American Public Health Association: Innovation to Improve Health Contest

Win up to $40,000 for your health department’s innovative policy idea! The American Public Health Association (APHA) has announced a policy contest for health departments, The Power of Policy: Innovation to Improve Health. The purpose of the contest is to advance the development of innovative public health policy strategies, in particular those that aim to eliminate health inequities; and to strengthen health departments’ capacity to use policy approaches. U.S. health departments at all levels of government (state, territorial, local, tribal,) are eligible to apply for funding, and they may apply in partnership with non-profits. Between five and eight health departments will receive awards ranging from $25,000 to $40,000 to develop, implement, and/or evaluate an innovative policy approach to a critical public health problem, with a focus on reducing health inequities and building policy capacity. Winners, along with a summary of all submitted policy ideas, will be announced through APHA meetings, publications, and social media. A non-binding e-mail of intent is due January 18, and applications are due January 31, 2012.

This contest is made possible through funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative (NPHII), which assists health departments with increasing their capacity and identifying, implementing, evaluating, and disseminating best or promising practices in key areas, including public health policy.

Read more on the APHA website.

Building HIV/AIDS Research Capacity in Communities of Color: Community Abstract Mentoring Program

The National Latino AIDS Action Network (NLAAN) in collaboration with several partners have created a new mentoring program aimed at building HIV/AIDS research capacity in communities of color -- Community Abstract Mentoring Program (CAMP). This program provides abstract writing assistance to individuals working in communities of color throughout the United States, which include, but are not limited to, African American, Latino/Hispanic, Native American/Alaska Native, and Asian/Pacific Islander communities. The program seeks to support HIV/AIDS research by providing young and/or less-experienced abstract submitters working in communities of color the opportunity to have access to mentoring in research and writing.

This online abstract mentoring program provides an opportunity for mentees to ask for feedback from experienced abstract submitters who have gone through an intensive International AIDS Society (IAS) abstract mentoring training. Through this online abstract mentoring system, individuals will have an opportunity to have a mentor review their abstracts and provide feedback to improve the quality of the abstracts and thus increase the chance of their being accepted to the AIDS 2012 conference. The abstract mentoring program will be open from December 1, 2011, through February 1, 2012, to assist in abstract review. However, please note that applicants should check the IAS Web site regularly for any updates on abstract submission deadlines. IAS abstract submission opens December 1, 2011, and closes on February 15, 2012.

The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC), the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), the Latino Commission on AIDS (LACOA), and NLAAN, in collaboration with the Office of AIDS Research (OAR), National Institutes of Health (NIH), have developed this online abstract mentoring program.

Read more about the initiative on the CAMP website.

Native Youth Suicide and the Importance of Suicide Prevention Training for First Responders

About every 10 days, a young member of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), either in one of the region’s many tiny isolated communities or in the bigger Northern Ontario towns where they often go to attend school or find work, takes his own life. And the statistics recently released by NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy – 298 confirmed suicides among under-25s in the period from 1986 to the end of October 2010 – may be just the tip of the iceberg.

According to Staff Sergeant Dan MacLeod, an OPP officer seconded to Nishnawbe Aski Police who last month used the NAN figures while briefing a group of Canadian Forces instructors at a suicide prevention course, there were a total of 425 confirmed suicides in all age groups through the same 24-year period. In fact, for the past decade, the chief said the band has had an average of 30 youth suicides a year, so the rate has increased. But, to the end of 2004, there were an additional 4,000 reported suicide attempts.

That was the last time he looked at the number of attempts, Staff-Sgt. MacLeod told a group of instructors with the Canadian Rangers, army reservists with a majority of First Nations, Inuit and Metis members who work and patrol in the country’s sprawling northern regions. The Rangers got involved, Sergeant Peter Moon told The Globe and Mail, because in the past year, instructors recognized that two of their own – they were Junior Canadian Rangers, the group for 12-18 year-olds – were suicidal and were able to save them. “We feel we have a duty of care to the Rangers and Junior Rangers and to our communities,” Sgt. Moon said.

The Rangers then approached Staff-Sgt. MacLeod, and last month the 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, based in CFB Borden near Barrie, Ont., sent six instructors to the suicide prevention course held in Dorset. “We’re not social workers,” Sgt. Moon said. “But we want to know how to help … and Staff-Sgt. MacLeod has given us the basis to do that.” Ranger instructors often come upon disclosures of suicide in their ordinary work. For instance, Sgt. Moon said, the Rangers offer new Junior Rangers a course on how to avoid physical and sexual abuse, rampant in many northern communities, and often the youngsters will divulge that they have been victimized – or that suicide is something in the back of their minds.

Now, thanks to St.-Sgt. MacLeod’s course, they’ll be better equipped to help. While the Rangers are perhaps best-known for the sovereignty patrols they conduct in Nunavut – there are 4,200 Rangers working in 160 remote communities across the Canadian north – in Ontario the organization’s mandate is to provide domestic response to crises that range from rescuing injured trappers to evacuating communities from flood zones or recovering bodies. Resources in NAN’s tiny far-flung communities, many of them reachable only by aircraft, are extremely limited – there may be just a mental health professional on call, a local nursing station and one or two police officers – so there is a real need for more trained eyes.

Read more on the Globe and Mail website.

Cultural Enhancement Model: Cultural Competency as Effective Engagement in Evidence-Based Practice

Although evidence-based practice (EBP) in mental and behavioral health continues to garner increasing policy and empirical support, uptake among practitioners remains low. One of the barriers to widespread, adherent implementation of EBP is the concern that the standardization of practice conflicts with a culturally competent approach. Cultural adaptation frameworks, however, can be time-consuming and thus impractical for agencies and individual therapists to use. This study proposes a Cultural Enhancement Model that focuses on engagement issues at the community, agency, therapist, and client level to balance the demands of model adherence, cultural competency, and feasibility. This paper describes the model and its application to enhance the Family Integration Transitions (FIT) program to better serve first- and second-generation Latino families.

Read abstract of the study. Access to full-text requires log-in or $20 to purchase article.

New Factsheet on HIV and Young Men Who Have Sex with Men, Strategies for Prevention

A new factsheet by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides statistics on HIV diagnosis among young men who have sex with men -- An estimated 56,300 Americans are infected with HIV each year. Of these, 34%, or approximately 19,000, are adolescents or young adults aged 13–29 years. Young men who have sex with men (YMSM), especially black YMSM, are at highest risk. This fact sheet highlights the ongoing risk for HIV infection among YMSM and underscores the need to reach each new generation with efective HIV prevention messages and services. Schools and education agencies are important partners in this efort.

The factsheet also provides possible reasons for the disparities that exist among YMSM, factors include -- lack of knowledge of infection status, failure to reach MSM with efective interventions or prevention education, use of alcohol and illegal drugs, complacency about risk, mental health consequences of stigma and discrimination. The factsheet highlights strategies for addressing HIV among YMSM in schools, these include -- collect and analyze data on sexual identity, sex of sexual contacts, and associated health risk behaviors among youth, establish safe and supportive school environments, provide professional development for school staff, implement school-based HIV prevention policies, practices, and interventions.

Read the factsheet (pdf).

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