory committee to advocate for better access to care; the state successfully passed legislation to create an oral health safety net; surveillance efforts have been conducted to gather data on schoolchildren; and a five-year oral health plan was developed. Through federal funding, Maryland is also launching an oral health literacy campaign targeting low-income families.

Debony Hughes, of the grassroots organization the Deamonte Driver Dental Project, credits a number of policy champions for the state's progress, including Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. With the help of state funding, the Deamonte Driver Dental Project established a mobile dental clinic, which has provided preventive services for more than 1,000 children in 19 of Prince George’s County's elementary schools.

In fact, the mobile unit is parked right now in the Public Health Expo, so go check it out and get a tour of the colorful, traveling dental clinic.

— M.S.

Best and brightest

2011-11-02T09:37:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to all of this year's APHA award winners! Thanks for helping lead the way to a healthier world!

Above, from top to bottom: APHA's Distinguished Public Health Legislator of the Year Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., receives her award from APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin at last night's APHA Public Health Awards Reception and Ceremony; former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher (at left in the photo) receives APHA's Sedgwick Memorial Medal; Satcher (at left) mingles with new APHA President-elect Adewale Troutman at the awards reception; and reception attendees smile for the camera. Photos courtesy Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

Wednesday's Have You Heard

2011-11-01T18:42:00.003-04:00

Celebrate diversity: Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender well-being will be the focus of session 5062, "Policy Impacting LGBT Health," which starts at 8:30 a.m. in room 149A of the convention center. (Think of your early-morning attendance as a tribute to D.C.'s marriage equality!)

Fit kids: Come hear from experts in the field at session 5090, "School-based Fitness Testing for Large-scale Surveillance of Student Fitness Levels and Childhood Obesity," at 8:30 a.m. in meeting room 14 of the Renaissance Hotel. I know it's early, but think of the kids!

Fighting the good fight: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas Frieden will be on hand for Wednesday's session 5096, "Winnable Battles," which starts at 10:30 a.m. in room 146C of the convention center.

Hola!: Feel that ocean breeze? Then maybe you're already at special session 5101, "APHA Goes to Cuba: Lessons Learned from the Island Nation," which runs from 10:30 a.m. to noon in room 151AB of the convention center.

First peoples: Learn more about health issues affecting the country's native communities in session 5159, "Native Health Issues and their Importance in the Public Health System: A Panel Discussion," which starts at 12:30 p.m. in meeting room 14 of the Renaissance Hotel.

Lessons from the past: Believe me, we're tired too. But definitely not too tired to make it to this year's Closing General Session from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in room 146AB of the convention center. This year's session will focus on "The case for workplace health and safety: 100 years after the Triangle Fire" and will feature addresses from APHA President Linda Rae Murray; David Michaels, U.S. assistant secretary of labor; Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers; and Darryl Alexander, director of the Health and Safety Program at the American Federation of Teachers. Take a gander at this guest blog post about why you can't miss this session.

Guest post: Don't miss this year's Closing Session

2011-11-01T17:41:00.004-04:00

by Liz Borkowski
Even if you fear your brain won’t hold another shred of public health information by midday Wednesday, don’t miss the Closing General Session, where the timely topic will be “The case for workplace health and safety: 100 years after the Triangle Fire.”

On March 25, 1911, a fire raced through the Triangle Waist Company factory in lower Manhattan. A collapsed fire escape and locked doors prevented many of the garment workers from reaching safety, and 146 workers were killed. Many of them were young women who’d recently emigrated to the United States and were a crucial source of support for their families. Many jumped to their deaths as they tried to escape the flames.

“On that spring afternoon, the sound of frantic screams and wailing fire truck bells awakened the conscience of America,” U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said in a speech on the 100th anniversary of the Triangle disaster. “The fire opened our eyes to the tragic consequences of wretched working conditions.”

Galvanized by the disaster, advocates demanded — and won — laws requiring better working conditions. Frances Perkins, who witnessed the horrific scene from a nearby park, became secretary of labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and played a key role in the National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act.

One hundred years later, rates of occupational fatalities and injuries have dropped dramatically. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers improvements in workplace safety to be one of the top 10 U.S. public health achievements of the 20th century. The earliest systematic survey of workplace fatalities covered Allegheny County, Pa., where in 1907, 526 workers were killed in that county alone. The National Safety Council estimated the 1912 toll of occupational fatalities nationwide to be between 18,000 and 21,000. Contrast that to 2009, when 4,551 workers were killed on the job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This drop in worker deaths is an important achievement, but the latest numbers also remind us that we still have a long way to go. We’ve also seen some horrific 21st-century workplace disasters as well: 29 workers killed at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia; 11 in the BP/Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico; and seven in the explosion at the Tesoro refinery in Washington state.

And then there are the smaller, but no less significant, tragedies in which workers are suffocated in trench collapses, crushed by heavy equipment, electrocuted, burned…the list goes on and on. If you’ve got a few minutes (and if you’re like me, some tissues nearby), I encourage you to visit the Weekly Toll blog to get a clearer picture of the lives we lose to unsafe workplaces every week.

These workplace disasters injure as well as kill, but we don’t even have a satisfactory count of how many people are injured or made ill on the job. From health care workers with back injuries to farm workers poisoned by pesticides, thousands are suffering because their workplaces, while generally safer than those of 1911, aren’t as safe and healthy as they should be.

At tomorrow's Closing General Session, we’ll hear from four great speakers:

• Linda Rae Murray, president of APHA and chief medical officer of Illinois' Cook County Department of Public Health;

• David Michaels, U.S. assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health;

• Leo Girard, international president of the United Steelworkers; and

• Darryl Alexander, director of health and safety for the American Federation of Teachers.

I expect they’ll tell us more about how workplace health and safety has improved and how much it still needs improving. And I’m sure we’ll learn about what the public health community needs to do to make sure the spirit of reform that caught fire after the Triangle disaster burns even brighter.

The Closing General Session runs from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2.

Liz Borkowski is a research associate at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and a member of APHA’s Occupational Health Section. She runs the public health blog The Pump Handle.

In the above photo, a construction worker in 1943 is about to affix a wooden plank using a hammer and nails. Notice that he's not wearing any of the protective gear, such as protective eyewear and a hard hat, that he would be required to wear today. Photo courtesy the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Career highlights

2011-11-01T17:17:00.004-04:00

APHA Annual Meeting attendees took advantage of one-on-one career coaching sessions at the Everything APHA booth inside the Public Health Expo. Visit APHA's CareerMart for more on public health job opportunities.

Photos by Jim Ezell/courtesy EZ Event Photography

Public health on the silver screen

2011-11-01T17:02:00.005-04:00

Since 1970, the country has seen a downward trend in black lung disease, also known as coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, which is caused by breathing coal dust over a period of time.

But in the last 10 years, we’ve seen the number of cases double. In the film, “Faces of Black Lung,” Annual Meeting attendees heard the stories of coal miners who shared how their lives have changed since being diagnosed.

“I never thought about taking care of myself," said one patient, as he sucked on his oxygen tube for air. "Never thought about X-rays. I just thought about my family.”

Now he can’t say two words without gasping, his labored breathing a symptom of the disease.

Black lung patients were among several voices heard in personal narratives shown on the big screen at a Tuesday afternoon session of the 8th Annual APHA Film Festival. In addition to the coal miners’ stories, today’s session featured films about breast cancer patients, blood cancer survivors, prisoners at risk for HIV, teens concerned with the health of their environments, parents discussing teen driver safety, hospital employees sharing their reasons for getting a flu shot, and Wisconsin health workers explaining how they handled the H1N1 pandemic.

Seven-minute clips of each film were selected for their diversity in addressing a variety of public health concerns.

Two high school students from Brownsville, Texas, narrated the film “Health and Environment Action Network,” which illustrates how the Hispanic community can prevent environmental illness and disease. The film is part of a national and local movement to improve air and water quality. Produced by the Brownsville Community Health Center, the film shows public health experts concerned about air quality working in Brownsville and other border towns.

“We see a lot of truck traffic here,” said one resident. “People should keep their young children indoors in the early morning when traffic is heavy.”

A rough cut of the film “Designing Healthy Communities” showed how an unhealthy physical environment can shorten our lifespan by as much as five years. For example, living in a city like Riverside, Calif., can increase the risk of lung disease by 30 percent, experts warned.

In “No Warning Shots,” which was produced by the Center for Health Justice, health workers are shown visiting prison populations in California to discuss the risks and realities of HIV and AIDS. The video is shown to new prisoners in the state.

The Wisconsin Division of Public Health produced “Facing a Pandemic: Wisconsin’s Response to 2009 H1N1 Influenza,” a documentary that takes the viewer on a step-by-step journey of how the state handled a public health emergency and won.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society produced “Paths to Recovery: Stories from Two Blood Cancer Survivors” to show the daily struggles of patients.

“It never goes away entirely, even when it’s in remission,” said one patient. “There’s still no cure.”

Don't miss tomorrow's film festival showing, session 5160, at 12:30 p.m.

— L.R.

The fallout

2011-11-01T16:34:00.003-04:00

A nuclear disaster in a plant near Chicago would force the evacuation of 7 million people and could deliver fatal doses of radiation to 20,000 people, said a speaker at an APHA session on "In the Wake of Fukushima: Is Nuclear Energy Healthy for Communities?" this afternoon.

Furthermore, said Andrew Kanter, president-elect of Physicians for Social Responsibility, the nuclear fallout plume would be so large that many local emergency responders would not be permitted to go near the scene to help because of the danger.

The dangers of nuclear power are well-known, particularly after the Fukushima disaster in Japan earlier this year, said speakers during the scientific session. They argued that America should seek other methods of alternative energy.

While the Three-Mile Island near-meltdown in 1986 had “put a major crimp in the expansion of nuclear power in America,” those seeking alternative energy sources have backed it as a cleaner alternative, said Robert Gould, president of the San Francisco-Bay Area chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

The session highlighted the risks of a nuclear disaster and noted that in addition to the Chernobyl, Three-Mile Island and Fukushima crises, there have been other near-misses that could put the public’s health at risk.

Kanter noted that the vast majority of the fallout from the Fukushima disaster went over the ocean rather than toward Japan’s most populous cities. Despite that, radiation hotspots were found in Tokyo and elsewhere.

Dangers he listed during his talk included possible releases from active plants, releases resulting from the unsafe storage of nuclear waste and the many potential dangers of a terrorist attack at a nuclear energy plant.

He highlighted another scenario, in which the Indian Point nuclear reactor near New York City has a meltdown. That scenario would cause 3,500-44,000 immediate deaths, 100,000-500,000 long-term deaths from cancer and other diseases, and $1.1 trillion-$2.1 trillion in economic damage.

In her presentation, Jacqueline Patterson, environment and climate director of the NAACP, said nuclear power plants are disproportionately located near low-income communities. Furthermore, she said, uranium mining disproportionately affects American Indian and indigenous communities.

All three speakers pointed to a greater need for research into alternative fuel sources and an examination of the true potential fallout of a serious nuclear incident on American soil.

— C.T.

A little birdie told me so: Tweet of the day

2011-11-01T16:16:00.004-04:00

Today's tweet of the day comes from Twitterer trulyjoannies and goes out to all you fellow Twitterers using the hashtag #apha11: tweetup sounds so fun! i hope to attend the conference and tweetup with you folks someday!!

We hope so too!

'We're ready to take the lead'

2011-11-01T15:22:00.003-04:00

Thoughts on this year's Opening Session from past APHA President Virginia Caine. For more soundbites from meeting attendees, visit APHA's YouTube channel.

Picture this

2011-11-01T14:59:00.003-04:00

What image does climate change conjure in your mind?

According to Maria Blair with the American Cancer Society and one of the speakers at this morning's session on “Climate Change and Health: The Global Challenge,” this is a key question that must be answered to help contextualize the issue and mobilize action.

Kim Knowlton, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council and chair of APHA’s Climate Change Workgroup within the Environment Section, discussed the need for short-term action to offset current and future health risks. She pointed to data that found 2011 to be a year in which all-time high temperatures were broken across the United States.

“Adaptive measures are already happening in cities around the world,” Knowlton told attendees. “Climate change is the health issue that unifies so many pressing health issues of the day.”

After a survey of experts identified significant limits among European health agencies in dealing with climate-related impacts on infectious disease, session presenter Jan Semenza, along with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, helped develop an adaptation tool and software program that health officials can use. The tool allows decision-makers to project risks and map regions or areas that might be at greatest risk for a host of different pathogens based on a variety of potential climate change factors.

Although health departments, nonprofit organizations and a number of federal agencies are working toward preventing climate-related health risks, there remains a disconnect among many policy-makers and the general public about the effects of climate change on the public’s health.

Session presenter Maria Blair challenged the public health community to think about whether “we are framing the problem and engaging people in the right way on this issue.”

“I don’t know about you, but I haven’t heard people reflect lately on that awful climate change-induced snowstorm we had the other day or recent climate change-causing heat waves or drought,” Blair said.

We need to mainstream the “complex issue of climate change to be successful and help provide the right tools for those making choices at the local level,” she noted.

Building resilience doesn’t happen overnight and climate change is not a problem that a single institution can solve. Slowly but surely, however, it seems we’re moving the levers to get there.

— M.S.

Recipes for disease

2011-11-01T14:12:00.003-04:00

Wonderful and terrifying.

That’s how one audience member described today’s presentation about the safety of our food supply. An expert panel discussed the issue at this morning's session on “Contaminants in our Food Supply: Persistent Gaps in Monitoring, Assessment and Control of Contamination” and offered solutions to the problem as well as tips to better protect the food we consume.

The picture the panel presented was generally grim. While our food supply is vulnerable to pesticide and chemical exposures, the government’s response is outdated and inadequate, they said. One in six Americans gets sick from food-borne illness and nearly 3,000 die each year as a result. While threats from imported produce are increasing, monitoring and enforcement of safety standards lag. And even if food is produced safely, transport and storing processes contribute toxins that leave the most vulnerable in our population at risk.

But there is hope and there are some solutions. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama signed the federal Food Safety Modernization Act, which aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus of regulators from responding to contamination to preventing it. It’s a prevention-oriented approach that also tightens inspection and compliance regulations.

“We overhauled the food safety system for the first time in 70 years,” said Erik Olson, deputy director of the Pew Health Group. “Progress will be made. But there’s still unfinished business. Meat and poultry laws haven’t been updated in decades, and food additive laws haven’t been updated since 1958.”

Session presenter Karen Wong, an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, studied flaws in the FDA assessment of Gulf Coast seafood after the catastrophic BP oil spill. She found the FDA analyses, particularly for detecting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, are inadequate to protect the health of those who consume shrimp and oysters from the Gulf Coast. PAHs are a group of more than a hundred different chemicals, many of which have been proven to be carcinogenic. PAHs may increase health risks for children and the developing fetus, cause genetic damage to the fetus and contribute to low birthweights. For example, during the Exxon Valdez oil spill, FDA estimated it would take 10 years until PAHs would no longer be detectable in the water. But 13 years later, there were still detectable levels of PAH, Wong said.

“The FDA should update its risk assessment methods,” she told session attendees.

She suggested federal agencies better target their health advisories to give people more information. Lastly, she advised consumers exercise caution when eating seafood.

Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said more attention should be paid to imported produce, which is often contaminated with illegal pest residue.

“We see a pattern of repeat violations," Rotkin-Ellman said of a study conducted between 2004 and 2008. "The same violations are found increasing every year.”

Guatemalan peas, for example, continually show up on a list of vegetables with high violation rates, she said.

Even though there is ample evidence and reason for concern, FDA is not testing for some pesticides, Rotkin-Ellman said. Health risks associated with pesticides include toxicity at acute and low levels, cancer and reproductive development toxicity, especially during the early stages of life. In addition to improving and updating FDA testing methods of pesticides, she recommends an outreach program to educate growers on the harms of pesticides.

“It’s not easy to figure out what pesticides are used in what, even for experts in the field,” she said. “We also need education at the federal level.”

What does all this mean for the average consumer at home? The experts say buying organic produce may reduce exposure to some chemicals, but not all. Washing leafy greens, even pre-washed greens, may help a little. Finally, be an informed consumer. Rotkin-Ellman suggested checking out whatsonmyfood.org for more information.

“The point is not to scare people, but to point out gaps,” she said.

— L.R.

Making memories

2011-11-01T13:35:00.005-04:00

Stop by the PHun Photo booth on the third floor of the convention center and snap yourself a photographic souvenir or visit the Everything APHA booth at the Public Health Expo for a 139th Annual Meeting t-shirt.

Photos by Michele Late/courtesy APHA's Flickr page

Extra! Extra! Annual Meeting makes headlines

2011-11-01T13:04:00.002-04:00

Public health is making news this week. APHA Annual Meeting presentations and events have been picked up by major media outlets around the country. Check out the roundup of headlines below.

