Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Here are five facts you need to know:

Minnesota COPD facts and figures on rates of hospitalizations and deaths on the MN Data portal.

Here are five facts you need to know:

1. COPD is the 5th-leading cause of death in Minnesota. Death rates for COPD have declined for men but remain unchanged for women. 

2. Most people are not diagnosed until later in the disease when they are hospitalized or have a flair up. COPD is a major cause of death. Know the symptoms.

3. COPD is sometimes referred to as emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

4. Smoking is the leading cause of COPD. Among adults with COPD, 40 percent are former smokers and 36 percent still smoke. If you still smoke, you can get help to quit. See Tobacco Prevention and Control: Quit Tobacco.

5. It’s important to manage COPD and to know how to talk with your doctor. American Lung Association of MN has the top 5 questions to ask your doctor and other information and resources.

The new School Wellness Works! toolkit is NOW AVAILABLE in hard copy. 

If you would like copies to share with your partner school sites, please email Terri Swartout with the quantity requested.   Terri.Swartout@state.mn.us

BikeMN, in partnership with Minnesota Departments of Health and Transportation, will be offering Bikeable Community Workshops in 2017 between mid-May to mid-July.

If you feel your community is a great candidate for the workshop, please fill out the application online. This is a competitive process, and a limited number of communities will be selected.

Communities are eligible if they have not had a Bikeable Community Workshop in the past.  Any questions can be directed to Kelly.Corbin@state.mn.us.

Applications are due Jan. 9.

Application pdf and planning guide are available here, as well as submission application: http://www.bikemn.org/collaboration/bikeable-community-workshops

Planning for Population Health Coffee and Call

Save the Date:

Time:  8:30-9:30 a.m.
Date:  First Wednesday of every month starting Dec. 7

Get ready for more fun in the world of PSE and cross-disciplinary collaboration!

Building on the success of the popular Farmers Market Coffee and Call, we are responding to the fantastic energy for learning about and getting more involved with comprehensive plans, master plans, community planning and land use across Minnesota.

This monthly opportunity is a forum to share information, advice and best practices with each other and professionals in the planning field. Topics for discussion come from you and the other participants on the call so bring your best ideas, most pressing questions and enthusiasm for contributing to a strong community of practice around planning healthy, vibrant communities.  Our first call will highlight some lessons from the field. 

This initiative is being organized by the MDH Healthy Eating and Active Living Team.  Grab a cup of coffee and join us Dec. 7!

Call-in Details:
Toll-free number#:1-888-742-5095
Conference Code:9821141691

Bike Alliance of Minnesota is looking for five new schools to host the Walk! Bike! Fun! Curriculum training in April or May of 2017.

If you would like to host a Walk! Bike! Fun! Curriculum training during spring of the 2016-2017 school year, complete the application found here.  Deadline to apply is midnight on Feb. 3, 2017.

Date:  Feb. 23

Join MN AFHK for the 2017 Healthy Schools Conference to explore how health equity at school relates to nutrition, physical activity and the whole child at our biannual conference.

This conference is designed to inform and empower schools and community partners to take action to support the health and success of all students. Join us to learn practical strategies on how to develop and implement effective policies and practices for improved student outcomes. Be inspired on how you can create a school environment that supports healthy, active students.

Tobacco technical assistance and training (TA) has three components – PSE consultation, legal TA and retail environment assessment. For efficiency, and to address distinct regional needs, as of Nov. 1, 2016, PSE consultation will be divided between two organizations (ANSR and ALA). All grantees will continue working with the Public Health Law Center in coordination with either ANSR or ALA on policy development, as well as Counter Tools regarding retail assessment.

Policy, Systems and Environmental Change (PSE) TA

PSE TA providers will serve as tobacco prevention and control policy experts and provide individualized consultation to MDH grantees on PSE change phases including strategy development, policy adoption, implementation, and enforcement. PSE TA providers demonstrate deep expertise in tobacco control PSE processes, best practices, and implementation and enforcement strategies and can accommodate specific community needs and strengths when assisting grantees.

