Wednesday, May 30, 2007

1-2-3 READ!

From our Friends at Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads:

An exciting new initiative is underway in Virginia. 1-2-3 READ! Virginia is funded by the Virginia Department of Social Services' CCDF (Child Care and Development Fund) Infant and Toddler Targeted Funds through a contract with Child Development Resources (CDR). The program will provide training and follow-up on-site coaching to infant and toddler teachers in early care and education settings throughout Virginia in the use of 1-2-3 READ! 1-2-3 READ! is a research-based storybook early literacy curriculum developed by CDR that has been proven to result in children achieving significant, measurable gains in their language and cognitive development.

The program is now in the process of selecting, through an application process, a cadre of 20 Early Literacy Trainer/Coaches (ELTCs) from at least 10 geographic regions to implement 1-2-3 READ! Virginia training and on-site coaching in collaboration with CDR.

They invite you to be part of this new initiative. Check out their website www.123read.cdr.org, review the information that describes ELTC requirements and responsibilities, and if interested and qualified, submit an on-line application to become an ELTC. Applications are due by June 11, 2007 and successful applicants will be notified by June 15. Please feel free to forward this inforamtion to other colleagues who may be interested in becoming an ELTC. Please email the contact below for attachments.

If you have any questions, please contact (757) 566-2840 or lisam@cdr.org or project director, Sheri Osborne, at 757-566-3300 or sherio@cdr.org.

-- Lisa McKean, Project Manager1-2-3 READ! VirginiaChild Development Resources, P.O. Box 6420, Norge, VA 23127-0280, phone (757) 566-2840 or email: lisam@cdr.org

Thursday, May 24, 2007

2007 IFIC Foundation Food & Health Survey Web Cast

2007 IFIC Foundation Food & Health Survey Web Cast

A Web cast to debut the full findings from the second annual International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation Food & Health Survey: Consumer Attitudes toward Food, Nutrition & Health.

Time: 2:30 – 4 p.m. EDT
Date: Thursday, May 31, 2007

Speakers will include:
· Susan Borra, RD, President, IFIC Foundation
· Christy White, Principal, Cogent Research
· Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RD, Director, Health Communications, IFIC Foundation

Find more information on the Web cast at: http://www.ific.org/research/2007fandhsurveywebcast.cfm

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Child Survival: Problems but Promise

The Graduate Program in Public Health of Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University Presents Robert Black, M.D., Ph.D.,Chairman and Edgar Berman Professor in International Health Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Speaking on “Child Survival: Problems but Promise”

Friday, May 25th, 2007, 11:30am-12:30pm
Roper Lecture Hall, Lewis Hall, EVMS

Abstract
1 . Of the more than 10 million global child deaths annually, the major causes are pneumonia/sepsis, diarrhea, birth asphyxia and pre-maturity at birth.
2. Undernutrition has a synergistic relationship with high rates of infection, causing in a large proportion of child deaths.
3. A small set of low-cost interventions, that are not fully implemented currently, have the potential to reduce child mortality by two thirds or more.
4. Recent attempts to accelerate child survival programs have made some progress but must further address issues of program content, health worker roles and health system infrastructure

Refreshments will be served.
Please let Paula Swartz (446-6120 or
swartzpm@evms.edu) know if you’re coming so enough food is ordered.

What are local providers doing for poison prevention?

CINCH's Injury Prevention workgroup is in the process of developing some intervention ideas for poison prevention in local pediatric practices. We are looking for input from practice providers (nurses, office staff, and physicians) on what providers are currently doing with their patients (parents of young children) with regard to poison prevention as well as what kinds of things they would be willing to engage in in their practices (for instance, distributing stickers/magnets with the Poison Control number, allowing community members to come in and help educate parents, etc.).

If you or someone you know might be interested, we would love to have you attend our Injury Prevention Workgroup meeting on Tuesday, June 12 from 12:30-2:00pm. Please contact Hillary Marotta at 668-6495.

MEDICAID WAIVER WORKSHOP

MEDICAID WAIVER WORKSHOP - Sponsored by Care Connection for Children at CHKD
Presenter: Sandy Hermann, Community Resource Coordinator


Understanding Home and Community-Based Services for People with Disabilities

Friday, June 8, 2007 from 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Sentara Brickhouse Auditorium at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters
601 Children's Lane
Norfolk, VA 23507

Home and community-based waivers were established to slow the growth of Medicaid spending for nursing home care and to address criticism of Medicaid’s institutional bias. In 1981, Congress amended the Medicaid program to allow for Home and Community-Based Medicaid Waivers as alternative services for institutional placement.