Associated Press via Washington Post — Study in Wash. state suggests more violence among kids of combat veterans, including daughters

The study, to be presented Monday at a public health conference in Washington, D.C., was based on a 2008 questionnaire survey of about 10,000 students in the 8th, 10th and 12th grades in Washington. That state has the sixth largest active duty population in the country...

Los Angeles Times — Chronic health problems plague immigrants decades after move

Is migrating to the United States hazardous to your health? If you’re Latino and have lived in the states more than 20 years, you might want to listen up: Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found that the longer immigrants have lived in the U.S., the worse their health gets...

The Atlantic — Study of the Day: Teens Want to Lose Weight But Don't Know How

New research suggests that obese adolescents want to shed pounds, but smoking, non-diet soda and video games are getting in their way...

WebMD — Study: Too Much Sugar in Drinks Marketed to Kids

It's no surprise that many sodas have a lot of sugar. What may be more surprising is that many fruit drinks, often billed as healthier alternatives, are often loaded with close to the same amount of sugar and calories...

National Journal — HHS Releases Leading Health Indicators for the Next Decade

The Health and Human Services Department announced its Leading Health Indicators on Monday, a list of metrics for measuring public-health progress that is adjusted every 10 years...

UPI — Grandma's birth control problems persist

Hormonal birth control is different from that of 30 years ago but even with lower hormonal levels many of the same problems remain, U.S. researchers say...

HealthDay News — Many Parents Skipping Kids' Shots, Putting Other Kids at Risk

By signing an affidavit that says "all or some immunizations are contrary to my beliefs," California parents can bypass requirements that their children be fully immunized before attending school, and new research indicates that many are choosing to do so...

Modern Healthcare — Park announces public-health app challenge

An HHS mobile-device application contest unveiled today aims to encourage software developers and public health professionals to co-design programs that mitigate public health problems...

All the power in the Twitterverse

2011-11-01T12:10:00.006-04:00

Social media's public health gurus spoke to a standing room-only session yesterday afternoon on the "Role of Social Media in Public Health." One of the presenters was APHA's very own social media master Michele Late, creator of the association's Twitter @publichealth, which now has more than 141,000 followers and was recognized earlier this year by Time magazine as one of the 140 best Twitter feeds.

Visit NewPublicHealth.org for more coverage of yesterday's session.

Above, APHA's Michele Late talks to session attendees about using Twitter to your advantage. Photo courtesy Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

Men at work

2011-11-01T09:49:00.002-04:00

How do you talk to a man and get him to listen?

You give them what they want. It might seem like a trite answer, but for Dr. Kelly Bethea, director of adolescent health at the Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia, it’s what’s working in her Male Adolescent Health Initiative, better known as MAHI. To get male adolescents involved in their own health and to get them to participate in their own preventive care, health professionals have to find out what motivates these men.

“You have to figure out what he values, and give him something for his time,” Bethea said during Monday's session on "Community Health Initiatives for Successful Communication to Men." “You have to really understand your audience and what they want. If they want respect and trust, you give that to them.”

In addition to conducting focus groups to find out what motivates a man to take a more active role in his health, a successful community program should get the buy-in of their intended audience. Albert W. Pless, Jr., program manager for the Cambridge Public Health Department in Massachusetts, said that striking partnerships with other community-based organizations is one way to get in with the reluctant male patient.

Pless described the Men’s Health League Program in Cambridge and how it succeeded in getting 30- to 45-year old men of color to take the reins of their health. The community health partnership worked closely with experts at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to conduct programs in barber shops, fitness centers, gyms and in community centers. They recruited chefs to conduct cooking demonstrations, organized citywide basketball tournaments and led shopping tours at grocery stores.

Pless got the men involved by giving them what they wanted — access to a personal trainer at the gym, free membership to a fitness facility, group workout classes and, oddly enough, wrist bands.

“We asked what would incentivize them to come, and they said wrist bands,” Pless told session attendees.

The wrist bands symbolized a brotherhood of sorts. The men enjoyed meeting other men like themselves, who shared the same goal of improving their health, Pless said.

For a Hispanic community in San Mateo, Calif., gold medals and the adulation of their kids motivated men to improve their health in the My Hero nutrition program.

“The message we provided to them was that they were important, their kids look up to them and they are role models,” said Lydia Guzman, a registered dietitian with the San Mateo County Health System. “They wanted respect, which for them meant empowerment.”

Guzman and her colleagues wanted to conduct a nutrition class specifically for men, but knew no one would show up, even with the promise of free food.

“We used children and the ‘nag factor’ as change agents,” she said.

School children wrote letters to their heroes, and the fathers were asked to come to the school to be presented with their hero medals. While at the school, health professionals were on hand to share cooking techniques and health information. These fathers wanted the respect of their children, and My Hero showed the fathers and father figures that they were empowered to not only improve their health, but their children's health as well, Guzman said.

Michael Rovito, assistant professor and director of the Men’s Health Initiative at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, said the challenge in reaching college-age men is helping them understand how their current health status will affect their health in the long run. And information is key.

“I want to get guys informed so that they’re not as scared as I was,” he noted after he explained how his own health scare at the age of 17 led him to believe he might die. “I had no idea what was happening, where I could go and what I could do.”

Today, Rovito is involved in reaching that hard-to-get college man by using social media platforms and college campus events to draw attention to issues such as self-exams for testicular cancer. Another event, March Mustache Madness, encouraged men to grow their facial hair to raise awareness for men’s cancer.

“You really have to know your audience in order to get your message to them,” Rovito said.

— L.R.

Great expectations

2011-11-01T09:32:00.004-04:00

The word on the street is ACHIEVE. It's a public health program that's making a real difference at the local level on a number of fronts, according to a Monday afternoon session of the same name.

ACHIEVE (Action Communities for Health, Innovation and Environmental Change) is a project of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and yesterday's session focused on how the program is working with a number of local health departments to create systems change through capacity building and policy development. The ACHIEVE approach centers on a process of community engagement and aligns with recent community transformation grants that were awarded via the Affordable Care Act.

As part of the program, NACCHO assessed what local health departments need to help improve the environments where people live, learn, work and play and identified competencies for local health department leaders. According to session speaker Kenneth Smith of NACCHO, “the key is fostering leaders who are able to engage the political system to make things happen.” And public health departments “need training to navigate political and bureaucratic environments,” he said.

In fact, ACHIEVE is having an impact just across the river in Alexandria, Va., where the health department has been making strides in childhood obesity prevention. Carrie Fesperman Redden, a health planner with the city's health department, led efforts to develop the Alexandria Childhood Obesity Action Network through its 2009 ACHIEVE grant from NACCHO. Following a process of community engagement, the city of Alexandria developed an action plan and found a groundswell of support for implementing it among a cross-section of organizations, agencies and community members involved in the process. In addition, the network has received attention from Alexandria’s council members and for the first time, health goals were included in the city’s 2010-2015 strategic plan. With help from the Alexandria health department in drafting language as well as the support and advocacy efforts of the obesity network, the Alexandria City Council also recently passed a complete streets resolution.

At the end of the day, we can say this program is successfully building healthier communities and ACHIEVE-ing great things.

— M.S.

Time to check those stocks

2011-11-01T08:49:00.003-04:00

Don't forget to stop by APHA's Get Ready booth at the Public Health Expo for all of your emergency preparedness needs. You can also learn more about APHA's Flu Near You Challenge and the annual Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks campaign, which reminds folks to check their emergency stockpiles when daylight saving time ends this Sunday, Nov. 6.

Above, a visitor checks out the Get Ready booth. Photo by Michele Late

Tuesday's Have You Heard

2011-10-31T18:24:00.004-04:00

Girl power: Join the efforts to make sure women's reproductive health needs aren't left out of health reform at Tuesday session 4077, "Moving Health Care Reform Beyond Reproductive Rights to Reproductive Justice," at 8:30 a.m. in room 154B of the convention center.

Hostile climates: Learn more about one of public health's biggest emerging topics: climate change. Join your fellow Annual Meeting attendees at session 4291, "Climate Change and the Coasts: Coping with Rising Health Threats and Preparing for the Future," at 2:30 p.m. in meeting room 13 of the Renaissance Hotel.

Lost in cyberspace?: Learn how to use today's techie tools for the public health good at special session 4090, "The Social Network: An Improvement Tool," which starts at 10:30 a.m. in Grand Ballroom South of the Renaissance Hotel.

Field of (broken) dreams: Get prepped for Wednesday's Closing Session on occupational health by checking out session 4401, "Occupational Health Disparities Institute: Farm worker health and safety," at 4:30 p.m. in room 143C of the convention center. Attendees will learn about health inequities and pesticide exposure as well as about tools for engaging indigenous farm worker communities.

Well done!: Stop by Tuesday night's APHA Public Health Awards Reception and Ceremony to say "Congrats!" to this year's award winners and help celebrate their public health achievements. The reception runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in room 146AB of the convention center.

Cheers to good health!: Skip the bar and stop by the reception and awards ceremony for APHA's Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Section, which starts at 6:30 p.m. in room 146C of the convention center.

Taking back our communities

2011-10-31T17:34:00.005-04:00

“We built America for cars for 50 years. We need to go back and build America for human beings.”

It’s a well-worn but ultimately effective line, especially when delivered by Richard Jackson, chair of the Environmental and Health Sciences department at the University of California-Los Angeles and former head of the National Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jackson is also the author of “Designing Healthy Communities,” co-published by APHA, which examines the role of the built community in creating unhealthy lifestyles.

“We’ve essentially made America as unfriendly as we possibly can to pedestrians and walking,” Jackson said during a Monday book-signing session at the Public Health Expo. “It’s had a huge impact on physical well-being.”

Jackson is a pediatrician by training who worked on smallpox eradication and other topics before coming to the realization that “my joy was in the juncture between large policy and human health and well-being, particularly around children.”

He said he realized that the system whereby we “sit at the end of the disease pipeline” and try to rescue people is not working.

The book, which is aimed at the general public rather than a strictly academic audience, seeks to change urban planning to make communities more active and to build physical activity back into peoples’ lives.

“It’s really intended for the layperson who is not happy with where their community is headed,” he said.

Brian Sumner, a primary care internist from New York who bought Jackson’s book, said Jackson is “on the edge of cultural change with the things he talks about.”

Doctoral nursing student Karen Dawn, agreed.

“I love the idea of a community focus on improving health,” she said. “We need to look broader than what we’re doing now.”

Copies of Jackson’s book, some autographed by the author, are available for sale in the Everything APHA section at the Public Health Expo. Also for sale is a four-disc DVD set of a companion program that is set to air on public television in January.

— C.T.

Above, Richard Jackson signs copies of his book inside the Public Health Expo. Photo by Charlotte Tucker

Leading the way to better health

2011-10-31T16:13:00.002-04:00

"Healthy People unifies the country...it drives action in a public way to make our country stronger and healthier," said Howard Koh, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, during today's session on the "National Release of 2020 Leading Health Indicators."

Koh spoke to a packed room of Annual Meeting attendees as he released the 12 leading health indicator topic areas to resounding applause and cheer. The indicators are high-priority health issues included in Healthy People 2020, the nation's health objectives for the current decade. The indicators are intended to help health and public health professionals assess the health of the nation, facilitate collaboration and action, and help motivate entire communities to action.

So, ladies and gentlemen, here are your new leading health indicator topic areas: Access to health services; clinical preventive services, environmental quality; injury and violence; maternal, infant and child health; mental health; nutrition, physical activity and obesity; oral health (which made this list for the first time); reproductive and sexual health; social determinants (a theme that Koh said has galvanized decision-makers); substance abuse; and tobacco.

The new leading health indicator topic areas are a call to action, Koh said as he urged attendees to integrate the indicators into their public health policies and programs. He also announced that starting in the new year, the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion will launch a new monthly series highlighting those who are addressing the leading indicators in innovative ways.

"Shoot for the stars," Koh said. "If you only land on the moon, you are still out of this world."

Session presenter Gail Christopher, vice president for programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, asked the session audience to give a round of applause for the social determinants having made it onto the leading indicator list. Christopher noted that education and closing graduation disparity gaps will be a critical focus as work moves forward.

"These indicators are also uniting us as one profession in the sense that the clinical and social determinants come together," she said.

Todd Park, chief technology officer at HHS, jumped to the mic next (and when APHA's Dr. Georges Benjamin, who moderated the session, told audience members to fasten their seat belts as Park stepped up to speak, he wasn't kidding. Park was pumped for public health!). Park excitedly announced a new challenge for attendees to tackle, calling on "you public health ninjas and princesses" to team up with techies to help solve priority health problems. The challenge involves developing innovative apps that can be used to make positive progress on the leading health indicators. An example of such a tool would be an app that social workers can offer to their clients that would help connect them to preventive services and allow them to keep track of their progress. The deadline for the challenge is March 9, 2012. For all the challenge details, visit www.challenge.gov.

"May the force be with you," Park said. "We can't wait to see what you'll build."

For more on the new leading health indicators, visit www.healthypeople.gov/2020/LHI/default.aspx.

— K.K.

The doctor is in

2011-10-31T16:07:00.004-04:00

U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin took a tour through the Public Health Expo earlier today and had the chance to meet her many fans.

Photos by Kim Krisberg

Pop culture and public health

2011-10-31T15:30:00.003-04:00

On an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy,” Dr. Izzie Stevens tells her HIV-positive patient that she doesn’t have to have an abortion because of her fear of transmitting the virus to her baby. With proper, regular medication, Izzie tells her, she has a 98 percent chance of having a healthy baby free of HIV. That’s 98 percent. The doctor repeats that fact three times in the brief conversation, and the patient herself says it once more to drive home the point.

That one-minute conversation took months of behind-the-scenes work to bring to life on the small screen. It was a collaboration between the show’s writers and producers and the Kaiser Family Foundation, who provided the health research on that storyline, says Tina Hoff, senior vice president at the foundation.

“We have a mutual goal, which is to bring the largest possible audience to the content,” said Hoff, a presenter during this morning's session on "Content Integration and Social Change: Sparking Action Through Programming Advertising and Popular Culture." “For a fully rounded public health strategy, we can’t ignore the entertainment industry.”

Hoff was on a panel with other health and entertainment leaders at today’s session, which was moderated by Peggy Conlan, president of the Ad Council. When health information and compelling storytelling come together, whether the medium is TV, film or the Internet, great things can happen — behavior change can occur, presenters said.

Liana Schwarz, senior vice president of social action at Participant Media, said filmmakers worked closely with researchers on the film “Contagion” to extend the experience of the film beyond the theater. Sure, it’s great to sympathize with characters, to laugh and cry with them, but what can you do when you get home?

“We like to add a little spinach to the popcorn,” Schwarz said.

The January DVD release of “Contagion,” for example, will have additional content with specific action messages, an informative — and entertaining — video on pandemics, and resources where the audience can find more information.

“We look to have an impact on the broader issue, from the personal level to the home level to the government level,” Schwarz said.

It is the company’s goal to entertain the audience, then facilitate the social action needed to make a difference, she noted.

With shows like “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant,” MTV reaches a wide teen audience with their cautionary tales of teen pregnancy.

“We’re experts at reaching this audience,” said Jason Rzepka, vice president of public affairs at MTV. “But we’re not health experts, so we’ve partnered with Kaiser on some projects.”

The network’s GYT (Get Yourself Tested) campaign, for example, is a part of an ongoing partnership between the network and the Kaiser Family Foundation to empower and inform young people on how to reduce the spread of STDs.

Sandra de Castro Buffington, director of Hollywood, Health and Society in Los Angeles, works to bridge the gap between the entertainment industry and the public health community. The organization works closely with writers and producers to consult, advise and provide accurate health messages.

“When it’s done right, we can improve the health and well-being of the audience,” she told session attendees.

Last year, Hollywood, Health and Society consulted on 163 storylines that aired on national TV and 38 different shows on 16 networks. The group is leading “story bus tours” for writers and producers, such as taking them on tours of Los Angeles to show them first-hand what food deserts look like and what a community garden can do for an impoverished neighborhood.

“Ideally, we’d like to see a situation of art imitating life,” Buffington said.

— L.R.

A little birdie told me so: Tweet of the day

2011-10-31T14:59:00.004-04:00

Today's tweet of the day from those of you using the hashtag #apha11 comes from Twitterer GoHealthyPeople (the folks over at Healthy People 2020): A round of applause from the audience that Social Determinants have made it into the Leading Health Indicators.

Yay!

Costume ball

2011-10-31T14:19:00.005-04:00

APHA Annual Meeting attendees get into the Halloween festivities. Costume contest anyone?

Photos by Michele Late

Breaking!

2011-10-31T14:02:00.003-04:00

You don’t have to look far to find examples of extreme weather events and environmental disasters that have wreaked havoc across the U.S. and abroad over the past year — tornados, earthquakes, and severe cases of drought and famine are on the shortlist. This morning’s Annual Meeting session on "Late Breaking Developments in Public Health" highlighted a few with a specific focus on the public health response.

