Public Health Challenges, Tips

Podcasts are audio or video programs you can subscribe to via the internet. They may be produced by individuals in their basements, community groups, or media conglomerates. Just about any topic that interests you will be represented by a podcast. If you subscribe to, say, "Health Politics with Dr. Mike Magee" you will automatically receive a weekly audio program on your computer. You'll need iTunes or some other free podcasting software on your computer to listen to the program, which you can do at any time that suits you. The Health Politics web page has instructions, as do many other podcast home pages.

Andy Goodman's monthly newsletter free-range thinking covers five guidelines for publishing top eNewsletters. The team at Sound Partners read with interest. We think you will find useful information, too!

The second National Summit for Community Wireless Networks will be held March 31-April 2, 2006 in Champaign-Urbana, IL. It's the largest gathering of community wireless networking developers, implementers and allies focused on building the alliance of technologists, policy experts, and implementers, and encouraging participants to discuss the great variety of challenges and opportunities facing the movement.

A wiki is a website that allows anyone who visits to quickly add, delete, or edit its contents. (According to Wikipedia.org, it comes from the Hawaiian word wikiwiki, meaning "quickly." It also could stand for "What I Know Is . . .") The on-line encyclopedia called Wikipedia is the most well-known example of the phenomenon. There's been much publicity about the accuracy, or inaccuracy, of its contents. An analysis conducted by the journal Nature says it is just about as accurate at that old stand-by, Encyclopedia Britannica.

A report from the American Hospital Association calls for understanding and change in how health care organizations relate to our racially and ethnically diverse U.S. population. Some key points in the report:
• Disparities in health status and access to care are political issues and major challenges.
• Innovative programs have shown that disparities can be successfully addressed.
• Community outreach is essential. It must involve members of the community.
• Cultural competency is a key factor in delivering good health care.

Easy-to-understand definitions for medical terms, from ADHD to zoonosis, especially for children. You can find lots of topics of interest to children on this Nemours Foundation site: Dealing with feelings, recipes, health problems, staying healthy, my body, and more.

Here's a great step-by-step guide, in outline form, to boost your meeting's success. Checklists, a schedule, presentation specifications included. From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (PDF)

For those who need to perform a research-related task and want guidance, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has 2 PDF primers available for download. Although focused on RWJ requirements the information will be useful to other researchers.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Hamblamos Juntos program, working with the Society for Environmental Graphic Design, developed and tested 28 symbols for use in health care settings. The symbols, which show typical hospital destinations, were designed to help overcome language barriers. The symbols and support materials, such as explanatory posters and workbooks, are available at no cost for download on the web.

This website contains free audio, written and multi-media health education materials in a wide variety of languages. The goal is to provide access to health information for immigrant communities. Former SPCH partners have contributed productions to this site. It contains links to multi-lingual and multi-cultural health information websites around the world.