There are many myths and gaps in information concerning Medicaid Waivers. This workshop is designed to dispel the myths and share the facts. Time for questions has been built into the agenda. The goal of the workshop is to provide information that is understandable for you to use in accessing appropriate Medicaid Waiver services. The presentation will include the following topics:

· Description of Virginia’s Medicaid Waivers
· Screening and eligibility requirements
· Types of services provided through each of the waivers (ex. Consumer-directed
and agency based personal care services, assistive technology, nursing services,
environmental modifications, in-home residential, companion care services )
· Role of the Case Manager and Consumer Directed Services Facilitator
· Using the appeal process
· Waiting lists for Medicaid Waiver services


This workshop is free and will be geared towards professionals that need information on Medicaid Waiver access and services available.

Please call 668-7132 to register and ensure that enough lunches are available. Accommodations will be provided and must be requested in advance when you pre-register. Request for interpreters must be at least seven working days prior to the workshop.

Virginia Academy of Family Physicians Offering Learning Sessions for SAM

The Virginia Academy of Family Physicians is offering group learning sessions to assist Academy members with the completion of the Self Assessment Modules (SAM) that are required by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) for completion of the Maintenance of Certification process.

In Virginia, family physicians care for over 50% of the people with asthma, including approximately 50% children. The American Board of Family Medicine has established new recertification opportunities for enhanced practice in asthma. Any physician that certified or recertified in July 2003 or after is required to complete a SAM each year. These sessions provide the knowledge base for completion of the requirements. The faculty team will present each of the 60 questions on the test and discuss the important teaching points for each, which will facilitate the participant's completion of each item. They will also guide the participants through the patient management simulation module. Internet access will be provided to allow completion of the entire SAM such that when the participants leave this session, they will have completed their yearly ABFM requirement and will have received a total of 15 CME credits!

The group sessions offer an opportunity to convey fundamental treatment and management issues in asthma care. These include practice redesign, more effective use of community resources, methods to overcome barriers to care and the pathophysiology, classification, treatment, and ongoing care of asthmatics. The session provides practical tools such as the ACT, visit records, and other decision support materials.

An asthma group learning session is scheduled on Saturday, July 14, 2007, at the Richard Bland College Campus in Petersburg, VA, from 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. To register for the session, please visit www.vafp.org or call 1-800-THE-VAFP.

SURVIVING ABUNDANCE: Overweight Kids in Crisis Airs Tonight!

SURVIVING ABUNDANCE: Overweight Kids in Crisis airs this Wednesday, May 23 at 8 p.m. on WHRO-TV 15. It will be followed by a re-airing of WIRED FOR LIFE: Early Childhood Education at 8:30 p.m.

SURVIVING ABUNDANCE paints a grim picture for the future of overweight children unless systemic changes are made that support more healthy choices. The documentary also looks at area organizations’ efforts to provide more healthy environments for our children. The program was produced by the WHRO Center for Regional Citizenship in collaboration with the Consortium for Infant and Child Health (CINCH), a community partnership to promote health and prevent disease among all children in Hampton Roads. It was directed by Amy Broad of Rock Eagle Productions and is the second documentary from the Center to focus on childhood issues in Hampton Roads.

WIRED FOR LIFE, a 30-minute documentary that addressed the importance of quality early childhood education, particularly in the first five years of life, was first broadcast in 2006.


Thursday, May 17, 2007

Immunization Satellite Broadcasts

Upcoming Satellite Broadcasts:
Please mark your calendars for several upcoming satellite broadcasts from the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). These include Immunization Update 2007 (August 9, 2007) and Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (December 13, 2007). Also, the annual four-part series broadcast, Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, will occur on January 31, February 7, February 14, and February 21, 2008. As more information becomes available, it will be posted at http://www2.cdc.gov/phtn.

These are typically broadcast at each local department of public health location. Please contact CINCH for information on joining us locally and networking while viewing this important update.

Community Connections Resource Guides have arrived!

Our partners at the Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads Coalition have developed a Community Resource Guide that CINCH members may find helpful.

Please make arrangements with Marsha Goodman via email mgoodman@smartbeginningsshr.org to pick up your resource guides by end of dayWednesday, May 23rd. If you do not pick them up by Wednesday, the coalition will not be able to guarantee your request. If needed, SBSHR will deliver the guides to your organization. As you know, the guides are in great demand and the coalition wants to get them in the hands of parents, caregivers, and early childhood professionals to link them to existing services available in their own backyard.