Nearly a year after the devastating earthquake in Japan that left significant damage, including a destroyed nuclear facility in its wake, health officials are still exploring the continued impact of radiation exposure to Japanese residents as well as potential impacts to Americans from contaminated dust that has transferred across U.S. borders, according to session presenters. Radiation, even in low doses, can have significant adverse health effects and is known to stay in the body for a considerable time. Some materials, such as children’s shoes and car filters, can retain radioactive particulate matter over time. Exposures to radiation can occur through inhalation of dust particles containing radioactive elements, ingestion of contaminated food and skin contact. Through soil sampling in multiple regions in Japan, Boston (which is at the same latitude as the Fukushima disaster) and Seattle, researchers discovered varying levels of soil radiation. Weather patterns appear to be responsible, at least in part, for bringing radiation exposure from the Japanese disaster to the U.S.

Lessons learned from the disaster have significant implications for future response and planning around accidental destruction or damage to nuclear reactors. In the case of the Fukushima disaster, there was a 12-mile evacuation zone, which appears to be inadequate in protecting the public’s health, presenters said. Current U.S. standards require only a 10-mile zone for accidental airborne exposures that may occur as a result of nuclear reactions.

Session presenter Kathryn Bolles, who's with Save the Children, discussed the health challenges facing developing nations as a result of drought and famine as well as her organization’s efforts targeting East African populations. Food insecurity is rising as drought and famine have ravaged communities living in the Horn of Africa, she said. On an up note, Save the Children reported recent successes with interventions that have led to greater collaboration among nonprofit organizations serving the region, federal agencies and governments. The agencies and organizations have garnered proven results in their efforts to support local farmers, and now more supplies and mobile medical services are reaching those most in need.

Frontline public health workers are at the core of these preparedness and response efforts — keep up the great work friends!

— M.S.

Takin' it to the streets!

2011-10-31T13:47:00.005-04:00

The Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association Health Disparities Committee organized a rally for jobs, health care and racial equality today and invited APHA Annual Meeting attendees to join. Among this blogger's favorite chants was: When public health is under attack, what do we do? Act up! Fight back!

Right on!

Above, rally participants get ready to march. Photos by Kim Krisberg

Take a walk on the wild side

2011-10-31T11:46:00.006-04:00

“I’m not lost, I’m on an ‘adventure walk.”

The above tagline would have suited this blogger well on Sunday. Peering intently into her smartphone during a one-mile stroll, some passersby seemed poised to offer directions — not knowing that this blogger was not lost, but gathering clues on a Sherlock Holmes-style “adventure walk” through the streets surrounding the convention center. (And this wasn’t just any “adventure walk,” but one created just for her.)

Far from being up for running in Sunday’s Marine Corps Marathon, this middle-aged couch potato embarked on the one-mile, treasure hunt-style romp to see exactly what the Annual Meeting’s official physical activity was all about. Sponsored by APHA’s Physical Activity Special Primary Interest Group, the walks offer meeting-goers opportunities to break away from scientific sessions and take a walk on the wild side. All you need to participate in the walks are some comfy shoes and a curious mind. But unlike the master sleuth himself, your indispensable tool will not be a magnifying glass, but an iPhone.

Using a free iPhone app, Mobile Adventure Walks turns walking into a game. A cross between a treasure hunt and a neighborhood stroll, the app uses GPS coordinates to guide players along a one- to three-mile walk, all the while solving clues that will unlock their next stop along the route.

Created by San Francisco-based Shinobi Labs, the walks are intended to reach people who aren’t exactly regulars at the gym.

“That is really the whole goal,” Physical Activity SPIG member Ernie Medina, who co-founded Mobile Adventure Walks with Julie Price and Aaron Dence, said in a recent phone call. “We are trying to motivate inactive, sedentary people to be more physically active.”

A perfect fit for the project’s target audience, this blogger braved Sunday’s colder-than-normal temperatures to attempt a 0.97-mile jaunt with Price and Dence, as well as with Brendan Sinatro, an MPH candidate at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Sinatro created all of the walks that are available to meeting-goers. Also on hand for the walk was Physical Activity SPIG member Karen McDonnell, an associate professor of prevention and community health at the university. (Joe, a rabid Baltimore Ravens fan, also tagged along, choosing to get some exercise over sitting on the couch and watching his beloved team.)

In creating the customized walk, Sinatro agreed to incorporate this blogger’s four requests: That it be no longer than a mile and not too strenuous, and that it originate near the convention center and culminate at APHA’s headquarters at 800 I Street, N.W.

True to his word, Sinatro’s custom-made “adventure walk” began at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., directly across the street from the convention center. With Price’s iPhone in hand, this blogger clicked on “Take a Walk” and the fun began. The first question to appear on the smart phone’s screen read: “What is the name of the park where the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., sits?” A map then appeared, with a blue dot revealing the group’s coordinates and a route to follow. The route led the group to a blue sign in front of the building, and then three multiple choice answers popped up on the screen: 1. Convention Center park. 2. Mount Vernon Square. 3. Walter E. Washington Park. (We found the answer to the question — Mount Vernon Square — on the blue sign.)

As the group wound its way down 9th Street, other questions popped up, such as “Who sculpted the statue of the boy on a bucking blue horse at the entrance to the National Portrait Gallery?”

“We want to reframe how people feel about exercise,” Price said, adding that searching for clues and exploring their surroundings can help people “stop and smell the roses” without even realizing that they’re getting in some much-needed exercise.

Throughout the walk, Sinatro reaffirmed that it was a “real treat” to watch the group follow his creation. And speaking of treats, don’t miss the official “APHA Halloween Spooky Walk” tonight, which starts at 8 p.m. in front of the convention center. There will be another guided adventure walk on Tuesday at noon — meet at the taxi stand outside the convention center. And hey, if you don’t have an iPhone, no worries — there will be plenty of folks who do.

To download the free Mobile Adventure Walks application, visit www.mobileadventurewalks.com. As many as 12 walks ranging in length from one to three miles and encompassing a variety of themes are available for free to download. Players can earn points for prizes, as well as create their own walks through a user-friendly interface provided by the app’s developer. For even more info on Mobile Adventure Walks, visit the Physical Activity SPIG's booth at the Public Health Expo.

See you on the streets!

— T.J.

Above top, Mobile Adventure Walk guides; above bottom, our trusty APHA blogger goes on her Mobile Adventure Walk. Photos courtesy Teddi Johnson

Take APHA's Flu Near You Challenge!

2011-10-31T10:15:00.006-04:00

Are you ready to win and help better track the flu? Well, today's your lucky day.

At the Contagion Project event, which was held last night at the convention center, APHA officially launched its Flu Near You Challenge. Here's how it works: APHA's Get Ready campaign has partnered up with HealthMap and the Skoll Global Threats Fund to help track flu cases via a new online tracking tool known as Flu Near You. People use the online flu surveillance tool to report their flu symptoms and help create a dynamic map of the flu and its spread. Pretty neat, huh? In fact, these kinds of online surveillance tools — such as Google Flu Trends — are quickly emerging as a revolutionary way for public health practitioners to keep track of disease trends in as close to real time as possible.

So, what about the winning part, you say? Well, APHA and its partners want millions of people to take part in Flu Near You and that's where you come in. We want you to recruit as many people as possible who are willing to report their symptoms on a weekly basis via Flu Near You surveys. The top individual recruiter can win $25,000 at next year's APHA Annual Meeting and the top group recruiter can win $50,000 — no kidding!! Eligible participants must be 18 years of age and active APHA members through the end of the challenge. For all the challenge details, visit APHA's Flu Near You Challenge site or stop by the Get Ready booth at the Public Health Expo.

APHA announced the challenge during a lively session featuring a discussion with Larry Brilliant, a scientific consultant on the recent movie "Contagion," president of the Skoll Global Threats Fund and former executive director of Google.org. Brilliant showed clips from "Contagion," discussed his experience in helping to bring accurate public health storylines to the movie as well as his thoughts on the possibility of a global disease outbreak similar to the one that unfolded in "Contagion."

"This movie was not made for you," Brilliant told APHA Annual Meeting attendees. "It was made to celebrate you."

Register for the challenge before the Closing Session, which is 2 p.m. on Wednesday, and be entered to win an iPad.

For more on the Flu Near You Challenge, click here. For a behind-the-scenes look at "Contagion," check out this article from The Nation's Health.

— K.K.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:21:00.002-04:00

Why no costumes APHA-ers? It's Halloween!

P.S. I don't think that witch is wearing a seat belt. Someone call the injury prevention folks!

Photo courtesy iStockphoto

There's a whole lot of research going on

2011-10-31T08:58:00.004-04:00

Public health research is on full display at APHA’s poster sessions in the back section of the Public Health Expo. And despite the fact that presenters don’t have quite as much swag as your typical expo booth, these ladies and gentlemen offer some great food for thought on the latest public health research, policy considerations and health trends. The poster sessions cover nearly every health topic imaginable — this is a must see for old and new public health practitioners alike.

With the emphasis of Sunday’s Opening Session on the current crossroads in public health, you can’t help but stand in awe of all the critical work being done by health organizations and public health researchers on today’s most pressing issues as you walk the rows of posters on display.

Catherine Morrison is presenting research that aims to “better connect public health and Alzheimer’s.” Her research demonstrates that Alzheimer caregivers experience greater stress and health problems than other caregivers and according to Morrison, “Alzheimer’s is an under-recognized public health crisis, with nearly 5.4 million Americans living with the disease.” In addition to Morrison’s research, the Alzheimer’s Association has a second poster showing state policies that address Alzheimer’s and recommends public health involvement in guiding future plan development that involves using the 10 Essential Public Health Services framework.

Other featured posters include research on upstream intergenerational communication to increase positive health messages among black families; assessing birth outcomes of mothers living with HIV who go without prenatal care; and a study of how mobile applications have a significant role in injury prevention and emergency preparedness.

So when you have a chance, take a stroll through the poster sessions to learn more about these and other featured research studies.

— M.S.

Photos by Mira Schainker

Monday's Have You Heard — Special Halloween Edition!

2011-10-30T19:14:00.002-04:00

Brains!: While there (probably) won't be any brain-eating zombies at this session, the presenters at session 3032, "What We Eat in America," will be discussing all the unhealthy foods we should be eating less of. Join them at 8:30 a.m. (in the safety of daylight) in the Grand Ballroom North of the Renaissance Hotel.

Monster media: Get your good public health works in the news with tips from session 3119, "Media Advocacy: Breaking Through the Crowded News Cycle," from 10:30 a.m. to noon in room 156 of the convention center. Panelists include Washington Post reporter Sarah Kliff and MSNBC.com and Today.com medical reporter Rita Rubin.

Just say boo!: Join Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, at session 3310, "APHA President Session, 2011 National Drug Control Strategy: A Public Health Approach," at 2:30 p.m. in Renaissance Ballroom West B in the Renaissance Hotel.

Rocky Horror Public Health Picture Show: Feel like watchin' a movie? Then the Public Health Film Festival has all your visual delights, with public health offerings from here at home and abroad. Click here for a schedule of this year's film festival sessions.

Evil eye: Just kidding folks --- nothing but good vibes around here for APHA's Vision Care Section In fact, you should stop by the group's Dessert Reception and Champagne Toast honoring APHA President-elect Mel Shipp from 9 to 11 p.m. in Constitution Ballroom A of the Grand Hyatt. Congrats President Shipp!

Treats, not tricks

2011-10-30T17:47:00.008-04:00

Six staff members of the American Legacy Foundation spent an hour a day for six days gathering cigarette butts within a block radius of their D.C. office. Correctly guess how many cigarette butts are in the giant glass jar at their booth in the Public Health Expo and you’ll win a Kindle. Pretty cool, huh?

Legacy staff member Tina Morgan said she counted the butts herself (wearing a hazmat suit), and the idea of the exhibit is to draw attention to the environmental impact of tobacco use.

In some of the most creative twists on social marketing out there, a myriad of booths are offering fun public health swag (pocket-sized hand sanitizer containers, flashing signal lights, personalized breath mints and colorful ballpoint pens as far as the eye can see). Georgia Southern University has packs of peanuts, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine has a brain-shaped stress ball and the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Alaska-Anchorage is giving out packets of Forget-Me-Not seeds. Hey, it’s the state flower.

Admittedly no competition for the lively Vita-Mix demonstration going on in the next booth, two guys from the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service are offering a wealth of food safety information for special populations. Considering yesterday’s foul weather, the “Consumer’s Guide to Food Safety: Severe Storms & Hurricanes” caught this blogger’s eye. Did you know a refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about four hours and a full freezer for about 48 hours? But only if you don’t open the door.

The D.C. Department of Health ran out of “condom-mints” early in the day but hopes those who picked up the packages featuring one condom and two mints will take that idea back to their communities.

If you work in public health, stop by the This is Public Health booth to help out with their latest project, “I am Public Health.” They’re collecting profiles of public health professionals as a way to show those interested in the field what they can do with a public health degree.

The Beautiful Minds booth has life-sized photos of inspiring older Americans, such as 75-year-old Ernestine Shepherd of Baltimore, who transformed herself “from an average, middle-aged woman with a sedentary lifestyle into the World’s Oldest Performing Female Bodybuilder by Guinness World Records.”

The Office on Women’s Health booth has heart-shaped refrigerator magnets emblazoned with the signs of a heart attack. Central Michigan University has tire gauges and you can’t help but ask what’s behind the “Sex, Drugs and Mosquito Nets” tote bags at the Boston University School of Public Health booth.

The Public Health Expo runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday. What’s your favorite booth?

— D.C.

Above, a visitor at the This is Public Health booth at the Public Health Expo. Photo by Donya Currie

Book 'em Daschle

2011-10-30T17:19:00.003-04:00

Former Sen. Tom Daschle must have posed for hundreds of photos during Sunday afternoon’s book signing for “Getting it Done: How Obama and Congress Finally Broke the Stalemate to Make Way for Health Care Reform.”

“He has always kept true to his beliefs, and he’s really been an advocate for the right things,” said Cecelia Rokusek, who as a University of South Dakota student campaigned for Daschle. “He probably is one of the greatest leaders of our time.”

Oscar Alleyne said he bought the book and had his photo snapped with Daschle because he was “excited to meet a national leader who understands what we do in public health.”

Daschle graciously shook hands and posed for photo after photo with his admirers, some who were so flustered they almost walked away without the book. He asked two young public healthers, “So, what are your plans?” and listened with a delighted expression to each person.

“He’s a great guy,” APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin said as he walked by the book signing.

Pete Stewart, of Lake Worth, Fla., said Daschle is “what politicians should represent.”

Sarah Patrick was state epidemiologist in South Dakota when Daschle was senator and called him “a champion for the vulnerable. He has long lived many of the goals and aspirations of APHA.”

Cherry Morange had Daschle sign a book for her 72-year-old brother, Arnold, a long-time Daschle fan who’s battling prostate cancer.

“This is something that will be a memory forever,” Morange said with a grin.

Daschle said he admired his admirers.

“I’m in awe of so many people who are here because they’ve committed their lives to the cause, and that’s inspiring to me,” he said. “It really means a lot.”

And will we see universal coverage in America?

“I think necessity is going to drive it,” Daschle said. “We just have to create a far more efficient, far more equitable and far more accessible system than the one we have.”

— D.C.

Above, Tom Daschle smiles for the camera with a fan during his book signing at the Public Health Expo. Photo by Donya Currie

Join the movement!

2011-10-30T16:50:00.005-04:00

It's never too early to get a head start on next year's National Public Health Week celebration, which will take place April 2–8 with a theme of "A Healthier America Begins Today: Join the Movement!" Visit the National Public Health Week site today to download a brochure about next year's observance and sign up to receive free email updates. You can also visit the National Public Health Week booth, #4100, in the Public Health Expo.

'Stand up and insist on the impossible'

2011-10-30T16:23:00.015-04:00

Watch videos from this year's Opening Session on APHA's YouTube channel!

Community. It was the thread that tied this afternoon's Opening Session together. Whether it was mental illness, health policy, social justice, health reform or the nation's natural wonders, it all came back to community — back to the notion that we all rise and fall together, that together we can shape our futures into better ones.

First up: Healthy communities promote healthy minds. That's where Pamela Hyde, administrator of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, came in to make the case that behavioral health is today's No. 1 public health challenge. By 2020, she said, mental health and substance abuse disorders will surpass all physical diseases as a major cause of disability worldwide, and more than half of U.S. adults will develop at least one mental illness in their lifetimes. In addition, drug-related deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities, and deaths by suicide outnumber homicides and deaths from HIV/AIDS. One suicide happens in the United States every 15 minutes. (Wow. This blogger had no idea.)

Fortunately, community-based approaches do make a difference, Hyde said. Unfortunately, the majority of Americans living with mental illness and substance abuse disorders do not get the treatment they need. While most Americans know at least something about things like first aid and basic nutrition, most don't know the signs of addiction and mental illness. But we want to change that, Hyde told attendees, we want to take a public health approach to the problem and begin a national dialogue.

