WSPHA Public Policy:
Congressional Town Halls and Public Health
Did
you know that your membership in WSPHA helps support our policy
activities? This summer, WSPHA reached out to more than 4000
public health advocates through targeted emails that asked people to
attend Congressional Town Halls hosted by US Representatives Baird,
Smith, Dicks, McMorris-Rodgers, Reichert, and Inslee, and speak up for
public health. Because both the House and Senate bills contain
crucial language that can help to increase public health funding and
increase emphasis on prevention, the WSPHA Board of Directors passed a
statement of principles urging Congress to include public health
provisions in final legislation. Stay tuned for more opportunities to be
involved and be a voice for public health.
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NBPHE Webinars on Past and Future Perspectives on Certified in Public Health-September 17, 2009
On Thursday, September 17 at 10 a.m. (Eastern), Ms. Molly Eggleston,
deputy executive director of the National Board of Public Health
Examiners (NBPHE), will present on experiences with the Certified in
Public Health (CPH) exam and share testimonials from public health
employers, faculty and CPH professionals. She will also take questions
on the upcoming exam (August 2010). For details, please visit
the National Board of Public Health Examiners website. |
Opportunity: You Can Represent WSPHA to the Governing Council of the American Public Health Association
The
WSPHA Board of Directors invites applications to serve as the WSPHA
Board Representative to the Governing Council of Affiliates of the
APHA. This national position is a terrific opportunity to help
govern our parent organization, represent our state, attend and learn at
APHA meetings, and further develop your career. A travel stipend
of $1200 is available from the WSPHA Board. The term is 2
years. Accepting the position also means a commitment to serving
on the WSPHA Board of Directors as the ARGC representative.
To apply: Please submit a 2-3 paragraph description of your interest and commitment level to Kim Thorburn, In-Coming President, WSPHA Board of Directors, by September 17, 2009.
The ARGC representative will be expected to update the WSPHA Board and
membership regularly on APHA activities and opportunities, through
newsletter articles, notifications, and reports to the Board.
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Share Impacts on Your Agency of Recent State Budget Cuts
The Washington State Budget & Policy Center is launching an effort to compile data on how
health and human services have been affected by recent budget cuts in order
to fully understand the aggregate effect of these cuts. To participate in this survey, contact Kate Baber, (206) 919-5908 or kateb@budgetandpolicy.org
The Center is surveying providers, organizations, and advocacy groups across Washington
to collect information on how different programs have been affected by the
recent budget cuts at the state, county, and city levels. They are interested in
documenting changes in: program waiting lists, caseload changes, staffing
changes, fee increases, changes in demand for uncompensated care or financial
assistance to cover health care costs, and changes in the demand for
services.
The Center will use the data we collect to compile an aggregate report
of Washington's health care and human service infrastructure's ability to meet
the needs of its residents in light of the recent budget cuts. This information
will be distributed to health care advocacy organizations and stakeholders and
will be used to build a case for increasing and preserving funding from the
state during the 2010 legislative session. It will also be used to illustrate
the negative impact Initiative-1033 would have on vital public systems.
Legislators
and other policy makers, as well as the public, benefit from
understanding the human faces behind budget cuts, and often require this
type of data to fully appreciate impacts on our public health
services. Please consider participating in this survey.
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Dr.
Matt McKenna, Chief Medical Officer, National Center for Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC, to keynote in Yakima
Dear WSPHA member,
Public
health systems across the nation have the prospect of experiencing
significant change and improvement if proposals to expand Federal
funding for public health and increase focus on prevention efforts come
to fruition. What better way to learn about Federal developments
than by coming to hear Dr. Matt McKenna,
who was recently appointed to his new position after serving as the
Director of the Office on Smoking and Health, keynote at this year's
Joint Conference on Health.
On Tuesday morning, you
will have the opportunity for a Q&A with an expert panel from the
governmental, nonprofit, philanthropic and private sectors, addressing
how we can work together to prevent chronic disease. We are inviting YOU to submit your tough questions for this panel by next Wednesday, September 16.
Don't miss this fabulous opportunity - register for the JCH and submit your questions today!
Laura Hitchcock
Executive Director
WSPHA
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This Year's Joint Conference on Health in a Glance
Review the entire program and detailed session descriptions and abstracts to plan your personal learning sessions. Why
should you come this year? It's simple - for less than $300, you can
travel in-state, and hear 3 national plenary speakers, receive training
not only in your discipline area, but participate in training &
discussion in other cross-cutting topics such as:
- How to Work with Local Boards of Health
- Revitalizing Public Health
- Data-Driven Decision-Making
But
wait, that's not all - this year's call to action for prevention of
chronic disease is timely for Washington - according to the Trust for
America's Health, approximately 30% of children 10-17 in Washington were
obese or overweight in 2007. While Washington isn't the worst
state in many indicator areas, we have the opportunity to be the best
state. Have your voice heard as the State's Department of Health
launches our new, statewide focused effort on chronic disease
prevention, meet committed partners from the private and philanthropic
sectors, and help to build a movement.
