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Therapies that integrate mind and body, seek health as well as cure, and incorporate a patient's beliefs and values are increasingly popular among consumers. Not to mention, they are supported by strong biologic and outcomes evidence. But for many physicians, this “new age” medicine has been an understandable cause for suspicion.

Now, some rigorous scientists, featured in these videoclips, are conducting groundbreaking studies of the mind-body connection. They are uncovering how and to what extent psychosocial states and events significantly influence physical phenomena like pain and wound healing.

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The first website in Spanish of its kind to help consumers take control of their health care by connecting them to new information and resources that will help them access quality, affordable health care coverage. President Obama wrote an op-ed in La Opinion and El Diario La Prensa today that highlights the website and the importance of health reform to the Latino community.

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The Community Clinic Voice (the Voice) is a free, online community for Community Health Centers and other safety net health care professionals and partners to network, share information and exchange ideas. It provides one convenient, easy to navigate center to access news, resources, and colleagues. Voice members are clinic CEOs, Medical Directors, clinicians and allied health providers, CFOs, fundraisers, CIOs, operations and administrative staff, and more. There is no cost to join or use the Voice, and it is open to anyone concerned with community health. No commercial or marketing activity is permitted.

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Watch the Get Ready campaign’s video that teaches the importance of emergency preparedness through a story about an ant and grasshopper. Share this video with friends and family to help them prepare for all kinds of disasters, hazards and other public health threats.

The Get Ready Video launch is part of a nationwide effort to encourage Americans to participate in Get Ready Day, an annual observance that takes place on the third Tuesday of September and coincides with National Preparedness Month.

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Over the last three years, we have touched on many topics that we hoped would help you as you work to improve immunization rates in your clinic. For the final edition, we return to the important issue of patient-carried immunization records.

First, we offer an article that provides a convincing yes to the title question: “Are Patient-Held Vaccination Records Associated with Improved Vaccination Coverage Rates?” The authors of the article, James T. McElligott and Paul M. Darden.

As a compliment to the article, and by way of a final thank-you for your participation, MCN, along with CHEC (Community Health Education Concepts), has developed patient-friendly, low literacy, bi-lingual immunization cards for you to use with your clients.  The cards are 5x7, and can be printed from your clinic computers.  There are two versions, a Lifetime Card for adults, and a Child and Teen Card, both in Spanish/English.  We designed the card to be as simple as possible, and to include only the most important information.  If the information is meaningful and understandable to the clients, they are more likely to understand the importance of keeping their shots up to date.

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Special Bulletin: Outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough) in California
For Immediate Attention:
There is a critical outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough) in California: it is classified now as an epidemic. Five infants, all Latino, have died. This is due to unrecognized pertussis in older children and adults which then infects babies before they’ve had a chance to get their shots. PLEASE spread the word through every mechanism you have that it is critical to get Tdap in adolescents and adults and to get children immunized properly. This months ImmuNews includes a number of resources on Pertussis (Whopping Cough).

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An article that provides a convincing yes to the title question: “Are Patient-Held Vaccination Records Associated with Improved Vaccination Coverage Rates?” The authors of the article, James T. McElligott and Paul M. Darden, conclude that the “Use of patient-held vaccination records is an easily implemented strategy that is associated with increased immunization rates. A greater effect was seen in groups at risk for underimmunization. Methods to incorporate and to ensure effective use of these records should be implemented” The article was published in Pediatrics in February of 2010. The full citation is as follows: Pediatrics 2010;125;e467-e472; originally published online Feb 15, 2010; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2009-0835. The online version of this article, along with updated information and services also available.

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A Child and Teen Card, both in Spanish/English. MCN, along with CHEC (Community Health Education Concepts), has developed patient-friendly, low literacy, bi-lingual immunization cards for you to use with your clients. The cards are 5x7, and can be printed from your clinic computers. MCN designed the card to be as simple as possible, and to include only the most important information. If the information is meaningful and understandable to the clients, they are more likely to understand the importance of keeping their shots up to date.

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The Texas After Violence Project is an independent narrative and human rights project. They:

  1. listen empathetically and without judgment to people directly touched by serious violence or other serious human rights violations, the criminal justice system, incarceration, and executions in Texas; 
  2. digitally record and transcribe these narratives;
  3. share the recordings and transcriptions to the extent, at the time, and in the manner to which individual narrators consent; so that we may
  4. promote collective, critical, and constructive conversations in which communities develop more effective, just, and compassionate ways to both prevent and respond to violence.

They work toward a more just and less violent Texas: a society that recognizes and affirms the dignity and value of every human being.

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A resource discussing TBNet. Ensuring continuity of care thrugh global trans-border patient navigation. Topics include: Global trans-border patient navigation, Barriers for Continuity of Care, Pre-Enrollment Education, Confidentiality, Pre-enrollment education assurance to the patient, and Forms.
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The Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) KL2, a post-doctoral training program with an emphasis on multidisciplinary clinical and translational research. Qualified candidates are being offered an opportunity to apply to an innovative career development program whose purpose is to train clinician investigators.  The CTSC KL2 is designed to train the nation’s future leaders in clinical and translational research, and is part of the NIH Roadmap aimed at “re-engineering the clinical research enterprise.”

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Health Outreach Partners’ fourth national needs assessment of farmworker health outreach. This groundbreaking report provides a compelling summary of national data focused solely on farmworker outreach programs and the farmworker communities they serve. This is the only project of its kind that provides a national snapshot on the needs of farmworker health outreach programs.  Attached you will find a press release with additional details concerning this important report.

We encourage you to share this report with your peers by:

  • Posting a link to the report in the “news” or “resource” sections of your website;
  • Circulating the attached press release via your listservs; and/or
  • Announcing this report in your upcoming organizational newsletter.

The valuable data included in this report can be leveraged for reporting purposes, funding proposals, program planning, and advocacy efforts to benefit the migrant and seasonal farmworker population.

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The California Department of Public Health’s Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is pleased to announce a new online course - Overview of Adult/Occupational Lead Poisoning in California.  Based on the latest health information about lead poisoning, this course:
 
    • Describes the problem of adult lead poisoning
    • Uses a case to illustrate issues and challenges in diagnosing lead poisoning in adult patients
    • Offers guidelines for providing state-of-the-art clinical management of adult lead poisoning
    • Provides an overview of the medical responsibilities under OSHA Lead Standards
 
CME Credit: 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit

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A Shot of Quality Improvement!

Welcome to Immu-News, the Immunization Initiatives listserv, a monthly resource for the community of participants in this project.

All health care delivery organizations are required to have quality assurance and quality improvement programs, but it is often difficult to make these efforts really meaningful in the everyday practice of serving patients. This month’s Immu-News suggests a number of immunization quality measurements that you can adapt to your local setting. We are finding from our site visits that many of you really struggle with understanding who is getting immunized, who is missed, and what the root causes are for the gap between your goal of full immunization and the present reality at your center. Additionally, immunization data gathering is often very time consuming, often duplicated several times over for various outside agencies, and often not in step with the ways changes are made in other parts of your organization. Here are a few ideas from us, and we welcome responses back from you that will continually improve immunization practices.

Addressing the Big Four: On-Time Immunizations, Knowing Your Baseline, Making Improvement, and Accurate Records

Our four quality topics will cover:

  • Immunization reminder systems
  • Baseline immunization rate audits
  • Measuring success
  • Patient self-management in record retrieval

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This resource from the California Department of Public Health provides facts, information for health professionals,  data and surveillance, vaccine, and prevention.

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