"We want to engage you around this wicked problem," she said. "There is no health without mental health."

Next up: Healthy communities promote healthy bodies. Introducing Jonathan Jarvis, 18th director of the National Park Service. Now, you're probably asking yourself: What's this park ranger doing at the Opening Session? Well, it turns out the National Park Service wants to help you prevent poor health (and forest fires, of course.)

"There is a connection between our public lands and public health," Jarvis said, adding that the agency is now engaged in efforts to bring the outdoors into the public health discussion.

A few of those efforts include a pilot program that encourages park concessioners to offer nutritious, locally grown food; Park Prescriptions, which provides materials to health professionals that they can pass along to patients about places to enjoy the outdoors (Jarvis said he likes to call the effort "take a hike and call me in the morning"); and Let's Move Outside, a campaign administered by the U.S. Department of Interior. Today, Jarvis said, the National Park Service is seeking new partnerships in the health community to help strengthen the connections between public lands and the opportunities for better health.

"When you consider the power of the outdoors...you simply cannot come up with a health care investment that will yield a better return," he said.

Now it's time to tie it all together: Advocacy promotes healthy communities, minds and bodies. This may be the most frustrating part, especially in today's political climate. Luckily, we're witnessing transformative changes thanks to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, said session speaker Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senate majority leader. While we've still not convinced all Americans that "good health should be a right, not an option," there is consensus on a number of issues, such as the lack of transparency in the health system and the need for payment reform, he said. Whether we're successful in bringing prevention, health and wellness to all will depend on five factors, Daschle said: resiliency, innovation, engagement, advocacy and collaboration.

"We need you," he urged attendees. "The question is, will you be here?"

We will if APHA President Linda Rae Murray has anything to do about it.

"Stand up and insist on the impossible," she told Opening Session attendees. "Demand freedom now, demand peace now, demand justice now."

So, fair readers, what did you think of this year's Opening Session?

P.S. Check out videos from this year's Opening Session at APHA's YouTube channel.

P.P.S. Check out more Opening Session coverage over at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's NewPublicHealth.org.

— K.K.

Above, from top to bottom: Opening Session speakers Tom Daschle, Jonathan Jarvis and Pamela Hyde. Photos courtesy Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

A little birdie told me so: Tweet of the day

2011-10-30T14:33:00.006-04:00

Today's tweet of the day among those of you using the hashtag #apha11 is in reference to Opening Session speaker Jonathan Jarvis, director of the National Park Service, and it's a good one.

From Twitterer shokufeh: My new celebrity park ranger boyfriend: Jonathan Jarvis.

Hey! I saw him first!

Hello, my name is....

2011-10-30T11:10:00.003-04:00

“You always come out of this conference with a wealth of knowledge,” said Larissa Estes, a three-time APHA Annual Meeting attendee from Houston, Texas, who was looking over the final program with colleague Robert Hines outside the registration area in the Washington Convention Center this morning.

Rise Goldstein, from Bethesda, Md., is presenting a poster on mental health research tomorrow and said the meeting gives her a chance to network and learn.

“I’m looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues I haven’t seen in many years and wanting to see what’s new in the world, professionally,” she said.

That professional teaching is a key draw for many, including Theresa Mieh, an HIV/AIDS researcher from State College, Pa.

“I’m here to listen to presentations from experts in the field and learn from them to see how to better my own research,” she said.

Richard Chambers, who works for Pfizer and is from Collegeville, Pa., said lessons learned from the biostatistics sessions at past APHA Annual Meetings have translated to positive changes at his workplace. He said the statistics-related sessions at APHA touch on topics not found elsewhere, such as dealing with large populations and missing data.

“If a group stays among themselves, the thinking stays inbred,” Chambers said about the importance of attending a meeting where diverse ideas circulate. “We have to mix and mingle to keep people from thinking in silos.”

Patricia Daugherty, a newly minted MPH and new APHA member from Blacksburg, Va. (go, Hokies!), was excited but a bit overwhelmed while perusing the Annual Meeting program this morning.

“I hope to take away a whole lot more knowledge from different aspects of public health,” she said. “I also brought my resume and I’m hoping to have someone critique it. And I’m looking for a job.”

New member Benjamin Keeney from the University of Washington is both presenting two posters and participating in an oral session, but also hopes to spend the next few days “learning a lot, meeting new people, soaking it in.”

If you’re in need of some help navigating the meeting, come to the New Member/First-Timer Orientation session from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Salon H of the convention center. What do you hope to take away from this year’s meeting (besides public health swag from the Expo)? Let us know in the comments section below.

— D.C.

Walking the walk

2011-10-30T10:27:00.004-04:00

Saturday’s frigid downpour didn’t stop members of the APHA Community Health Planning and Policy Development Section from taking some good public health intentions and putting them into action.

“I just love it when people will take a risk on something that’s kinda out there,” said Tony DeLucia, a professor at East Tennessee State University, who led a very wet walking audit of a neighborhood near Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church in southeast D.C.

DeLucia was among nine public healthers who braved the wind and rain to learn how to assess sidewalks, streets and crosswalks for pedestrian access.

The crosswalk at Pennsylvania Avenue and 30th Street, for example, was well-marked and had a crossing signal that included an audible alert. Yet the group of nine barely made it across the intersection before the light changed. Most sidewalks were well-maintained, but some ended abruptly.

DeLucia plans to give audit results to community leaders in the area. In 2008, a study found that 42 percent of residents living in the area had high blood pressure — the highest rate in the District — and 40 percent are obese.

Turnout might have been light as far as local residents taking advantage of the health fair and healthy foods market inside the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church, but the event brought people together for what looks like some lasting collaboration. In fact, medical students from D.C.'s Howard University plan to work with the local group Dreaming Out Loud in the future to offer free health screenings in the city’s under-served communities.

“I’m happy and impressed,” Howard University medical student Valerie Lerebours said about the 16 students who were on hand from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. to offer blood pressure and blood glucose checks, glaucoma screenings and body weight measurements. “It’s a great way to actually implement what we learn.”

Many Howard and Georgetown University medical students were volunteering side by side for the first time, something many of them hope to continue.

“Even though we’re in the same city, we don’t work together as much as we should,” said Brad Grant, associate dean of Howard University's College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Science.

Grant said he has reached out to some of his students to participate in a future community mural painting project and will be giving the keynote speech at tonight’s CHPPD Section Social, which is slated for 6:30-8:30 p.m. at 920 U St. ($10 donation suggested).

CHPPD Section Chair Amy Carroll-Scott said she’d like the community outreach activity to become a yearly event involving more APHA sections.

“Everybody’s doing great things in their communities, and then we come to the Annual Meeting and talk about it, but don’t do anything,” she said.

But the fact that scores of volunteers showed up yesterday to highlight healthy eating and exercise and offer screenings “shows we can mobilize and do it again," she said.

— D.C.

Above, Tony DeLucia, far left, leads fellow public health practitioners on a walking audit of a neighborhood in southeast Washington, D.C. Photo by Donya Currie

The bright future of public health

2011-10-30T09:30:00.017-04:00

Students from around the country gathered for the annual National Student Meeting yesterday, all drawn to the field of public health for various reasons. We met up with just a few of the hundreds of students in attendance at the event, which was organized by the APHA Student Assembly, to find out more about their personal motivations for pursuing studies in public health.

“As a teen parent, I went through the prenatal process and experienced first-hand the shortcomings of the health care system. I personally experienced a lot of barriers, so I don’t want others to go through the same thing I did. I want to bridge the gaps between the health care system and teen parents.”
Brittany Chambers, Oakland, Calif.
Second-year MPH student, California State University – Fresno

“After my undergrad, I applied and got into USF. Once I got into the master’s program, I loved it. I really enjoyed it. I got my degree in global health practice. After that I took a year off and worked in the field before applying to the PhD program. After schooling, I hope to make a difference.”
Pam Guevara, Tampa, Fla.
PhD candidate, University of South Florida

“My interest in public health started with an interest in my personal health. Through my studies, I learned of all the problems with behavior and how that affects people’s health. So with knowledge from the public health field, I want to be in a position to help other people, especially other students and people my age.”
Renzo Meza, Gaithersburg, Md.
Psychology and public health major, University of Maryland - Baltimore County

“I studied anthropology in undergrad. I took a public health class and immediately thought it was for me. I got my MPH at UCLA and took a year off to work in eastern Kentucky, where I was exposed to rural health issues. I was finding there were a lot of needs in the community and I could incorporate anthropology and public health.”
Julia Caldwell
PhD candidate, University of California – Los Angeles

“When I was in a refugee camp in Sudan, I saw one person who made a difference in our lives. He was an Ethiopian doctor who helped with a cholera outbreak. He called on me to help translate for him. When I saw how one individual made such an impact on so many people, I was inspired.”
John Mabior, originally from south Sudan
Public health major, University of Maryland – Baltimore County

“Since I was 14, I was interested in health. My dad works in health promotion, and I’ve always been interested and passionate about living a healthy life. I want to help others to do the same. Eventually, I want to change the world! I’d really like to work with organizations to help others live healthier lives. I’ll be applying to doctoral programs soon. I have an end goal, but I’m not quite sure about the ‘how’ just yet.”
Allison O’Donnell, West Bloomfield, Mich.
Second-year MPH student, University of Michigan

— L.R.

Photos by Lalaine Ricardo

Celebrate good times

2011-10-30T08:52:00.005-04:00

Members from APHA's affiliated state and regional public health associations celebrated their colleagues' accomplishments and enjoyed the festivities at the annual APHA Committee on Affiliates reception and awards ceremony, which was held Saturday night.

Above, CoA reception attendees smile for the camera. Click! Photos courtesy Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

Sunday's Have You Heard

2011-10-29T18:24:00.004-04:00

Yes, We're Open!: Come one, come all to the APHA 139th Annual Meeting Opening Session! We've got some big speakers lined up for what is sure to be an energizing kick-off. This year's speakers include former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle; Jonathan Jarvis, the 18th director of the National Park Service; Pamela Hyde, administrator of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; and Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Opening Session takes place from noon to 2 p.m. in the lower level of Exhibit Hall A in the Washington Convention Center.

Get your goody bag ready: The nearly 700 booths at this year's Public Health Expo will be ready to welcome you with open arms, tons of information and, yes, lots of free stuff. So clear some space in your APHA meeting bag for public health goodies galore. Expo booths run the gamut, including schools of public health, federal and state public health agencies, nonprofit organizations, book publishers as well as APHA membership groups. The expo opens right after Sunday's Opening Session at 2 p.m. in Exhibit Halls D/E of the Washington Convention Center.

Overwhelmed?: No worries, we're here to help. Check out the New Member/First-Timer Orientation session from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Salon H of the convention center to help you organize your schedule and hear from seasoned Annual Meeting attendees.

Raise your voice!: Thinking about taking a trip to the halls of Capitol Hill to advocate on behalf of a healthy America? Then don't miss Sunday's session 177 at 2 p.m. in room 140A of the convention center to learn about "Training for Hill Visits on APHA Priorities." Then, visit APHA's Annual Meeting Hill Visits site for all you need for a successful visit with your member of Congress.

Going viral: Looking for a little mystery? Check out The Contagion Project event on Sunday at 6 p.m. in Salon A/B/C of the convention center and hear from Dr. Larry Brilliant, a scientific consultant to the recent movie "Contagion," president of the Skoll Global Threats Fund, and founder and director of the Seva Foundation, a global organization that works to eliminate preventable blindness, among many other accomplishments. Hear about the science behind "Contagion" and an exciting new challenge for APHA members. Will you go viral to help?

Two tweets are better than one: Meet your fellow Twitterers at the APHA Tweetup at 7 p.m. at restaurant 901, which is located at 901 9th St., NW, just a few steps away from the convention center. Tell them a little birdie sent you.

Chemical exposé

2011-10-29T18:10:00.006-04:00

“There’s definitely a cry here — all of us know we need to be doing better,” Nsedu Witherspoon, executive director of the Children’s Environmental Health Network, told a group of public healthers attending a Saturday Annual Meeting session on Public Health and Chemical Exposures in the 21st Century: Moving from Conversation to Action. “We really encourage you to think outside the box. Think creatively.”

And for the next hour, attendees broke into small groups and did just that. The target was to find ways to move forward on the recommendations of “Addressing Public Health and Chemical Exposures: An Action Agenda.” Some session attendees discussed ways to improve public health education and engagement, others talked about ways to expand health professional capacity or highlight community health and wellness. This blogger sat in on a discussion that focused on prevention and emergencies.

“There’s stuff in this action agenda for all of us to do,” said APHA member Montrece Ransom, who helped lead the discussion at one table.

And when it comes to existing activities that can be harnessed in the effort to reduce harmful chemical exposures, “some of them are big elephants, and we have to consider little bites,” Ransom said.

Christopher Portier, director of the National Center for Environmental Health, suggested the idea of a smartphone app that would allow consumers to scan a code in the store and find out how that paint, cleanser or other product fared on an environmental toxin scale. Other ideas included a one-stop shop for public health workers interested in environmental health issues and coordinated efforts to lay out best practices in limiting children’s exposure to toxic chemicals.

APHA’s Environment Section plans to continue the conversation during their 8-11:30 a.m. Sunday Business Meeting in Renaissance Meeting Room 16, and you’re invited. A workgroup to address the specific issue of moving the action agenda forward could help “make sure this doesn’t just stay on clipboards,” Witherspoon said.

— D.C.

Above, Christopher Portier, director of the National Center for Environmental Health, talks about ways to prevent harmful chemical exposures. Photo courtesy Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

The healer's journey

2011-10-29T17:36:00.012-04:00

The 7th Annual National Student Meeting opened today with a thunderous African drumbeat that shook the room. Plenary speaker Tambra Raye Stevenson then asked all the students to stand up, make fists with their hands and beat on their gut while inhaling and exhaling.

“Breath is life,” she said. “Without breath you are lifeless.”

Stevenson also led chest exercises to help everyone “open up their hearts.”

The exercises certainly got everyone’s blood pumping, but also served to highlight one of Stevenson’s main points, which is to tap into a part of us that normally isn’t awake. Years ago, when Stevenson thought she had made it in life — she had just finished her graduate studies and was working in Washington, D.C. — she felt something was missing in her pursuit of the American dream. On a whim, she took an acting class and discovered that it helped her look deep into herself to find that dormant piece.

“I found inspiration,” she said.

That inspiration led her start-up Creative Cause Inc. in Washington, D.C., where she now serves as its director.

Using creative talents such as drawing, painting, writing, dancing and acting can help us nurture the creative part that exists in all of us in order to find the inspiration needed to help others.

“If you want to make a difference, you will need to tap into your creative side,” she said.

She asked student attendees to continually reflect and remember why they are in the field of public health. “You will find on your journey you will need something deeper to feel fulfilled in life” and drawing on your inspiration will help you navigate the bumpy road ahead, she said.

“I was told not to go into public health to make money,” she said. “But I challenge that. Why not be entrepreneurial?”

She encouraged students to pursue fields that may complement public health work, such as social entrepreneurship, the arts and writing. Public health approaches should be creative and draw on different fields in order to be successful — students should open up the creative right side of the brain to help the more analytic left side come up with innovative solutions, she said.

Stevenson gave her address, “The Healer’s Journey: From Healing Thyself to Thy Community,” in front of a couple hundred student members of APHA’s Student Assembly, which organized the Annual National Student Meeting.

Learn more about Stevenson at twitter.com/tambra or email her at tambra@creativecause.org.

— L.R.

Top above, National Student Meeting plenary speaker Tambra Raye Stevenson; top middle and bottom, student meeting attendees take in the presentations. Photos courtesy Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

Learning curves

2011-10-29T16:03:00.006-04:00

“…OK, so you have to do the math.”

“That’s an interesting question…”

“What’s the denominator?”

Nope, APHA wasn’t hosting math tutorials Saturday. At least not the kind of math tutorials you remember from high school.

Instead, a wide range of public health professionals were sitting at round tables during one of the APHA Annual Meeting’s Learning Institutes, working their way through a series of questions from their instructor, Joy Nanda, DSc, MS, MHS, MBA.

Nanda has taught Epidemiology for Nonepidemiologists (Learning Institute 1004) before, but this year he has tweaked the two-day program to allow time for more collaboration between students.

And so after a morning of lectures and PowerPoint slides on everything from the Greek roots of the word “epidemiology” (literally “the study of epidemics”) to the relationship between incidence and prevalence, participants put their heads together to see what they learned.

For one question, students were told to suppose they were epidemiologists in Kenya studying the effects of tuberculosis on health. There had been 28,142 new cases of TB in the last year, and the population at risk was 29,137,000. What, Nanda wanted to know, is the incidence rate of TB per 100,000? And furthermore, what other outcomes should the epidemiologists measure?

Nanda said about 20 percent of the students in this class, which is one of the most popular Learning Institutes, are physicians. Others are public health practitioners, students and psychologists. Once, he taught the dean of a school of public health who was looking to be able to hold his own in conversations with epidemiologists, Nanda said. Others just want to brush up on skills they learned years ago.

