Resources

“HealthConnect – A Practical Guide to Community Outreach”

The Medtronic Foundation is offering copies of “HealthConnect – A Practical Guide to Community Outreach.”  According to Medtronic, HealthConnect “offers practical tactics, tools, tips and resources to improve the ability of health care advocates to reach and serve people of all backgrounds.”

More information and a link to order the free guide: http://www.medtronic.com/foundation/community-health-healthconnect.html

The Medtronic Foundation also accepts grant applications for health, community, and education projects: http://www.medtronic.com/foundation/programs.html

Posted in Funding Opportunities, Resources, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

“Tekkies” trained by Library Staff on Reliable Health Information

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, South Central Region awarded a subcontract to the The Edgewood Family Network (EFN) in San Antonio for their project, TECNO: Technology-Enhanced Community Neighborhood Organization. The project plans to foster access to electronic consumer health information among families in EFN’s service area by relying an existing group of youth, the “Tekkies”. This project is allowing EFN to build on its previous success at addressing health concerns within a community that the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District has identified as a high-priority area.

Julie assisting a "Tekkie" with MedlinePlus

Julie assisting a "Tekkie" with MedlinePlus

On Monday, June 8, the library staff met with six members of the “Tekkie” team along with the program coordinator. Julie K. Gaines taught them how to used MedlinePlus, MedlinePlus en Espanol, and Go Local. The “Tekkies” will use these resources when they go into homes of local residents to promote reliable health information. Along with these resources, Julie identified the critieria for evaluating health information on the web, which will help the “Tekkies” when recommending reliable sites for the local residents.

The “Tekkies” will visit the library again in July for a session on health careers and other health resources for their project.

Posted in Classes, Resources, Staying Well. Connected., Youth | Comments Off

A Study on Coffee Drinking

A wonderful article has appeared on the Medical News Today website. Written by Catharine Paddock, PhD, it dives into some of the questions we all have had about the debate over the value, or hazards of coffee drinking. “There was a time when the only news about coffee and health was how it was bad for the heart, likely to give us ulcers and aggravate our nerves, but now it seems this popular beverage is receiving a more favorable kind of press.”

In the United States, we consume 1.3 metric tons per year, at a rate of 4.2 kg per person. The latest figures for 2012 suggest 65% of American adults drink coffee, placing the beverage “neck and neck with soft drinks”, says the National Coffee Association.

However, the researchers uncovering the good news are all saying the same thing: while there appear to be some health perks from drinking coffee, there are also a few cautions, and the evidence is not solid enough to actively encourage people to go out and drink coffee.

This article takes a good look at the shift in the research view on coffee consumption, touching on some of the key studies, and finishes off with some facts and figures about coffee and caffeine.

Copyright: Medical News Today

Drinking Coffee: More Good Than Harm?

Posted in Articles, News, Reports, Resources, Staying Well. Connected., Websites | Comments Off

AAMC’s MedEdPORTAL includes Dental Education materials

In 2005, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) launched its “MedEdPORTAL” as a free publishing venue and dissemination portal to support educators and learners as they create and use on-line teaching materials, assessment tools, and faculty development resources around the world.  In March, 2008, the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) joined the AAMC to expand the Portal to include dental education resources within its repository of teaching tools.  This collaboration represents the first time that academic medicine and academic dentistry have come together to share teaching resources across universities and throughout the world.

Information about MedEdPORTAL and a link to free online training workshops is available at http://services.aamc.org/jsp/mededportal/.

Posted in Resources, Staying Well. Connected., Websites | Comments Off

ABCD Workshops in San Antonio and Harlingen

The UT Health Science Center Libraries are
Proud to Announce:

ABCD Workshops in San Antonio and Harlingen
(Asset-Based Community Development)

 Building community connections and partnerships in support of
medical research, education and practices
that really work to impact community health.

 The workshop will be presented by H. Daniels (Dan) Duncan, a consultant and faculty member of the ABCD Institute at Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. Dan is a longtime human services professional who helps agencies recognize the value of working with citizens and community organizations.


