Monthly NPA e-Letter August 2016

• News/Announcements
• Reports/Publications
• NPA Blog
• Events
• Webinars
• NPA Newsletter Highlights
• Opportunities
• Resources 

The Regional Health Equity Councils (RHECs) have launched new Facebook and Twitter accounts. Follow the Regional Health Equity Council I-X  on Facebook and @allRHEC on Twitter to receive the latest RHEC and NPA updates!

Heartland RHEC Puts Out Call for Members

Live in the Heartland and interested in working for health equity? Then consider joining the Heartland RHECs, which seeks energetic and proactive members from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.  The deadline to submit an application to become a Council member is September 2, 2016.

New Bills Address Social Determinants of Health

Lawmakers in 21 states and the District of Columbia have introduced bills during their 2016 legislative sessions aimed at eliminating health disparities.  Several of the bills, which address social determinants of health and aimed at eliminating health disparities for underserved populations, have been signed into law.  Find out what’s happening in your state. 

Check back soon!

The Grand Gathering 2: Health Disparities in Rural Communities of Color

Seneca Bock (Co-Chair of the Mid-Atlantic RHEC) provides a re-cap of the conference, which was held on June 11, 2016, in Suffolk, VA.  Attendees had an opportunity to network with trusted medical professionals community members and to obtain valuable information on topics including lupus, diabetes, cancer and stroke prevention, HIV-AIDS and the Affordable Care Act.

Check out upcoming health equity events taking place around the nation.

View Past Recordings of the Equity in All Policies Webinar Series

Did you miss the July 21, 2016, Equity and Empowerment Lens: A Tool to Create Equitable Policies and Programs webinar? Then watch the popular recording to learn how Multnomah County, Oregon created the Equity and Empowerment Lens (with a racial justice focus) in 2012 to support the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities. 

You can also catch the following webinar recordings:

• In Health Matters, Place Matters - The Health Opportunity Index (HOI).  This webinar spotlights the HOI, a composite measure of the social determinants of health being used in Virginia.  It provides a baseline for a community to determine the factors leading to positive health outcomes and healthy communities.
• Voice Your Vision: A Community Engagement Initiative.  This webinar highlights the Community Listening Sessions held in New York State in 2015, in areas legislatively defined as Minority Areas and which bear a disproportionate burden of poor health.  The Listening Sessions used a community-led approach to identify and discuss complex health and social problems.

OMH Celebrates 30 Years of Progress Toward Health Equity, with Renewed Resolve for the Path Ahead 

In the spring of 2016, the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) kicked off the nation’s observance of National Minority Health Month, which also marked the beginning of a year-long recognition of the 30th anniversary of OMH.  There is a lot to celebrate – three decades of creating awareness around, and reducing, health disparities – but the nation still has quite a way to go to achieve health equity, as several top federal officials noted at an event on April 7.  

Catch up on other action on the health equity front in past issues of the NPA Newsletter.

• Applications are being accepted until August 22, 2016 for the Executive Director position at the North American Indian Alliance (NAIA).  The NAIA is non-profit corporation whose mission is to promote and foster health, education and general welfare of urban Native Americans in and around Butte, Montana.  Apply today.  http://www.ncuih.org/position_openings
• First Nations Development Institute: Nutrition Education for Native American Communities provides support to Native communities interested in starting or expanding nutrition education programming for Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) recipients.  Deadline is August 23, 2016.  Learn more
• HHS/Health Resources and Services Administration: Health Center Program's Service Area Competition.  Supports public and private nonprofit organizations that provide primary and preventive health care services to the medically underserved.  Deadline is August 29, 2016.  Learn more.
• Kent Richard Hofmann Foundation: HIV/AIDS Care and Services Grant - Fall Cycle.  Funds community-based organizations working in the areas of HIV/AIDS care and direct services, education and research.  Deadline for Letter of Intent is September 2, 2016.  Learn more.   

For additional opportunities please visit the Regional Health Equity Council website.

Pacific and Southwest RHEC Releases Three Community Health Workers’ Information Briefs

The Pacific and Southwest RHEC released three information briefs:

• The Community Health Workers in an Evolving Technology Environment brief covers the use of technology in health care delivery and patient engagement for health improvement.
• The Mental Health First Aid brief discusses Mental Health First Aid, which is an adult public education program.
• The Community Health Workers and Chronic Disease Prevention: An Overview of Resources brief discusses the national resources that are available to support the work of community health workers within the arena of chronic disease management.