“What you’re going to get in these two days is to see what epidemiologists do and what is it about and how it is relevant,” Nanda told the group of about 60.

Nearly 600 people registered for APHA’s 19 Learning Institutes, held this Saturday and Sunday. Topics ranged from an introduction to mathematical modeling to how to support faculty, graduate students and post-docs so they can succeed as community-engaged scholars.

Courses range from $25 to $340, and participants can earn up to six continuing education credit hours.

Rae Starr, MPhil, a biostatistician from Los Angeles, is attending his second Annual Meeting and his second Learning Institute.

“It’s an effective way to get training,” he said, explaining that it makes more economic sense to seek training at a conference he’s already attending than to try to find training elsewhere, which might require another plane flight and hotel stay.

He said he chooses carefully when taking CE courses, looking for instructors with impressive credentials to determine whether it will be a “high quality” experience.

Did you participate in APHA's Learning Institutes? Let us know what you thought in the comments section.

— C.T.

A little birdie told me so: Tweet of the day

2011-10-29T13:40:00.005-04:00

To show our social media thanks to those of you using the Twitter hashtag #apha11, we'll be posting a Tweet of the Day today through Wednesday.

Today's shout-out goes to Twitterer (is that a word?) BlondeScientist, who tweeted: Let the games begin! On my way to #APHA11!

In case of spare time

2011-10-29T11:59:00.014-04:00

Asian fusion, Cuban fare, upscale sandwiches, an honest burger, vegetarian delights and a cornucopia of U.S. history. There might be as many places to eat and sightsee within walking distance of the Washington Convention Center as there are APHA-ers.

One of this blogger’s favorite places in the universe is the Smithsonian Sculpture Garden, so when the weather clears, head over to Constitution and 7th Street and see what you think. The National Mall itself is 15 minutes away on foot or an easy Metro ride to the Smithsonian station. The National Building Museum is even closer at 5th and G streets.

The National Portrait Gallery at F and 7th streets is another local favorite; the International Spy Museum is across the street at 800 F St.; and the famed Ford’s Theatre is at 511 10th St. Has anybody been to the National Museum of Crime and Punishment at the corner of F and 6th streets?

Foodwise, the closest grocery store is Safeway at 490 L St. Local eateries run from the basic (Five Guys burgers and fries near 9th and L streets) to the entertaining (wear a costume to Cuba Libre’s Mischief Halloween Party tonight at 801 9th St. and receive reduced admission, but the dancing doesn’t start until 11 p.m.). Asia Spice at 8th and H streets near the Chinatown arch has a reputation for great food and their Halloween decorations include a giant, sparkly spiderweb in the front entrance. A local Washingtonian said 901 at 901 Ninth St. has a “nice atmosphere cocktail hour,” and other recommendations include Busboys and Poets at 5th and K streets, where quite a few APHA-related receptions are scheduled this week; the Korean restaurant Mandu, on K Street between 4th and 5th; and for tasty vegetarian options as well as freshly carved turkey sandwiches and salads, Café Phillips at 7th and K streets.

By the way, did you know two corners of the Washington Convention Center are points one and two of the 17-point Shaw Heritage Trail? Each point features an informational sign delving into the rich history of this part of the city. Consider this excerpt from the sign at point two:

“Over time, the shops of Seventh and Ninth streets became a bargain-rate alternative to downtown’s fancy department stores. There were juke joints, Irish saloons, storefront evangelists, delicatessens, and dozens of schools and houses of worship.”

Those of you who’d like to explore a bit more of the city might consider Capital Bikeshare, which also has a Spotcycle mobile app for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry devices to pinpoint more than 100 stations across the city to pick up and drop off bicycles, and there’s a station just outside the convention center at 7th and M streets. Buy a 24-hour Bikeshare membership for $5 or a five-day membership for $15. Trip costs vary depending on the duration.

One indoor exercise option is The Bar Method D.C. at 750 9th St., NW. Pay $10 for your first, one-hour class, then $24 per class after that. Though Esquire magazine said, “The Bar Method employs killer muscle-building poses,” so one class might suffice.

Anyone else know of some good local spots to visit? Let us know in the comments section!

— D.C.

Above, some very damp Bikeshare bicycles waiting to be taken out for a ride. Photo by Donya Currie

Welcome to Washington, D.C.!

2011-10-29T10:18:00.002-04:00

Well, today's weather may be frightful, but the public health energy inside the convention center is quickly warming things up. And, hey, that donkey sure looks happy to see us!

Sculptures of D.C.'s ubiquitous donkey and elephant symbols inside the cozy Washington Convention Center. Photo by Donya Currie

Decisions, decisions

2011-10-19T14:25:00.007-04:00

It's about this time that you're probably starting to organize your schedule for the upcoming APHA 139th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. (Or if you're more like me, the situation is better described with the words "freak out about" instead of "organize.") There's just so much great stuff going on. In fact, there's more going on than you might think....

A FEW GOOD HIGHLIGHTS

— Chemical reactions: On Saturday, Oct. 29, APHA will host "Public Health and Chemical Exposures in the 21st Century: Moving from Conversation to Action," a strategy session focused on recommendations included in "Addressing Public Health and Chemical Exposures: An Action Agenda." The interactive session will feature remarks from Dr. Christopher Portier, director of the National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, as well as Nsedu Witherspoon, executive director of the Children's Environmental Health Network. The session runs from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Renaissance Hotel, which is right across the street from the Washington Convention Center. RSVP for the session at nationalconversation@cdc.gov.

— Book 'em: APHA Press will be hosting a number of book signings at the Everything APHA booth inside the Public Health Expo. A few of the notable authors that will be on hand include former Sen. Tom Daschle, author of “Getting It Done," on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.; longtime APHA member Linda Landesman, author of "Public Health Management of Disasters, Third Edition," on Sunday from 2 to 2:30 p.m. and Monday from noon to 12:30 p.m.; and UCLA professor Richard Jackson, author of "Designing Healthy Communities," on Monday at 10:15 a.m. APHA staff will also be around to answer your questions about publishing with APHA Press.

— Job hunt: APHA's Public Health CareerMart will be offering one-on-one career coaching sessions for Annual Meeting attendees at booth 3051 in the Public Health Expo. For more info or to reserve a spot, click here.

— Bliss out: Take a minute to relax at the Annual Meeting's newest gathering place, the PHocal Point, which will be located on the third floor of the Washington Convention Center. Check out the meditation room, get a massage and then capture your newly blissed out face in the PHun Photos area. Click here for a schedule.

— Walk the walk: APHA's Physical Activity Special Primary Interest Group is encouraging people to take advantage of Mobile Adventure Walks during the Annual Meeting as well as participate in a competition between APHA Sections and SPIGs. A Mobile Adventure Walk is a free iPhone app that turns walking into a game, giving participants clues to solve to uncover the next stop on the walking route. The walks can be done on one's own or with a partner. A group adventure walk will take place on Halloween night at 8 p.m. Stop by the Physical Activity SPIG's booth at the Public Health Expo for more info.

— Just tweet it: Social media! It's everywhere! You can't escape! Good thing too, because it's also one of the best ways to keep track of what's going on, catch up on what you missed and keep the conversation going well after the day is done. APHA's social media team will be blogging (yup, from this very blog...so subscribe for free daily updates!), tweeting from APHA's Annual Meeting and Public Health Twitter feeds, posting to Facebook, showing off your pearly smiles on APHA's Flickr page and uploading videos to APHA's YouTube Channel. Click here for all the social media details. If you'll be tweeting from the meeting, don't forget to use hashtag #apha11. And feel free to upload your pics to APHA's Flickr Pool.

For more details on this year's happenings, visit APHA's Annual Meeting site as well as the online meeting program.

Make some noise!

2011-10-10T11:13:00.003-04:00

"They need to hear you and they need to fear you."

— Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm during her opening session presentation at APHA's 2011 Midyear Meeting in Chicago this past June

First, let me give you a little context for the above quote. It came near the end of an energizing speech about Granholm's experience as a legislator and her frustrations with the U.S. health care system. She urged the public health audience to help stage an intervention in the name of social justice and to hold policy-makers accountable for decisions that undercut the opportunities for good health and well-being. She was quite adamant, in fact. Let your voice be known among the decision-makers, she said, "they need to hear you and they need to fear you." Sounds like a call to action to this blogger and what better place than Washington, D.C., to put words into action.

During this year's Annual Meeting in the nation's capital, consider taking a trip to the halls of Congress and advocating on behalf of public health. APHA has all the tips and info you need for a fruitful visit with your member of Congress. Go to APHA's Annual Meeting Hill Visits site to view a webinar about setting up and attending visits on Capitol Hill; download a sample email that you can use to request a meeting with your representative; print out fact sheets on a variety of public health issues that you can leave with your representative and use as talking points; and take a peek at APHA's 2010 congressional voting record to see how your representative voted on key public health legislation. After your hill meeting, take a minute to answer our survey and let us know how it went.

Still a little nervous about a one-on-one visit? Check out Annual Meeting session 177 on Sunday, Oct. 30, which will focus on "Training for Hill Visits on APHA Priorities." And take advantage of APHA's Advocacy Track at the Annual Meeting for all you need to know to keep the advocacy train running year round (see the handy graphic below).

As many of you know, it's a pivotal time for public health in America and our voices can make a difference. Lawrence Wallack, dean of Portland State University's College of Urban and Public Affairs, said it much better during his closing session presentation at APHA's 2011 Midyear Meeting: "Each of us needs to speak our values so that others understand that our well-being is rooted in the community."

How about it readers? Ready to raise your voice?

P.S. Grab some unsalted popcorn and check out Granholm's and Wallack's entire speeches on APHA's YouTube channel. There's nothing like a good speech to get the advocacy sparks flyin'!

Let the countdown begin...

2011-08-26T11:08:00.002-04:00

The August heat is finally starting to let up and soon summer will wave goodbye. Kids are returning to school, families are squeezing in one last trip to the beach and soon this blogger will no longer be able to defend flip-flops as formal wear. But that's okay because it also means that the world's oldest and largest gathering of public health professionals is right around the corner!

It's that time of year again, folks. Time to get ready (and pumped!) for APHA's 139th Annual Meeting and Exposition, which will take place Oct. 29–Nov. 2 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., just a stone's throw from APHA headquarters. This year's meeting theme is "Healthy Communities Promote Healthy Minds & Bodies." It's quite the timely focus as public health practitioners nationwide engage in new health reform-related opportunities to improve community health and continue their efforts to transform all communities into places that support and encourage healthy choices.

As always, the meeting's hundreds of scientific sessions will cover the public health spectrum, with offerings for every public health discipline. Along with learning about the latest and greatest in public health efforts, research and advocacy, Annual Meeting attendees can take part in a variety of social and networking events, earn continuing education credits, get career advice, cheer on colleagues during APHA's annual awards ceremony, mix and mingle with new and old pals, and peruse the 700 booths at the meeting's Public Health Exposition. And after your last session of the day (if you're not too exhausted from the public health-palooza that is the APHA Annual Meeting), you can avail yourself of Washington, D.C.'s impressive national treasures, culinary delights and diverse neighborhoods.

Some great speakers are lined up for this year's gathering as well. The meeting's opening session will feature addresses from former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle; Jonathan Jarvis, director of the National Park Service; and Pamela Hyde, administrator of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The meeting's closing session will focus on "The case for workplace health and safety: 100 years after the Triangle Fire" and will feature David Michaels, U.S. assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, among other speakers.

The APHA Annual Meeting is a buzzing hive of activities — in fact, saying there's a lot going on is seriously an understatement. But, no worries. APHA's social media team is here to help. Just like public health, we'll be everywhere, all the time, blogging, tweeting, facebooking (is that a word?), snapping photos and taking videos to keep you in the loop. This very blog will be back for its fifth year to bring you all the public health news that's fit to print. In fact, you should start following APHA's Annual Meeting Twitter today for regular updates and tips on meeting activities. The meeting hashtag is #apha11.

Visit the APHA Annual Meeting site for all the details, including registration and housing info, the online program and personal program scheduler, D.C. travel tips and much, much more.

See ya in the nation's capital!

P.S. As you've probably noticed, this year's APHA Annual Meeting takes place during Halloween. Anyone out there planning a public health-themed costume? Let us know in the comments section. Trick or (nutritious) treat!

Let's talk community

2011-08-22T15:00:00.005-04:00

Your trusty APHA meeting bloggers are back and gearing up for an exciting Annual Meeting.

The 139th APHA Annual Meeting, which will take place Oct. 29–Nov. 2 just a few blocks from APHA headquarters in Washington, D.C., will welcome thousands of public health practitioners from around the nation and the world. This year's meeting, which has a theme of "Healthy Communities Promote Healthy Minds & Bodies," will offer hundreds of scientific sessions and the opportunity to learn about today's cutting-edge public health efforts. Believe me, you don't wanna miss it. Visit APHA for all the details as well as registration and housing info.

More updates are coming, so check back here soon! And click here to sign up to have free blog updates sent directly to your email account. How easy is that?

'This is about who we are as a people’

2011-06-25T14:24:00.004-04:00

How should we craft our message?

That was the main question of the Closing Session of APHA's 2011 Midyear Meeting in Chicago, which welcomed more than 600 attendees. And what an interesting question it is. Think about it: Why — with so many facts, so much data and with other countries soaring past us in the health statuses of their populations — why is there so much controversy and pushback to efforts to fix an obviously broken health system? Why doesn't the argument that we're all in this together — that when one person is lifted, we're all lifted — resonate more widely? Why, why, why don't the facts of our current health situation trigger a massive outcry from every corner of the nation?!?!?!

Well, we've totally been asking the wrong question and talking the wrong language, according to Closing Session speaker Lawrence Wallack, dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University, who said that while "we believe deep down that the facts will set us free and that data will win the day," the facts actually matter much less than we think. Wallack's speech was an inspiring and thought-provoking moment — one that made this blogger both more hopeful for public health and yet, increasingly frustrated that public health successes can't speak more plainly for themselves. (And as a traditionally trained journalist, having someone affirm that facts matter less and less just made me sad.)

Wallack told attendees that while health reform supporters use controlling costs as a way of persuading the public to support reform, opponents secretly rejoice. Confused? Wallack explains it perfectly: Reformers keep thinking that there's a cost-related answer that will satisfy the opposition. When all along, the only answer that will satisfy the opposition is one that won't even solve the problem. It's a never-ending discussion with no end point that provides a perfect distraction.

"The reformers," Wallack said, "are trapped in their own question."

On the other side, opponents of health reform are occupied with entirely different questions — ones about freedom and the roles of government. And in an argument about costs vs. freedom, freedom always wins, Wallack said. At the end of the day, it's about what words mean, not what words we say, he said. (Isn't that just the greatest way to put it?)

So where do we go from here? First we need to correct our fundamental errors and start making better arguments about what kind of country we are and what kind of values guide us, Wallack said. The real issue is how we define fairness; how do we create messages that reflect public health's social justice values, Wallack said.

"This is about who we are as a people," he said.

In sending off the attendees of this year's Midyear Meeting, APHA's Dr. Georges Benjamin said to get passionate about social justice and health care. His presentation nicely complemented sentiments of the session's first speaker, Assistant U.S. Surgeon General James Galloway, who noted that reform can "bring us to the pinnacle of public health."

"We are angry and we're not going to take it anymore," Benjamin said. "The health of Americans is too darn important."

You got that right!

Don't forget to join us in October for APHA's 139th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., where the theme of the meeting will be "Healthy Communities Promote Healthy Minds and Bodies." Click here for registration info. And, of course, your devoted APHA bloggers and this very blog will be in D.C. to cover all of the exciting events.

See you in the nation's capital!

Above, Lawrence Wallack, Georges Benjamin and James Galloway help close the 2011 APHA Midyear Meeting. Photo by Michele Late

The art of public health storytelling

2011-06-25T14:00:00.002-04:00

Rise and shine! How about some speed dating to start off our final day in Chicago? In one of this morning’s APHA Midyear Meeting breakouts, Engaging Policy-makers and Other Leaders: How Public Employees Can Advocate Effectively for Public Health and Prevention, we were asked to turn to our neighbors and share stories about the work we are involved with back home. We were instructed to use words such as “children,” “health” and “local” to better connect rather than use professional jargon. In other words, use ‘people-speak’ not ‘brand-speak.’

Guided by Senior Vice President for Public Health at Burness Communications Chuck Alexander, our little get-to-know-you exercise was really a lesson in the art of storytelling.

Elizabeth Wenk, also of Burness Communications, underscored the importance in storytelling particularly when backing up your message on Capitol Hill.

“Policy-makers really care about how an issue is impacting their constituents. The more we can push stories is how we’ll make improvements in prevention and public health,” said Wenk.

“Our parents didn’t put us to bed at night reading a Census book,” she said.

Wenk reasoned that a personal story is just a piece (albeit important) of the full pie. She says the way to really drive home a message is to weave a story through data.