VDH - Asthma in Virginia, A Comprehensive Data Report, 2006

The Virginia Department of Health’s (VDH) Asthma Control Project has released its first surveillance report, titled Asthma in Virginia, A Comprehensive Data Report, 2006. This report provides a comprehensive profile on the burden of asthma in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In addition, the report provides the reader with data about prevalence, hospitalization, mortality, and cost associated with asthma. The report can be a resource for the Virginia Asthma Coalition (VAC), Local Asthma Coalitions (LAC), policy makers, program developers, and health care providers, in their efforts to identify disparities and barriers and to design solutions to reduce the burden of asthma in the state.

The report is available and can be downloaded from the VDH website at: http://www.vahealth.org/cdpc/asthma/data.asp

VDH would like everyone to complete a brief survey on your impression of the report. The survey form and instruction on how to complete the survey are in the Report.

For more information on this report, please contact the Virginia Department of Health at (804) 864-7877.

Rebeka Sultana, M.P.H. Epidemiologist Virginia Department of Health Division of Chronic Disease Prevention& Control 109 Governor Street, Rm.1026D

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to Resume Ozone Air Quality Forecasts via E-mail on April 30th

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will resume ground-level ozone air quality forecasts in addition to the currently-issued particle pollution forecasts via e-mail on Monday, April 30th. Air quality forecasts will be issued for Roanoke, Hampton Roads, Winchester and Richmond.

If you would like to receive these forecasts please contact DEQ at ddsalkovitz@deq.virginia.gov.

DEQ will issue forecasts for the following day by 3:00 pm. An Air Quality Health Advisory will be issued for any region of Virginia where unhealthy levels occur. Beginning May 1st, color-coded air quality forecasts and the current Air Quality Index (AQI) for each area will be available on the DEQ web site at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/airquality. Air quality forecasts are also available via an RSS feed at http://www.deq.state.va.us/airquality/airquality.xml, via the DEQ Air Quality Hotline at (804) 698-4444, and via the EPA AIRNow web site at http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.fcsummary&stateid=55. Generally, our forecast accuracy is around 80 percent correct in each location.

The AQI may peak well after 6:00 pm in most areas when ozone is the dominant pollutant. It may peak overnight or in the early morning hours in the Shenandoah National Park. The particle pollution AQI is usually higher than the ozone AQI in the morning hours due to the diurnal pattern of ozone formation. Particle pollution levels may stay elevated all day and/or night whereas ozone levels peak in the afternoon and early evening hours.

Animated air quality maps for "North Carolina/Virginia" will be found at http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.currentconditions&RegionID=5. Click on "Virginia" on the US Map, then either on "Ozone" or "Particles (PM2.5)" in the "Pollutant" section, then on "North Carolina/Virginia in the "Map Area" section, and then on "Display Maps Below". These maps are updated hourly. Maps such as these are also available from weather service data providers such as WSI, Weather Central Inc., and others for on-air use. Television stations are urged to use the air quality maps regularly in conjunction with the DEQ air quality forecasts to inform the public about daily air quality in their area.

DEQ uses a color-code forecast scheme:
Code Green indicates good air quality is expected the following day with either PM2.5 or ozone in the healthy range.

Code Yellow indicates moderate air quality is expected the following day with either PM2.5 or ozone in the moderate range. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting or rescheduling strenuous outdoor activities.

Please note: An Air Quality Action Day will begin at the Code Orange level. A Code Orange Air Quality Action Day indicates unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups air quality is expected the following day. Active children and adults and people with cardio or respiratory diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, or emphysema should limit or reschedule strenuous outdoor activities.

A Code Red Air Quality Action Day indicates unhealthy air quality is expected the following day. Active children and adults, and people with cardio or respiratory diseases such as asthma, bronchitis or emphysema should avoid strenuous outdoor activities. Everyone else, especially children, should limit strenuous outdoor activities.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact Bill Hayden, Communications Manager, DEQ Public Affairs Office at mailto:William.Hayden@deq.virginia.gov or (804) 698-4447, Mike Kiss, DEQ Meteorologist at mailto:Michael.Kiss@deq.virginia.gov or (804) 698-4460, or me, Dan Salkovitz, DEQ Meteorologist at mailto:Daniel.Salkovitz@deq.virginia.gov or (804) 698-4404 (6:45 am-3:30 pm).

Obesity Prevention: Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart Play Hard

Marty LaGiglia from Square One & member of CINCH's Obesity Work Group shared the following information:

On the radio this morning---Whoopi was talking about the obesity prevention program in Somerville, MA-"Shape up Somerville, Eat Smart, Play Hard" . There is interesting info about other wellness policies, etc. as you scan the printout. Members should check out the "Yearly height and weight data collection with reports for parents", which may give us some good ideas for our BMI datacollection.

Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart Play Hard. The CDC grant, Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart Play Hard.™, was awarded to Dr. Christina Economos (N96) in September 2002 for three years.* The project is a community-basedenvironmental approach to obesity prevention targeting 1st–3rd graders in Somerville, MA. Theinterventions take place through community partnerships that create healthy eating and physicalactivity messages and increase opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating, specificallyfruits, vegetables, legumes, low-fat dairy and whole grain products throughout the children’s day.Some of the interventions include: School Food Service, In-School Curriculum, After School Curriculum, Parent / Community Outreach and Restaurants. You can get more information on this program at and Dr. Christina Economos at http://nutrition.tufts.edu/research/shapeup/

FAMIS Faces - Online!

We wanted to share with all of you that the City of Norfolk, Department of Human Services has posted several of our FAMIS Faces photographs on its website along with family stories and information about FAMIS and how to apply. We are thrilled that they were willing to do this for us, and we hope it will reach some additional families.

Here is the link: http://www.norfolk.gov/humanservices/famis.asp.
Check it out, and again, thank you for all of your support!

You can also see an expanded selection of the FAMIS Faces at: http://pediatrics.evms.edu/famisfaces.htm

If you would like the Faces exhibit to come to your organization for a week, please contact us.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Chronic Disease in Virginia -- 2006 Edition

The Virginia Department of Health's Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control has released its report, titled Chronic Disease in Virginia -- 2006 Edition. This report is a comprehensive look at the burden of chronic disease in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The report can be a resource to public health program planners, policy makers, health care providers, and researchers in their efforts to identify disparities and barriers and to design solutions to reduce the burden of chronic disease in the state.

The report is available and can be downloaded from the VDH website at http://www.vahealth.org/cdpc/.

VDH would like you to complete a brief survey on your impression of the report. The survey form and instruction on how to complete the survey are in the Report. The survey can also be completed online at http://www.logicdepot.com/cddatareport06/ .

Please share this with your partners and encourage those partners to put a link to the report on their web site. For more information on this report, please contact the Virginia Department of Health at (804) 864-7877.

Surviving Abundance: Overweight Kids in Crisis Premiere Event

The Consortium for Infant and Child Health (CINCH) invites you to attend a premiere showing of SURVIVING ABUNDANCE: Overweight Kids in Crisis. We will be hosting a SPECIAL PREMIERE of this 30 minute documentary followed by a town hall style discussion with a panel of experts. Our Obesity Work Group has spent the last several months working with WHRO on this documentary, which takes a critical look at the issue of Childhood Overweight. We have limited availability for attendance at this exclusive premiere, so please do register early if you would like to attend.

Surviving Abundance: Overweight Kids in Crisis Premiere
Monday, May 21, 2007
11 a.m. – noon
Regent University
Communications Building, Screening Room
(located off Centerville Turnpike entrance)
Registration is required. Please register by clicking on the following link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=494993801324

WHRO TV-15 explores the problem and points to possible solutions in a locally produced documentary, SURVIVING ABUNDANCE: Overweight Kids in Crisis. The program paints a grim picture for the future of overweight children unless we begin to make systemic changes that support more healthy choices. Hear from local, state and national childhood health experts and see what some local programs and organizations are doing to encourage healthy lifestyles.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion.

For those of you who are unable to attend the premiere. You can Tune in May 23 at 8 p.m. to find out what you can do to help ensure our region’s children get the healthy start in life they deserve.

WHRV 89.5 FM also takes a look at the problem during two popular local radio programs this month:

Monday, May 21
HearSay with Cathy Lewis
Noon – 1 pm

Friday, May 18
House Calls with Dr. Pat Raymond
Noon – 1 pm

Welcome to the CINCH Blog

Hello members and guests,

Welcome to the CINCH blog. This blog will include important information, links, event announcements, and meeting reminders. You can also feel free to leave comments, as a registered user. We hope that our members will find this blog helpful in participating in CINCH as we wait for our official website to be built and launched.

For those of you new to CINCH, we are a community partnership to promote health and prevent disease and injury among all children in Hampton Roads. We operate through our many volunteers members and organizations. While CINCH focuses on child health, we have the following specific topic areas on which we offer specific programming: Asthma, Health Disparities, Health Insurance/Uninsured, Immunizaztions, Injury Prevention, Obesity Prevention, and Special Health Care Needs.

Thanks for your interest in CINCH. For more information, please contact us at CINCH@evms.edu or 668-6458.