PSE TA providers offer the following technical support for all tobacco control PSE strategies:

• One-on-one consultation around PSE change to grantees.
• Strategy-specific resources such as toolkits, templates, fact sheets, talking points, sample policies and enforcement guides that can be adapted for communities.
• Co-creation and development of needed materials and resources.

The Association for Nonsmokers – Minnesota (ANSR)

Esha Seth, MDH TA Lead

esha@ansrmn.org

(651) 646-3005

The following SHIP grantees should contact ANSR for PSE TA consultation:

• Anoka County
• Minneapolis
• Benton County
• Scott County
• Bloomington-Edina-Richfield
• Sherburne County
• Carver County
• St. Paul-Ramsey
• Chisago County
• Stearns County
• Dakota County
• Washington County
• Hennepin County
• Wright County
• Isanti-Mille Lacs-Kanabec- Pine

American Lung Association in Minnesota (ALA)

Erin Simmons, MDH TA Lead

erin.simmons@lung.org

(507) 382-7421

The following SHIP grantees should contact ALA for PSE TA consultation:

• Blue Earth
• Horizon
• Brown-Nicollet- Le Sueur-Waseca
• Kandiyohi-Renville
• Cass
• Meeker-McLeod-Sibley
• Countryside
• Morrison-Todd-Wadena
• Crow Wing
• Mower
• Des Moines Valley with Nobles County
• North Country
• Dodge-Steele
• Olmsted
• Faribault-Martin- Watonwan
• Polk-Norman-Mahnomen
• Fillmore-Houston
• Quin
• Freeborn
• Rice
• Goodhue
• Southwest Health and Human Services
• Healthy Northland
• Wabasha
• Health 4 Life
• Winona

Legal TA and Training

The Public Health Law Center (PHLC) provides statewide legal technical assistance and training. PHLC alongside the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium has an extensive set of helpful guides, fact sheets, tips and tools, toolkits, reports, sample policies, and webinars.

Public Health Law Center

Scott Kelly, MDH TA Lead

scott.kelly@mitchellhamline.edu

(651) 695-7611

Assessing Retail Environment

Counter Tools provides online interactive store mapping and store-auditing tool to assist with POS work. To gain access to these tools, contact your grant manager. Associated is Counter Tobacco.org, a CDC-funded website with information and resources for organizations working to counteract tobacco product sales and marketing at the point-of-sale.

Counter Tools

Jennifer Grant, MDH TA Lead

jennifer.grant@countertools.org

(919) 694-3066 x212

For additional questions, contact:

Cassandra Stepan

cassandra.stepan@state.mn.us

(651) 201-3665

Time:  11 a.m.-Noon
Date:  Dec. 12

The MDH Tobacco Prevention and Control Program is pleased to announce changes to our Technical Assistance (TA) and Training team and newly organized roles. The TA team serves grantees working on tobacco prevention initiatives in both the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) and Tobacco-Free Communities (TFC) grant programs. Please join us for a short webinar to hear about these changes, briefly meet the TA team, and learn how to access their services. Please contact your community specialist for any questions you might have about this webinar.

Registration: Go to https://health-state-mn-ustraining.webex.com/health-state-mn-ustraining/k2/j.php?MTID=t6e6373d4a372ecbea4237e508b179f02 and register. Once the host approves your registration, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the session.

Inspiring Bold Action: The Minnesota Tobacco Control Conference

Date:  Jan. 24-26
Location:  RiverCentre, 175 Kellogg Blvd. W., St. Paul
Cost:  $100

THEME
Preparing for Action: The Next Horizon for Minnesota Tobacco Control

FOCUS AREAS
1. Eliminating Tobacco Inequities*
2. Working Together to Take Bold Steps for Policy Change in Tobacco Control
3. Sustainability of Tobacco Control in Minnesota

OBJECTIVES
Conference participants will leave with:

1. An understanding of key tobacco prevention and control issues and a roadmap for collaborative change work that sustains our long-term efforts.
2. An understanding of the important role they play in creating a state where everyone is free from the harms of commercial tobacco.
3. An understanding of the disparities faced by commercial tobacco users and why these inequities exist in Minnesota.
4. Confidence and a sense of urgency to use newly acquired knowledge and skills to reduce tobacco inequities.