“The more that we can be pushing stories into public health officials’ vernacular, that’s when we’re really going to make a difference,” said Wenk. “It’s knowing your audience. It’s figuring out what is really going to resonate with this audience.”

Hey, that reminds me of a great “storytelling” video that APHA put together. In case you need a little inspiration, give it a look.

Public health in the headlines

2011-06-25T10:26:00.003-04:00

A new report APHA released in concert with its Midyear Meeting assessing the state of the public health workforce under health reform caught the attention of reporters yesterday. Check out some of the great coverage.

Associated Press: Many health provisions in Affordable Care Act have not received funding

The Boston Globe: Daily Check Blog

Modern Healthcare: APHA: Lack of funding jeopardizes reform-law goals

The Hill: News bites: public health workers needed

To protect and serve

2011-06-25T09:43:00.003-04:00

Friday afternoon's session on Protecting Impacted Public Health Programs at APHA’s 2011 Midyear Meeting was both encouraging and frustrating...which is not surprising. In the field of public health, those two words probably go together just as well as peanut butter and jelly.

When it comes to vaccines, Alexandra Stewart, assistant research professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, said the health reform law could go far in promoting vaccination. For example, health insurance plans offered via the new state health insurance exchanges will be required to cover — with no cost sharing — all vaccines recommended by the national Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Also, states that decide to offer such recommended vaccines via their Medicaid programs will be eligible for a boost in federal Medicaid matching funds, Stewart said.

The health reform-related vaccine provisions could help fill woeful (and frankly, short-sighted) state funding gaps. For instance, Stewart noted, Alaska has eliminated funds for adult vaccines; California cut $18 million from its vaccine program; North Carolina withdrew all funding from its universal childhood vaccine program; and in Indiana, county health departments are prohibited from administering government-purchased vaccines to children who have insurance. But with the promise of health reform far from a sure thing, the gains and successes the U.S. has achieved in vaccination rates could be in trouble.

In the field of HIV/AIDS prevention and care, health reform presents the same kind of nervous hope. The law has the potential to reduce barriers to HIV screening, will expand access to health care and treatments, and eliminate discriminatory insurance practices against people living with HIV, said Christopher Brown, assistant commissioner of the STI/HIV Division with the Chicago Department of Public Health. However, health reform should not be viewed as a replacement for the national Ryan White program, which provides assistance to people with HIV who don't have sufficient insurance or financial resources. Ryan White offers a number of needed services that health reform will not, such as medical transportation, emergency financial assistance and housing, psychosocial support and early intervention services, Brown said. Luckily, Brown said he is "seeing support from the highest level of government" that the Ryan White program isn't going away.

Unfortunately, it's unclear what health reform will do for the "silent epidemic" of sexually transmitted diseases, said Gail Bolan, director of CDC's Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention. Bolan first gave a little background: the annual cost of STDs in the nation is $17 billion (whoa!) and rates of some STDs are actually on the rise, such as chlamydia and syphilis. The provisions of health reform could boost the work against STD infection via expansion of Medicaid eligibility, new technologies and investments in community health centers, which often serve as primary care providers for populations at particular risk for STDs, Bolan said. But having insurance doesn't always mean access and safety net services will still be needed to reach all those at risk, she noted, adding that in 2008–2009, 69 percent of state and local STD programs experienced funding cuts. Bolan called on public health folks to remain committed to assessing the quality and effectiveness of STD programs going forward, Bolan said.

"We have to be able to answer the 'so what' questions," she told session attendees, as in, if this program goes away, then so what?

What do you think, readers? Are you worried that health reform will threaten the survival of important public health programs? Let us know in the comments section!

Affordable Care Act making inroads for Americans with Medicare

2011-06-24T17:33:00.005-04:00

Just 15 months after it was enacted, the Affordable Care Act is already improving care for people with Medicare, according to program officials, and that success is expected to continue to grow as additional provisions of the law are implemented.

Speaking at a session at APHA’s 2011 Midyear Meeting in Chicago, Caya Lewis, chief of staff for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, spotlighted the inroads that the historic health reform law has made so far. Among the accomplishments is that more than 5 million Americans with Medicare — or about 16 percent of beneficiaries — have received free preventive services because of the law. The new interest in the services, which include mammograms, bone density screenings and prostate cancer screenings, has resulted because the cost barriers have been removed, Lewis said.

“We are really working toward getting people to get what they need for chronic conditions,” Lewis said.

In addition, more than 780,000 beneficiaries received an annual wellness visit — another new benefit — between January and June of this year, Lewis noted. To help reach more Medicare recipients with the message about the new benefits, CMS has launched the Share the News, Share the Health campaign with online ads and community events.

The health reform law has also allowed seniors affected by the prescription drug “donut hole” to receive refunds and rebates for payments. By 2020, that entire coverage gap will be closed, thanks to the law, Lewis said.

Other law-related changes that are expected to improve the health of Americans include measures to hold down rate increases by health insurers, state health exchanges that will allow people to have access to affordable insurance and risk assessments in wellness visits.

“We have a lot to look forward to,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of work ahead.”

Above, Caya Lewis, left, of CMS speaks with APHA Midyear Meeting attendees following a session on improving the quality, safety and value in the health system. Photo by Michele Late

A time to retool

2011-06-24T17:17:00.002-04:00

Can guess how many state and local public health jobs were lost in just one year?

If you wagered 43,000, you were (unfortunately) right. It’s a dramatic hit that has reverberated in states across the country. Some 89 percent of state health departments across the country have lost staff within the past year.

And the sobering reality is that the public health workforce will shoulder the brunt of federal budget cuts in years to come.

“The public health workforce is fundamentally changing. The workforce of the future is going to be dramatically different from today,” said Paul Jarris, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, during a session at the 2011 APHA Midyear Meeting. “We’re moving way beyond the talk of doing more with less.”

So, it begs the question: what exactly is the less we are doing? What will the limited funding allow us to do?

Jarris explained that the “future” workforce will be called upon to integrate clinical medicine more than ever before to ensure people are safer and healthier in the system (not to mention to ensure that everyone has access in the first place).

Cynthia Lamberth of the University of Kentucky College of Public Health echoed the same sentiments, saying that by virtue of the Affordable Care Act, we have a tremendous opportunity to retool our workforce and do more work at the intersection of public health and health care.

“There is increased demand for services not only on preventive care but particularly on prevention in general,” said Lamberth. “This is not a time to be waiting and see what happens with the Affordable Care Act. We all need to be involved and determine where we fit into this picture. This is a time for reinvention for what we do to serve our communities.”

Lamberth says some of that reinvention could translate into an enhanced focus on school-based health centers, community transformation grants, maternal and child health visitation programs, healthy living and aging well.

So, while there’s a lot of talk about the doom and gloom around workforce losses, why not also pepper the conversation with some of the exciting opportunities to advance our trade in a new direction that lie ahead?

Tweet of the day

2011-06-24T16:39:00.002-04:00

We’ve been asking tweeps to include #APHAMid11 as they live tweet sessions here in Chicago. So, today’s tweet comes to us from @jessicakeralis:

"We can't 'wait and see' - we need to start planning NOW." Interesting session on developing the public health workforce at #APHAMid11

We thought it was a valuable (and timely!) session, too. Keep on chirping, folks. Maybe we’ll highlight your rock-star tweet here tomorrow.

Props to our partners!

2011-06-24T14:57:00.004-04:00

We offer a special shout out and sincere thanks to our grantors, sponsors, donors and partners for their generous support of the APHA Midyear Meeting. As we’ve heard throughout this meeting, the success of health reform — indeed of public health — relies on such collaboration and innovation. We appreciate your support!

Soundbites from the Midyear Meeting

2011-06-24T12:41:00.003-04:00

Hear what attendees are talking and thinking about at the 2011 Midyear Meeting on APHA’s YouTube channel. And chime in with your thoughts below!

Maybe we can all just get along

2011-06-24T12:01:00.004-04:00

If I've learned one thing from all the APHA meetings I've attended, it's that public health folks aren't shy or quiet when it comes to their opinions on the best ways to fix our current health system and improve community health. And so it was a lively debate on Friday morning in a 2011 APHA Midyear Meeting session on Seeking Common Ground: Various Approaches to Improving Population Health. The speakers may have had differing opinions about the new health reform law, however they did share one big, wide space of shared ground: The U.S. could — and must — do more to widen the opportunities that allow people to make healthy decisions. Below are some choice quotes from the speakers during the session, which was moderated by Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Susan Dentzer:

"In so many ways, this is the best of times and also in so many ways, this is the worst of times," said John McDonough, director of the Center for Public Health Leadership at the Harvard School of Public Health, who noted that for the first time, the federal government is being strategic in terms of prevention and wellness, pointing to the recent release of the National Prevention Strategy.

"We are right now in the midst of the largest assault on public health in our nation's history," McDonough said in reference to the current backlash against the government's role in addressing society's problems.

"I'm thrilled that health finally is on the radar screen," said Julie Eckstein, of the Center for Health Transformation, in referring to the public health and prevention provisions of the health reform law.

"We have a health crisis and we have a health care crisis," Eckstein said.

"Single-payer provides us with a platform to address population health," said Oliver Fein, a professor at Cornell University Medical College, in describing the benefits of a single-payer health care system. He added that public health workers can continue to be advocates for a health system vision that goes beyond the current health reform law.

More common ground than not, right? Unfortunately, as Eckstein poignantly pointed out, the "common ground isn't newsworthy." Ain't that the sad truth.

Above, Dr. Oliver Fein speaks as part of a panel on improving population health. Photo by Michele Late

The 'secret sauce' for communicating health

2011-06-24T11:18:00.004-04:00

If you’ve ever struggled to get your health message across, you’re not alone. Turns out, we’re all in search of the “secret sauce” to help us better tell the public health story.

In one of yesterday’s breakouts at the 2011 APHA Midyear Meeting — Getting the Public to Understand Public Health, leading health communicators offered a packed audience a few tips of the trade on breaking through the clutter and letting your voice be heard… and ultimately advancing public health.

Rob Gould, executive vice president and managing director of Brodeur Worldwide, kicked things off by providing some helpful context. He said we’ve moved beyond the era of simply sharing health information with doctors and hoping that they relay it to patients. In addition to persuading Americans to care for their own health, Gould said, we also are tasked with engaging our community and changing our environment. At a time when public sentiment is king, we have to activate policy-makers.

And here’s where the rubber meets the road. Gould shared insights into navigating in today’s era of community action:

• Don’t try to change people’s values. It does no good to try to persuade the public to think the way you do. It won’t work.
• Expect us to fall down. After all, failure is just another step toward success, right?
• Make us cross a line in the sand. Try to get the public to step across psychologically. The truth campaign is just one example of getting teens involved in anti-tobacco efforts.
• When the goal is big, make the problem small. Small change gains momentum.

“But you can’t go it alone,” Gould warned. “Social change is not a solo act. We need to find a way to pool our resources and knowledge better.”

These are words to live by for Bob Crittenden, executive director of the Herndon Alliance, a coalition of a wide array of health organizations working to effectively communicate together.

“We all have to take responsibility and start engaging, make friends. We have to develop coalitions and make a difference,” said Crittenden.

He also said effective messaging starts with listening to people, not talking at them. We have to understand what the public believes and what they care about before we break into a public dialogue. Addressing differences in beliefs is a major step toward community action.

Joe Marx, of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the essence to telling the public health story is actually right in front of us (drumroll, please!): BETTER HEALTH.

“This is our easy button. This is our destination. Better health is at the heart of this social change,” said Marx.

That’s what all of us here are trying to achieve for ourselves, our families and our communities. That’s the “secret sauce.”

Above, Rob Gould offers tips for more effectively communicating about health. Photo by Michele Late

Cheers to health reform!

2011-06-24T09:31:00.007-04:00

Above, the smiling faces of public health gather at the Midyear Meeting's Welcome Reception on Thursday evening.

Photos by Michele Late

Show us the money

2011-06-24T09:04:00.005-04:00

Can health reform succeed without public health professionals? Not a chance, says a new assessment released today by APHA in concert with its Midyear Meeting.

According to APHA’s Public Health Workforce Provisions in the Affordable Care Act, the law’s health promotion and disease prevention goals are at risk without sustained, adequate investment in the public health workforce.

While the Affordable Care Act reauthorized and created several new programs that could increase the supply and expertise of the public health workforce, only 11 of the 19 ACA provisions assessed in the report have received funding. Those that have received monies have been funded at substantially lower levels than authorized.

Further exacerbating the challenge, nearly 20 percent of the governmental public health workforce has been lost since 2008 as a result of the economic recession, resulting in cuts to public health services such as immunizations, prenatal care, and air and water quality monitoring, among others.

To read the report, visit http://www.apha.org/advocacy/reports/reports/

Can health reform succeed without a strong public health workforce? What do you think?

It’s time for an intervention

2011-06-23T17:37:00.006-04:00

Stirring words in the Windy City filled many with hope for a healthier world at today’s opening of the APHA Midyear Meeting. Chicago son and APHA Executive Director Dr. Georges Benjamin welcomed a full audience who gathered to hear how they can help advance health reform implementation.

Leaders of the local public health and political worlds greeted attendees and helped set the stage for the challenges before us. While here, many paid homage to former APHA President and Chicago physician/activist Dr. Quentin Young, who was in the audience and who has long carried the banner for universal health coverage.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, a self-professed believer in public health, said when it comes to providing health care to our nation’s people, we need “everybody in, nobody out…We need to put the caring back into health care.” And he celebrated the fact that “investing in public health pays great, great dividends.”

As if foretelling the possibly rocky implementation road ahead, Dr. Linda Rae Murray, APHA president and chief medical officer of the Cook County (Ill.) Department of Public Health, noted that Chicago was a perfect place to hold this important meeting: “In Chicago, we do public health and public policy as a contact sport.”

National pollster and political adviser Celinda Lake gave reason for hope as she shared her public opinion research on prevention: “The public is strongly supportive of prevention and believes it should be a much higher priority.”

Keynote speaker Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan, mused about the “absurd outcomes” we see in U.S. health care, with low returns on our high investment, as compared with other countries. But she said public health can change that. “It’s about social, political and economic justice.” She encouraged attendees to remind people that we’re all in this together. “The one who wins the race isn’t the one who gets there first, but who gets there with their family intact,” she said.

As she came to a close, Granholm appropriately sent attendees forth exhorting them — physicians, educators, health workers, activists — “to go out and stage an intervention to make the world a better place.”

Above, Jennifer Granholm tells Midyear Meeting Opening Session attendees that "public health is public...Part of it is to change the world." Photo by Michele Late

What brings you to town?

2011-06-23T13:20:00.001-04:00

As the registration lines at APHA's Midyear Meeting grew longer, this blogger wondered what drove attendees to make the journey to Chicago.

Carolyn Ferrell, a public health nurse hailing from West Virginia, said she made the trip to learn more about what health reform will mean for vulnerable populations and what impact it'll have on folks who are currently uninsured.

"I'm hoping (health reform) will turn into access to care for all," she said.

Public health practitioners can bring something unique to the health reform discussion, Ferrell said. They have a "grassroots concept," she added. "They see the consumers of services as the experts."

Michael Napier, administrator of Florida's Seminole County Health Department and president of the Florida Association of County Health Officers, said health reform could mean big changes for his state. As health reform opens access to insurance coverage, it may mean a significant decrease in the amount of primary care services that the state's public health system provides. Such service changes can also come with big and worrisome funding changes for public health, said Napier, who said he traveled to Chicago to get a sense of how other states are getting prepared for the impacts of health reform.

If public health does start getting edged out of the direct services business, it'll be important for public health departments to reach out and partner with the private sector to make sure public health priorities don't fall between the cracks, Napier said. In terms of overall health, Napier predicts things will get worse before they get better.

"In the long run, nothing gets better until the economy gets better," he said.

One role for public health practitioners will be translating what health reform means in a meaningful and easy-to-understand way, said meeting attendee Tom Quade, a member of APHA's Executive Board and a local health director in Ohio. There's broad diversity among health reform's supporters — more than the media would suggest, he said.

"When folks do vote on issues, they're informed by more than just their station of choice," Quade said.

Why did you come to Chicago? What role do you believe public health workers should play in implementing health reform? Let us know in the comments section!

Welcome to Chicago!

2011-06-23T10:07:00.006-04:00

Yep. The buildings here really are that tall. Sort of an inspirational metaphor for the healthy heights we hope to reach with the help of the historic health reform law. Now, it's time to get to work!

P.S. For a meeting preview, take a peek at the Q&A NewPublicHealth conducted with APHA's Dr. Benjamin.

Above, an early morning view of the Chicago River from the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, the location for APHA's Midyear Meeting. Photo by Kim Krisberg

A letter from APHA's Dr. Georges Benjamin

2011-06-20T15:40:00.003-04:00

Dear public health colleagues,

In just a of couple days, APHA will officially convene its 2011 Midyear Meeting in Chicago with an exclusive focus on "Implementing Health Reform: A Public Health Approach." And the meeting couldn't come at a better time.