You are invited to attend either of the following workshops:

San Antonio – UT Health Science Center Dolph Briscoe Jr. Library

To Register Click Here 

Thursday, February 21, 2013 – Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Workshop, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Harlingen – Mario E. Ramirez Library
  To Register Click Here

Thursday, March 7, 2013 – Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Workshop, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon.

Tags:
Posted in Conferences, Event Announcement, Minority health, News, News from the Libraries, Resources, South Texas, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

Acceso Hispano

Thanks to NN/LM – SCR’s Blogadillo for sharing the news about Acceso Hispano:

“Acceso Hispano’s fundamental goal is to improve the quality of life of the Hispanic population living in the United States. There are close to 47 million Latinos currently living in the U.S., and by 2050 this number is expected to reach 140 million, according to recent projections by the Pew Hispanic Center. By 2050 Hispanics will make up 29% of the U.S. population in 2050, compared with 14% in 2005. A little over half of this new Hispanic population will be recent immigrants, who need access to information and support services to effectively integrate into the broader society. We seek to empower members of the Hispanic community to improve their lives by linking them to the support services or information they may need.”

Posted in Hispanic health, Resources, Spanish Language Content, Staying Well. Connected., Websites | Comments Off

ADHA Standards for Clinical Dental Hygiene Practice

The American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) has the ADHA Standards for Clinical Dental Hygiene Practice [pdf] posted on their home page. These standards are a resource for the dental hygienists “seeking to provide patient-centered and evidence-based care.” The Standards also help educate other health providers and policy makers about the field of dental hygiene.

Posted in Resources, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

Advice For Staying Safe In The Heat

The extreme high temperatures experienced by much of the country this summer look like they will continue well into August and beyond.  The heat poses many health risks to those living along the US-Mexico border in colonias and other accommodation without air conditioning.

Heat-related illnesses are collectively known as hyperthermia, and occur when the body overheats.  Conditions involving hyperthermia have different names, including heat stroke, heat fatigue, heat syncope (lightheadedness or fainting in the heat), heat cramps and heat exhaustion, according to the National Institutes of Health.

In response to the dangers of hyperthermia, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has created a website with guidelines and tips for recognizing the symptoms of hyperthermia and first aid techniques for assisting people suffering from it.

Posted in Resources, South Texas, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

Best health information sites for English-language learners

Larry Ferlazzo is a former community organizer who now teaches English to both new and native speakers at a high school in Sacramento, California. He also publishes a tremendous guide to online teaching resources for English teachers and learners, and his blog, Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day, has consistently great links to new online resources to support teaching and learning — especially learning English.

About a month ago, he published a blog post with a fantastic list of “The Best Health Sites For English Language Learners”, in which he picks the top 12 sites that best bring together health information literacy with potential English language development. His recommendations are excellent, from EnglishMed‘s animated exercises for medical professionals learning workplace English, all the way up to MedinePlus’s Interactive Health Tutorials. Along the way, he recommends three different sites focused on oral health, one for kids’ health, and much more. Commenters to the post have added some other suggestions as well.

Thanks to Siobhan for this helpful link!

Posted in Hispanic health, Minority health, Resources, Staying Well. Connected., Websites, Youth | Comments Off

Briscoe Outreach Participates in 2012 Summer Institutes

Briscoe Library Information Table

Biescoe Library Information Table at the 2012 Summer Institutes

The Outreach Services Program of the Briscoe Library participated in the 2012 Summer Institutes on Evidence-Based Quality Improvement. The conference/exhibit was presented by The University of Texas Health Science Center at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, in downtown San Antonio, Texas. The entire program ran from July 17th - 21th and the Library Services Outreach was present on the 19th & 20th.

The Summer Institutes Program brought together over 500 clinicians, nurses, physicians, healthcare educators, leaders and researchers from across the nation and foreign countries as well. All were focused on a unified goal of sharing information concerning their own research and availability, while learning about other advancements in improving patient healthcare and patient safety.

The Briscoe Library Outreach Services used this opportunity to present information on PubMed, MedlinePlus, WISER and other National Library of Medicine online products which enable health professionals and consumers to access dependable and current information associated with quality patient care.

Posted in Minority health, News, Resources, South Texas, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off