*Includes but is not limited to communities of color; indigenous communities; LGBT; urban and rural populations; those with mental illness or substance use disorders; the homeless; those of lower socioeconomic status, as well as other groups with persistently high tobacco use rates.

“Tobacco use” refers to manufactured commercial tobacco in all forms (cigarettes, cigars, smokeless, hookah, etc.), as well as all forms of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), and not the traditional, sacred, medicinal, spiritual, or ceremonial use of tobacco by American Indians and other groups.

Registration and Conference Website

www.mntobaccocontrolconference.com
Register here.

MDH and ALA are partnering to offer a limited number of travel scholarships to SHIP grantees working on tobacco prevention and control to attend the Statewide Tobacco Conference Jan. 24-16, 2017. Scholarship applications, questions and communication should go directly to Erin Simmons at erin.simmons@lung.org.

Conference Website
www.mntobaccocontrolconference.com

Scholarship Eligibility

Because funds are limited, there are a few eligibility requirements to be aware of. The applicants applying must be:

1. More than 60 miles from their permanent work station to St. Paul River Centre.
2. A SHIP Tier 1 grantee.
3. Working on tobacco prevention in either point of sale or smoke-free housing community setting.

We will first award one scholarship to the eligible SHIP grantees. Please refer to the schedule below. If funds remain, we will do a second call for eligible applications to send additional SHIP staff or coalition member. This second round is on a first come, first serve basis. ClearWay or TFC funded CHBs are not eligible to apply.

What is included?

• $50 Registration Fee (registration code will come from ALA if approved for scholarship)
• Round trip mileage (Federal rate is 54 cents/mile)
• Dinner Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings (maximum of $16 per meal and can’t include alcohol)
• Up to two nights at the Intercontinental Hotel, which is adjacent from the conference site. (arranged directly by ALA with the hotel on applicant’s behalf)

Reimbursement basis only, except for hotel cost which ALA will pre-arrange and paid directly.

Timeline

• 1st call for applications open Wednesday, Nov. 23; due no later than Monday, Dec. 12.
• 2nd call for applications open Tuesday, Dec. 13; due no later than Friday, Dec. 30.
• If approved, the final reimbursement form and receipts are due to ALA by Monday, Feb. 6.

Application Form

Please complete this brief application and email it directly to Erin Simmons at erin.simmons@lung.org.

Date of Request:

Applicant Name:

Grant Name:

Email:

Phone:

Please use the guidance on page one for the maximum allowable amounts per line item.

Reimbursement Basis:

Conference Registration Fee $ ________
Approximant Mileage Costs $ ________
Meals $ _______

Total Approx. Requested Amount: $ ________

Pre-Arranged by ALA:

Intercontinental Hotel, St. Paul: Check one or both nights you need a hotel.

____ Tuesday, January 24

____ Wednesday, January 25

Time:  11 a.m.
Date:  Dec. 2

SHIP coordinators are invited to a webinar at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 2, to get an orientation to the new SHIP identity strategy, the new statewide logo and communications acknowledgement guidelines.

The webinar is the culmination of a study and analysis of aspects of SHIP’s communications approach and materials OSHII conducted in late 2015/early 2016. The webinar will be recorded.

Target groups for the analysis included SHIP coordinators, local public health directors, Community Leadership Team members, County Commissioners and government relations staff.

Tribal SHIP grantees will go through a separate process in 2017.

Click here to register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1989783273004328706

The Minnesota Department of Health seeks proposals to provide and coordinate capacity building technical assistance and training (TA) for its Tobacco-Free Communities Grant Program (TFC) and Statewide Health Improvement Program grantees as they work to reduce the harms of commercial tobacco in their communities.

In June 2016, MDH sought proposals to implement TFC and award both community grants and technical assistance and training grants. This RFP is a reissuance for the Capacity Building TA Grant included in the June 2016 request and does not include funding for any other grants.

Please feel free to share this opportunity with your community partners and networks.

For details visit http://www.health.mn.gov/tfc.