The work to transform the goals of health reform into on-the-ground realities is in full swing, and your expertise and experience as public health practitioners will be pivotal in ensuring that process leads not only to equitable access to health insurance, but to better health and well-being. We all know that simply having insurance is not enough — good health depends on myriad factors that happen inside and outside of the doctor's office and will require a comprehensive shift in how we, as a society, believe our health system should work.

For decades, the public health community has acted on and touted the value of prevention, for both its ability to produce positive health outcomes and curb the country's rising health care costs. The health reform law includes a number of provisions that align it with those values, such as requiring that insurers participating in state health insurances exchanges cover proven preventive services. The law also created the landmark $15 billion Prevention and Public Health Fund, money from which has already started to flow to community health efforts as well as work to address primary care shortages. This is all good news for public health, however the future is far from certain.

Already, attempts have been made to divert the billions earmarked for the Prevention and Public Health Fund and repeal the health reform law entirely. The governance and design of the state-based health insurance exchanges will be a key component in the success of health reform, and public health input is and will be significant in their creation and oversight. In addition, policy-makers may attempt to cut or eliminate effective public health programs under the assumption that health reform is a substitute for a resilient public health system. And, unfortunately, myths and falsehoods about health reform still abound.

Clearly, the roles for public health practitioners in health reform's success will be diverse, from education and promotion to surveillance and evaluation. Health reform may also mean big changes in the delivery of some traditional public health services and the need for public health to adapt quickly to the changing health care environment and gather the data needed to protect threatened public health programs. In Chicago, we've organized an interactive, in-depth meeting that will give you the tools you'll need to confront these challenges as well as take advantage of new opportunities to improve your community's health.

I look forward to seeing you in Chicago, hearing your ideas and learning from your experiences. I know that together we can turn the tides toward better health for all.

Sincerely,

Georges Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E)
Executive Director
American Public Health Association

Just released! Report from APHA's 2010 Summit on Health Reform

2011-06-15T13:38:00.006-04:00

Looking for a bit of a preview of APHA's upcoming Midyear Meeting in Chicago? Well, look no further.

Today, APHA released "Reforming Our Nation’s Health System: Lessons for the Public Health Community." The report covers the proceedings of the Association's Summit on Health Reform, which took place in November 2010 in Denver and which explored the implications of the new health reform law for public health programs and priorities. It's a good primer for the upcoming Midyear Meeting, which will focus on public health's role in implementing health reform.

The new report includes a handy summary of recommendations that came out of discussions at the Denver summit, including calls for public health practitioners to advocate and educate on behalf of the law; demonstrate the value of public health and prevention programs in improving health outcomes and reducing costs; create innovative public-private partnerships; seize funding opportunities to improve community health; and ensure that public health has a voice in insurance reforms.

I'd say that APHA's very own Dr. B put it best:

“If we hope to realize the laudable goals of the Affordable Care Act — expanding access to care, improving quality of care, controlling health costs, and improving and protecting the health of the American people — then we must safeguard the law’s public health and prevention provisions and ensure their timely implementation,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), executive director of APHA. “We have a real opportunity to not only put in place comprehensive health insurance reforms, but to transform our communities, reduce our growing chronic disease burden and achieve wellness. The experiences of public health professionals along with their longtime ties to the communities they serve are critical to realizing the promise of health reform.”

For a copy of the report, click here. For more info on next week's Midyear Meeting in Chicago, click here.

A place at the table: Public health and health reform

2011-06-10T17:34:00.004-04:00

What does health reform mean for public health? It's a complicated and far-reaching question that could fill up days of discussion and debate. Luckily, APHA is here for you.

In less than two weeks, APHA will convene its 2011 Midyear Meeting in Chicago to explore just this question and many, many more. With a theme of "Implementing Health Reform: A Public Health Approach," the three-day meeting will focus exclusively on the intersections between the historic health reform law, the daily realities of public health practitioners and long-held public health goals, such as bringing prevention to the forefront of the nation's health system.

While health reform presents the public health field with a number of much-anticipated opportunities, it could also mean big changes for the delivery of traditional public health services and even the elimination of effective public health programs. If there's one common thread that weaves its way through all of these issues, it's this: The public health community must have a voice at the table — especially now, as implementation of the health reform law pushes forward.

At APHA's Midyear Meeting, to be held June 23–25, public health professionals from across the nation will come together to hone that voice and gear up for the opportunities and obstacles to come. The interactive meeting will offer a variety of sessions and feature a number of noted speakers, who will share their own experiences as well as guidance for the road ahead. Sessions will cover topics such as the technology and fiscal implications of health reform; protecting public health programs; achieving prevention and wellness goals; ensuring access to care; and building support for public health. For a full list of meeting sessions and speakers, click here.

Of course, we hope you make it to Chicago, where the meeting not only offers the chance for discussion and debate, but for organizing, networking and meeting new and old public health pals. But if you can't make it, no worries. APHA's social media team will be busy bringing you all the juicy highlights.

This very blog will be in Chicago to bring you daily updates, and you can visit APHA's Twitter feeds (both here and here) and Facebook page for even more.

Wanna catch up on the public health details of the new health reform law before landing in Chicago? Visit APHA's advocacy and policy site for a wealth of free resources.

For more info on the Chicago meeting, including registration, travel, accommodations and continuing education credits, visit APHA's meetings page.

See you in the Windy City!

Above, Chicago's Buckingham Fountain and downtown skyline. Photo courtesy iStockphoto

APHA heads to the Windy City

2011-06-07T13:34:00.005-04:00

Welcome to the official blog site of APHA's Midyear Meeting! The three-day meeting, taking place June 23–25, will focus exclusively on "Implementing Health Reform: A Public Health Approach." And, yep, this blog will be there to bring you all the highlights. In fact, you can sign up here to receive free daily blog updates via your e-mail. How easy is that?

Check back here soon for more APHA Midyear Meeting details and click here for registration info. We hope to see you in Chicago!

P.S. For those of you wondering "hey, isn't this the blog site for APHA's Annual Meeting," the answer is "yes, it is." But don't worry. We'll be switching back to Annual Meeting coverage after the Midyear Meeting in Chicago.

Closing Session: 'Social justice is the foundation of our field'

2010-11-10T19:05:00.007-05:00

The promise of health reform is not safe — that was the message during this year's Closing Session in Denver, which opened its mountainous arms to more than 12,000 APHA Annual Meeting attendees.

Despite its potential to expand coverage to millions, its historic investment in prevention and wellness, and projections that it will save billions of dollars in the long term, the nation's landmark health reform law is vulnerable — especially in light of the recent congressional elections.

"This is a good bill, not a perfect bill," said session speaker Paul Jarris, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, who described the new health reform law as a substantial step forward.

Still, the fight for the law's survival isn't over, he noted. Almost half of states are suing the federal government over health reform, 40 different bills have been introduced in state legislatures to prohibit some aspect of reform and with a number of new governors poised to take office at a crucial time in reform's implementation process, problems are sure to arise. The answer? Become advocates, he said.

"Do you know this bill," Jarris asked. "Do you know how to talk about it in a way that everybody can understand?"

Maryland Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene John Colmers, who described himself as a "passionate incrementalist," also called on session attendees to use storytelling to advocate for health reform.

Colmers cautioned that budget and deficit issues are going to drive much of the ongoing reform debate, adding that when "I think about public health (budgets), I shudder."

Unfortunately, reform supporters never convinced enough people of the notion that it's a good thing to pay into a system that will provide care for themselves and their families, said session speaker Sara Rosenbaum, chair of the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University. The great communication task before us is to bring the issue of health reform back to an everyday level — to help people grasp the enormous opportunity before us that we may be in danger of losing, she said.

"It's very clear we have work to do," said APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, who asked the Closing Session audience what they would do to ensure the promise of reform when they return home.

He called on them to do three things: Meet with your local elected officials and tell them what you want; when they don't vote the way you think they should, remind yourself that they work for you; and get off the bus and get into the streets. Demand health, Benjamin said, demand social justice.

Well, it's been an amazing meeting — the best that this blogger has had the privilege to attend. The energy to bring public health's unique form of social justice to communities worldwide has been palpable.

Let's bring that energy with us next year to the nation's capital for APHA's 139th Annual Meeting, which will have a theme of "Healthy Communities Promote Healthy Minds & Bodies."

"We reaffirmed that social justice is the foundation of our field," said new APHA President Linda Rae Murray at the Closing Session. "This attempt to drive our nation backward should not be a surprise. But I'm not worried. We're public health — we won't be bamboozled."

See you next year in Washington, D.C.!

— K.K.

Above, Closing Session speakers from left to right: Sara Rosenbaum, Paul Jarris, John Colmers and session moderator Joanne Silberner of National Public Radio. Photo by Kim Krisberg

Go for launch!

2010-11-10T16:02:00.008-05:00

When Neil Armstrong took that one giant leap for mankind on the moon’s surface more than four decades ago, he probably had no idea how the space program would turn into a public health Hercules.

The NASA Applied Sciences Program links data gathered from space to projects that track malaria, forecast dust storms that can trigger asthma attacks, predict possible influenza outbreaks and more. A key focus is to monitor ways climate change is impacting health because, as NASA’s John Haynes said during a Wednesday Annual Meeting session, air quality, water and other things tracked from space “have a direct impact on public health issues across the globe.”

NASA satellites orbit the Earth and gather “slices of data” on weather patterns, vegetation density and countless other factors “much like you’re peeling an apple,” Haynes said during the session “NASA: A Unique View of the Earth for the Study of the Environment and Possible Associations with Disease Occurrence.”

The satellite data is not just for seasoned public health professionals. NASA has a student research program designed to help undergraduate, master’s level and even high school students get involved in harnessing space info for the greater health good. Students work with a NASA mentor to use data that can then be used for community-based projects like education outreach on the threats of tick-borne diseases.

Also, a pilot program in three U.S. cities is working to go further than National Weather Service heat advisories and target people at high-risk for heat-related illness and link them with services. One presenter talked of his projects aimed at giving advance notice to school nurses about dust storms and tracking pollen blooms that often set off asthma and allergy attacks.

“We’re looking at the best science,” said Stanley Morain of the University of New Mexico. “We’re really trying to get to the heart of our ability to do these things.”

Talk about a giant leap for mankind.

— D.C.

Above image courtesy NASA photo galleries

When disaster strikes

2010-11-10T15:55:00.002-05:00

It’s been nearly seven months since one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, and still the Gulf Coast oil disaster has left us in very murky waters, not to mention leaving behind a number of ongoing health challenges.

Today’s special session on "The Public Health Implications of the Gulf Oil Disaster" featured public health leaders who worked directly on the recovery and clean-up efforts in the aftermath of the explosion of a BP oil rig last spring. The first-hand accounts and pictures of the scene reminded participants of the magnitude of the disaster and why Gulf Coast residents and recovery workers are still reeling.

John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, explained that there's not a whole lot known about the long-term health effects of crude oil. Even following the notorious Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, there was not much research done on the chronic health effects related to the spill. However, NIOSH is doing its part to lead efforts in ensuring worker safety and encouraging future research on this obvious knowledge gap.

Howard said a lesson learned after Sept. 11, 2001, was that there was no existing roster of workers that would allow health professionals to follow up on the possible health problems related to cleanup. So, NIOSH led efforts to develop a roster of workers responding to the recent Gulf Coast oil disaster, which includes 55,000 people. This roster is now available to researchers.

Alabama Health Officer Donald Williamson described the oil spill as “an event that had a cataclysmic economic impact on the state of Alabama and continues to have a lasting impact on the health and well-being of residents.” Research shows higher rates of reported depression and anxiety among residents, especially considering the economic impacts for fisherman and those whose livelihoods depend on tourism.

Despite seafood testing and other efforts used to determine which areas could be safely reopened to fishing, research has shown that the public is still wary about eating Gulf Coast seafood and restaurants avoid serving seafood from Gulf Coast suppliers.

Session presenters stressed that improved communication and health messaging is still needed to communicate the public health role in the Gulf Coast recovery and respond to misinformation.

— M.S.

A little birdie told me so: Tweet of the Day

2010-11-10T15:28:00.002-05:00

On this last day of another fabulous APHA Annual Meeting, the Tweet of the Day from those of you using the hashtag #apha10 comes from — who else? — Opening Session speaker and Twitterwer CornelWest: We're in this together - cross color, cross culture, cross class. Let your light shine.

A public health program with teeth

2010-11-10T14:26:00.005-05:00

We all know prevention, promotion and education work. But it's still incredibly reaffirming to learn about a fairly new initiative that's already making huge inroads.

That was the case today during a session on "Cavity-Free At Three: An Oral Disease Prevention Program for Infants and Toddlers in Colorado."

Begun just a couple years ago, Cavity-Free At Three educates families and health providers on good oral health and cavity prevention, pushes for the integration of oral health into well-child visits, helps children find dental homes and trains health workers in oral health risk assessments. The program puts a special emphasis on reaching pregnant women, spreading the word that mom's oral health can affect the health of her baby and that it's perfectly safe for pregnant women to seek dental care. Like the name says, the initiative's goal is for all Colorado kids to have cavity-free smiles by age 3.

Session presenter Karen Savoie, who directs education for the oral health initiative, noted that dental caries is the most common chronic childhood disease — five times more common than asthma. Eighty percent of the disease is in 20 percent of the population and like many diseases, dental caries is often a disease of poverty. In Colorado, about 8 percent of kids have experienced some tooth decay by age 1, with that number going up to 70 percent by age 4, Savoie said. To reach as many children as possible, the initiative works hard to bring workers across various health disciplines together in the name of prevention.

"We will all gain strength by sharing the responsibility of early childhood caries," Savoie said.

So far, more than 600 workers in Colorado have received training via Cavity-Free At Three, with 24 sessions taking place in 2010, thousands of fluoride varnish and oral health kits have been distributed, and more than 10,000 Colorado infants and families are estimated to have received services through the program, according to presenter Jack Westfall, a family doctor involved in the effort.

"Primary care providers are uniquely positioned to help," Westfall said.

On the public health side, three Colorado counties have integrated the oral health program into their work with the help of technical grants from Cavity-Free At Three, said session president Melissa Broudy, who worked with Jefferson County Public Health on the effort. And the results have been impressive: Colorado's Eagle County served 253 children in 2008 (accounting for 15 percent of all kids younger than 5 in that county); Grand County served 256 children over a two-year period (or 33 percent of all kids younger than 5); and Jefferson County did more than 1,500 screenings, with an additional 500 screenings in collaboration with Head Start.

That makes me smile.

— K.K.

Above illustration courtesy iStockphoto

Honor society

2010-11-10T12:40:00.007-05:00

Let's hear it for this year's APHA award winners! For more on APHA's many awards, which range from honoring those who excel in advocacy to recognizing outstanding public health students, click here.

Above, recipients of APHA's annual awards smile for the camera during Tuesday night's Public Health Awards Reception and Ceremony in the Colorado Convention Center. Photo by Kenneth Bordelon

Keep it simple

2010-11-10T12:22:00.004-05:00

The H1N1 flu outbreak keeps bringing us public health lessons, especially when it comes to the best ways to get important information to the people who need it most.

Folks with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine are constantly working to prepare for the next emerging health threat. What came out of recent evaluations of public information efforts during the H1N1 pandemic underscored the need to keep messages simple and easy to understand, no matter what the audience.

“During this event, we were able to incorporate lessons learned as we went,” said Amanda McWhorter, a CDC health communications specialist and presenter during the Tuesday afternoon Annual Meeting session “2009 Pandemic influenza (H1N1) Communication Activities at CDC: Focusing on Specific Audiences and Settings.”

Some of those lessons learned:

— Establish partnerships and channels (think websites and e-cards, but also handouts and posters)
— Coordinate messages to ensure consistency
— Adapt quickly
— Present messages in plain language

And those lessons hold true whether the audience is international travelers, the K-12 school system, child care providers, colleges and universities, or businesses.

When needed, public health communicators can step up their game to better respond to concerns in real time, said session moderator Gabrielle Benenson, also with CDC.

“There’s sort of this 'in an emergency’ thing that happens and then a ‘day-to-day’ thing that happens,” Benenson said.

A recently produced “How to Clean and Disinfect Schools to Help Slow the Spread of Flu” handout breaks it down by defining the difference between cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing and even listing bulleted, step-by-step instructions. That’s an example, session presenter and CDC staffer Tiffani Phelps said, of how to present easily understandable and helpful health information.

How will you know what information people need? We keep hearing it, but it never goes out of style: Build relationships and partnerships, and get out there and ask.

Check out CDC's free flu resources here.

— D.C.

Say cheese!

2010-11-10T10:14:00.003-05:00

Don't forget to stop by the Everything APHA booth at the Public Health Expo to grab a souvenir T-shirt from this year's Annual Meeting.