Early Bird Registration Deadline Closes Tuesday, September 15. Register Now and Save $30.
Nominate a Colleague for Recognition - Deadline Extended Until September 18. Don't miss this opportunity to ensure that a colleague receives statewide, public recognition
for their commitment to public health. There are several
different awards, and only WSPHA members can nominate (although
nonmembers can be recipients).
Through the George Hilton scholarship fund, WSPHA will provide scholarships for students
to attend the Joint Conference in 2009. With our public health
workforce aging, increasing opportunities for students to connect with
professionals and learn from current programs and experiences is an
invaluable way to ensure a highly-educated public health workforce of
tomorrow. Please pass the word to students near you. For
more information, contact us.
Don't forget to sign up to exhibit at the Joint Conference ($450/government and $250/nonprofit agencies) and to receive recognition for the work that your organization is doing (and support our Association's fabulous learning opportunity) through sponsorship of the Joint Conference on Health.
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Partner Corner: This is Your Environment, On Drugs
-Eva Dale, Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation
The amount of household pharmaceuticals going to waste
in Washington is enormous. With little publicity, Group Health Cooperative and
Bartell Drugs have collected and disposed of more than 25,000 pounds[1] of
unwanted drugs from residents - at less
than 3% of pharmacies in Washington State!
Why should we be concerned about unwanted medicine?
Drugs that accumulate in medicine cabinets can contribute to accidental
poisonings and illegitimate access that can lead to abuse. And when drugs are
flushed down toilets or thrown in the trash, they can end up in our surface or
ground waters, potentially impacting aquatic organisms and putting drinking
water at risk of contamination.
It's clear that Washington needs safe medicine return
for unwanted drugs. But let's also consider how we can reduce the amount of
drugs that become waste in the first place.
There are many reasons why prescription and
over-the-counter drugs become unwanted - some avoidable and some not. People
stop taking drugs due to side-effects, lack of efficacy, or quicker recovery
than anticipated. But we also are buying more drugs, per-person, than ever
before in this country. This is because new remedies are available but also
because there are more health problems resulting in more need for drugs.
As the problem of pharmaceuticals in the environment
and water become more known to the public, the public will expect health care
practitioners and public health agencies to address their concerns adequately.
To do this, we need to be informed and also willing to adapt. Here are some
ideas for places to start:
Education. Be informed and spread the word. Learning about
this issue is a good place to start. Talking to your colleagues can also
have a lot of impact. Go to http://www.medicinereturn.com for more information.
For health care practitioners, Teleosis Institute offers an online course
titled Green Health Care that can be found at www.teleosis.org.
Disease
Prevention. When overall health
is improved, fewer drugs are needed for treatment. Many working in public
health are making great efforts to focus on disease prevention. Preventing
pharmaceutical pollution is just another good reason to do so. Proper
Waste Disposal. When drugs
become waste they need safe disposal. Safe disposal equates to doing what
we can to prevent drugs from getting into the environment. Safe disposal
also means security to prevent accidents and abuse from unwanted drugs.
Unwanted drugs should absolutely not be flushed into the sewer or septic
systems. When waste drugs are from a business source, look to the
Washington State Department of Ecology for guidance on proper and legal
disposal. For guidance to offer the public, there are take-back programs
currently available at Group Health Cooperative and select Bartell Drugs
pharmacies. For drop-off locations and instructions on what to do if no
take-back sites are nearby, go to www.medicinereturn.com.
Now, more than ever, we have a great opportunity to
figure out our roles on this issue. Like so many public health issues, the
problem of unwanted pharmaceuticals requires work from many angles but the
sooner we start to deal with it, the easier it will be to prevent bigger
problems.
[1] Includes original containers, which
is estimated to make up 28% by weight.
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Core Competencies for the PH Preparedness and Response Workforce
The
Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) will be engaging the appropriate
experts to develop a proposed model of core competencies for the public health
preparedness and response workforce. You
are invited to participate and volunteer.
Starting
in September, volunteers will be asked to participate in Delphi rounds via
e-mail, and possibly in-person focus groups. The time commitment will include
1-2 hours per Delphi survey, for 2-3 Delphi surveys. Focus groups will require
a commitment of 2-5 days. These
commitments would take place between September 2009 and February
2010.
If
interested in volunteering, email or call John E. McElligott at 202 296-1099 x157, preferably before
September 15th, 2009, but they will continue accepting volunteers after this
date. Please send your name, address, phone, email, institutional affiliation,
position/role and area of expertise.
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