Photo by Michele Late

Movie night

2010-11-10T10:04:00.004-05:00

Public health education comes in many different shapes and sizes. Traditional forms of learning certainly serve an important role. (Lord knows you wouldn’t be here at APHA’s 138th Annual Meeting if it weren’t for the countless scientific sessions on today’s most pressing public health topics).

But multimedia use and visual media in public health practice is equally as important in reaching new audiences, and a Tuesday session of APHA's Film Festival showcased some very powerful documentaries and short videos on health topics such as the correlation between spirituality and health outcomes, the impact of the U.S. health system on the physician-patient relationship, lessons learned in hospice care, work with terminally ill patients and much, much more.

“Money-Driven Medicine” describes how modern health care is contributing to the erosion of the physician-patient relationship and is ultimately having a detrimental effect on health outcomes. The film, which incorporates a series of interviews with doctors across the country as well as leading health care experts, depicts medicine as something delivered through a production line. Similar to producing widgets, physicians are increasingly pressed to see a greater volume of patients, which leads to less time spent with each individual patient. The underlying question the filmmaker poses is: Can health care truly function as a public good or is it a business?

“Eating Alaska” was an interesting look at what happens when a vegetarian moves to Alaska and marries a commercial fisherman and deer hunter. It chronicles her search for sustainable, healthy eating and how it led her to question some of her personal preferences and food choices. The film delves into issues relating to the U.S. food system and addresses the fact that lifestyle choices and healthy eating are directly influenced by where one lives (and what we put into our mouths).

Check out these and other films previewed at the APHA Film Festival. I guarantee they’ll touch a chord.

— M.S.

Wednesday's Have You Heard

2010-11-09T20:25:00.002-05:00

Bugged: With climate change on the move, trends in vector-borne diseases may be poised for major changes. Learn how public health workers are fighting back at session 5057, "Malaria and Vector-Borne Diseases," on Wednesday from 8:30 to 10 a.m. in room 107 of the Colorado Convention Center.

Space cadets: Go for launch! Check out session 5110, "NASA: A Unique View of the Earth for the Study of the Environment and Possible Associations with Disease Occurrence," on Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to noon in Mineral Hall B of the Hyatt Regency. Far out.

Hook, line and sinker: Fish is often hailed as part of a nutritious diet, but are there risks? Cast your line at session 5150, "Looking for Social Justice Hooks: Subsistence Fishing and Fish Advisories," on Wednesday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in room 109 of the convention center.

Farewell 'til next year: Cap off your 138th APHA Annual Meeting experience at the Closing Session on Wednesday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in Four Seasons Ballroom 1 of the convention center. This year's speakers include Maryland Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene John Colmers and APHA President Carmen Nevarez. The session is moderated by NPR's Joanne Silberner.

Get empowered all over again: Video of Jenkins, West is up!

2010-11-09T19:45:00.010-05:00

They're here! Video of APHA's Opening Session speakers, including Drs. Bill Jenkins and Cornel West, is up!

Below, part one of Cornel West's Opening Session speech and part one of Bill Jenkins' speech. Visit APHA's YouTube channel for West's and Jenkins' entire keynote addresses and more.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

2010-11-09T18:05:00.006-05:00

This Florida girl is very unhappy with the turn in the weather. But, never fear. It's warm and cozy inside the convention center.

Above, snow hits the APHA Annual Meeting in Denver. Photo by Michele Late

Three of a kind

2010-11-09T17:41:00.005-05:00

It’s lonely being a state surgeon general.

As of today we have three — Joseph Thompson of Arkansas, Ana Viamonte Ros of Florida and Kimberlydawn Wisdom of Michigan. They told a packed Annual Meeting session audience what it’s like blazing the trail as a state-level public health champion.

“When I was the lone surgeon general, I was kind of concerned. It’s kind of lonely to be the only one, and your conventions are small,” Wisdom joked. “I was so happy when there were others.”

Each of those three states has a different model of how the surgeon general’s position is structured, but all have been appointed by their respective governors. A University of Michigan study highlighted at the Tuesday session, "Health Reform and the Changing Role of the Public Health System: The Experience of Arkansas, Florida and Michigan," found people like the idea of a state surgeon general but that a lack of “bi-partisan buy-in” by state legislatures makes the person in the seat vulnerable to political criticism.

“And public health certainly doesn’t need any more criticism than it already deals with,” researcher Jodyn Platt said to laughter from the audience.

Having a state public health bully pulpit has led to great success. Arkansas' Thompson cited a 45 percent reduction in youth smoking rates in recent years, Wisdom talked of a wellness effort that’s being led by middle-schoolers in under-served Michigan communities and a well-supported anti-obesity agenda, and Florida's Ros blocked efforts to scale back childhood vaccinations.

Still, Wisdom was powerless to change the minds of decision-makers who did not earmark any of the state's landmark tobacco settlement funds for tobacco prevention and cessation in Michigan. And legislatures in both Florida and Michigan have sued to halt implementation of the federal health reform law.

Thompson said he doesn’t know if his input kept his state out of that fray, but he was sure to make it clear that the law’s implementation will mean $3.5 billion in yearly federal money to insure more Arkansans.

Former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, also an advocate of state surgeons general, said he’s “optimistic” about health reform implementation.

“We have a tremendous opportunity, I think, with health reform,” Satcher said. “The fact of the matter is, we’re serious as a nation about the prevention agenda.”

State surgeons general can move that agenda forward, Ros said, but only if politics take a back seat.

“I think we struggle in public health to define who we are,” she said. “I think it’s very important to de-politicize public health. We are non-partisan. We should be bi-partisan.”

— D.C.

Above, former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher moderated an Annual Meeting session on health reform and public health. Photo by Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

A little birdie told me so: Tweet of the Day

2010-11-09T17:31:00.002-05:00

Today's Tweet of the Day from those of you using the #apha10 hashtag comes from Twitterer ar0ugE: Did you know that 90% of Americans underestimate by about 642 calories when they eat unhealthy foods. 642!!

Eww. I will now officially stop eyeing the chocolate-covered pretzels at the convention cafe.

Justice! It's what's for dinner

2010-11-09T16:56:00.002-05:00

I don’t know about you, but every time I walk the halls of the Colorado Convention Center, food is on my mind. Maybe it’s the hot-off-the-fryer donuts or that intoxicating smell of roasted nuts that gets me every time.

Today’s special session, "Social Justice, It’s What’s Not for Dinner: Understanding and Overcoming Food System Disparities to Promote Health," gave me more food for thought, but of the healthier variety.

Presenters discussed the adverse health impacts of the U.S. food system and the important role for the public health community in redesigning a sustainable food system that better meets the health needs of all Americans, including those who work to grow, care for and distribute our food.

Don Villarejo, founder of the California Institute for Rural Studies, spent more than 20 years looking at the incredible health inequities facing farmworkers. Out of an estimated 1.4 million U.S. crop workers, about 30 percent have family incomes below the federal poverty level. Obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, dermatitis and decayed teeth are among the poor health outcomes researchers have found among young, active, male farmworkers. The worst part is that the lack of access to care results in undiagnosed and untreated health conditions, and the high prevalence of chronic diseases in farmworkers is, for the most part, preventable through public health interventions, Villarejo said.

Session presenters also touched on the impacts of the dominant food system, which is characterized by consolidation and aggregation in food processing. The structure of the U.S. food system, they said, has led to an erosion of land ownership by farmers, a loss of local control, environmental degradation and health threats caused by industrial farm pollution, and a narrowing of access to fresh, nutritious foods for many low-income communities.

So, where does public health fit in? Health practitioners are critical players in promoting infrastructure and policy changes that enhance food justice and improve people's health, presenters said. There are many drivers for a better food system, but the connection to health is a critical one and will create greater demand for a sustainable, healthier food system.

Let's eat!

— M.S.

Look Ma! We're on TV!

2010-11-09T15:32:00.006-05:00

Here at APHA, we're media darlings — we like to think so, anyway.

And this year's Annual Meeting is attracting a slew of media attention covering some of latest public health data coming out of Denver. Take a gander at some of the coverage for yourself:

USA Today: Fast food survey: Nearly all are high in calories, sodium
MSNBC.com: Study finds worst fast food meals for kid
CNN's 'The Chart' Blog: Study: Girls take more chances during first sex
Associated Press/The Washington Post: Sex, drugs more common in hyper-texting teens
WebMD: Girls More Likely Than Boys to Have Unprotected First Sexual Encounter
HealthDay News: Teens Waiting Longer for Sex, But Still Taking Risks: Analysis
New York Times: Behavior: Too Much Texting Is Linked to Other Problems

Above, a clip from a local news broadcast covering new fast food marketing data presented at APHA's Annual Meeting.

Strange phenomena

2010-11-09T13:57:00.002-05:00

This year, one of the top news stories about cancer was grim: The disease is projected to replace heart disease as the leading cause of death worldwide. But at a Monday session on "Alternative and Complementary Health Practices for Cancer and Chronic Diseases," APHA Annual Meeting-goers glimpsed a more upbeat cancer topic that gets little attention from researchers.

Doctoral candidate Kelly Turner, MSW, has been focusing her research on trying to understand why and when spontaneous remission of cancer occurs. She told session attendees that spontaneous remissions are rare events, and defined the phenomenon as the "complete or partial, temporary or permanent disappearance of a tumor, metastasis or blood cancer." But the most important part of the definition, she said, is that it happens in the absence of Western medical treatment or after Western treatment has failed to produce results. According to Turner, there are only about 20 cases of spontaneous remissions published each year in medical journals.

To study the topic, Turner traveled the globe to study unpublished cases. Interviewing healers and survivors alike, she zeroed in on the physical, emotional and spiritual commonalities that resonate through survivors' and healers' recollections of how they were able to lick cancer. For example, one woman attributed her cancer's spontaneous remission to diet. In other words, the woman simply stopped eating for two weeks, and when she did begin to eat again focused her diet mainly on vegetables — no meat, no dairy, no sugar — and juiced cabbage. Other survivors attributed their spontaneous cancer remissions to various herbs and vitamins.

One Japanese man attributed his spontaneous remission 22 years ago to surrendering to his cancer by increasing his positive emotions. Simply stated, after being sent home from a hospice with no hope, the man decided to just embrace his cancer and decided that he would "think of his cancer as his child," Turner explained. The man sent his "unconditional love to it."

Surrendering, being at peace with dying and being at peace with living, as well as deeper spirituality, also resonated throughout Turner's qualitative research.

Turner believes that such occurrences can shed light on how cancer goes away.

"It is very rare and a lot of people don't study this because it is so rare," Turner said. "But the implications of what it could mean, if we could understand what is going on, are quite huge. From a public health standpoint, it also might reveal inexpensive cancer treatments."

— T.D.J.

Question of the Day: Still got hope?

2010-11-09T12:45:00.003-05:00

If you were lucky enough to get a one-on-one meeting with the President of the United States, what advice would you offer for improving the nation's health? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

The few, the proud

2010-11-09T12:11:00.004-05:00

Where were you at the crack of dawn? A small but chipper gaggle of public healthers braved the early-morning chill for the Physical Activity Special Primary Interest Group’s third annual 5K Fun Run/Walk, and we were wondering what happened to the rest of you.

The lovely trek down Cherry Creek Trail behind the Colorado Convention Center gave some of us a chance to get a little exercise and fresh air before today’s marathon of scientific sessions. Studies show regular physical activity improves mental alertness, so squeeze a walk in today if you can.

I think it’s true that Denver’s high altitude makes running a little more challenging. During the run I felt like I was really haulin’ the mail, but my time was a couple of minutes slower than the 5Ks I run back home in Virginia. Any of you finding it challenging to work out here in Colorado?

For the record, I came in fourth behind two locals (they’re used to the thin air) and a woman from California who’s training for a 50-mile ultra marathon. One great thing about the 5K, though, was that it was “low-key” and non-competitive, with walkers welcome. Participants were awarded Physical Activity SPIG hats, and I’ll be wearing mine with pride.

And while the SPIG does a great job promoting physical activity, this year’s turnout of about 20 people was the smallest yet, despite Mother Nature’s mercy in giving us pretty much perfect running weather. Any ideas on how the SPIG can promote the run so more of the 12,000 or so people gathered for the Annual Meeting take part?

— D.C.

Above, Annual Meeting attendees do the right thing (and make the rest of us look bad) by joining the annual crack-of-dawn fun run and walk. Photo by Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

The old college try

2010-11-09T11:51:00.002-05:00

Sure, college is place to grow, a place to experiment and try new things. It's also a place where many young people might try their first cigarette. So, why make that unhealthy temptation any easier to fall prey to?

That was the message during yesterday evening's session "SFU: Smoke-Free Universities," where public health students and teachers shared their experiences campaigning for smoke-free policies on campus.

At California State University-Northridge, Kathleen Young, who's with the university's Department of Health Sciences, helped create COUGH (Campuses Organized and Unified for Good Health) in 2008. The neat acronym wasn't the group's original name — the switch came because members wanted the message to be about good health and not convey an adversarial tone toward smokers, Young told session attendees.

Young said there's five phases to such an effort: assessment and investigation, strategizing and planning, recruiting, campaigning and implementation. The California campus currently bans smoking within 20 feet of entrances (though, it's not always followed), and COUGH is hoping to convince university decision-makers to create designated smoking areas and eventually go smoke-free in 2013, Young said.

Already, more than 200 colleges and universities nationwide have tobacco-free campus policies, and the American College Health Association recommends campuses adopt 100 percent indoor and outdoor tobacco-free policies. Tavis Glassman, an assistant professor at Ohio's University of Toledo, has been working for more than two years to help his campus go tobacco-free.

Some lessons he's learned along the way? It's important to persuade a committee or coalition to endorse the initiative — "you don't want to be the only person taking heat on this issue," he told session attendees. Also, educate the campus on the need for such policies and conduct surveys before taking a vote on smoke-free sentiment.

The survey lesson came after a 2009 student vote on the issue, in which only 58 percent voted for more restrictive tobacco policies, with students, faculty and staff voting almost identically. Also, women tended to support the effort at a higher rate than men. Needless to say, it wasn't the voting result he had hoped for, Glassman said.

Other lessons Glassman shared: Always be ready to advocate, don't get intimidated by your opponents, and try to tie your tobacco-free initiative to the university's mission. Be tough, he said, and persevere.

— K.K.

A job well done

2010-11-09T10:58:00.004-05:00

Don't forget to check out APHA's CareerMart booth at the Public Health Expo or visit CareerMart online.

Above, Annual Meeting attendees take part in CareerMart coaching at the Public Health Expo on Monday. Photos by Jim Ezell/EZ Event Photography

Moments from the hot tub

2010-11-09T10:13:00.001-05:00

I started my job at APHA less than two weeks ago. At the time, I knew the APHA Annual Meeting would be a quick education on all manner of public health issues. But I had no idea how much I'd learn just sitting in my hotel's hot tub.

It was 7:30 Sunday morning. Hardly a time when most of us are thinking about work.

Five ladies, public health workers from around the country most of whom had never met before, sat in the hot tub for a little relaxation and what turned into an impassioned discussion about smoking cessation, of all things.

Of course it did.

Because if I've learned anything in my few days at APHA, it's that the people in this field are passionate about their work. They can toss out statistics on teen smoking and the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in cessation efforts without notes or preparation. They trade stories of smoke-free campuses and the days when surgeons would smoke at the nurses' station.

That's the beauty of the Annual Meeting, I'm learning. It brings together people who would never have the opportunity to meet each other, and it gets them talking, trading ideas and working together.

There are 12,000 meeting attendees in Denver this week. Who will you wind up talking to?

— C.T. (Whose full name you'll soon be seeing the pages of The Nation's Health)

Tuesday's Have You Heard

2010-11-08T20:46:00.001-05:00

Work it out: Join APHA's Physical Activity Special Primary Interest Group for their 3rd Annual 5K Fun Run and Walk. Meet Tuesday morning at 6:15 a.m. in the outdoor plaza of the Colorado Convention Center.

Get tested: Heard about the new Certified in Public Health exam, but not quite sure what it's all about? Check out session 4004, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Being Certified in Public Health, But Didn't Know Who to Ask," on Tuesday from 8:30 to 10 a.m. in room 702 of the convention center. Visit the National Board of Public Health Examiners for more.

Health reform needs you!: Join moderator and former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher for session 4171, "Health Reform and the Changing Role of the Public Health System: The Experience of Arkansas, Florida and Michigan," on Tuesday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in room 113 of the convention center.

The medium is the message: How do you wade through the ever-changing world of media to reach your communities with critical public health info? Take in some tips at session 4277,"How to Use Media and Social Networking Effectively in Public Health Settings," on Tuesday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in room 501 of the convention center.

Best and brightest: APHA's Annual Public Health Award Reception and Ceremony will honor the best and brightest in the public health field on Tuesday night from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Four Seasons Ballroom of the convention center. Honorees range from pioneers in the fields of research and advocacy to national legislators who've worked to support public health. Come on out and give your colleagues a round of applause!