Basketball, evidence, stimulus, fashion show, heroes

Stimulus

It’s been a roller coaster kind of week. I participated in meetings in Atlanta for the CDC’s Task Force on Community Preventive Services. While the meeting was going on, e-mails were flying fast and furious about the stimulus package and what it might mean for public health. The good news is that it looks like funds will be included for a range of topics most of us in public health care about — e.g., preparedness, electronic health records, health promotion, community health centers and workforce development.

I encourage people to read the legislation and some of the background materials, because if the package works as intended, quick response to the forthcoming announcements will be required. Karen Regan, JD, UNC congressional liaison (director, Office of Federal Affairs), has been doing an excellent job of keeping us informed.

Below is some summary information about the bill from Nan Sanseverino, administrative assistant in UNC’s Office of Federal Affairs. The final package increases federal support for a number of health care initiatives, including:

• $19 billion to accelerate adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT) systems, including $2 billion in discretionary funds and $17 billion for investments and incentives offered through the Medicare and Medicaid programs to help the use of “health IT” in hospitals, doctors’ offices and other medical facilities;

• $86.6 billion over the next two years in additional federal matching funds to help states maintain their Medicaid programs;

• 65% subsidy for COBRA premiums for up to 9 months for qualified individuals;

• $1 billion for a new Prevention and Wellness Fund to fight preventable diseases and conditions with evidence-based strategies;

• $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research to help patients and doctors determine the effectiveness of different treatments; and,

• $500 million to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for health professions workforce development, including $300 million for the National Health Service Corps and $200 million for Title VII and Title VIII and for grants to training programs for equipment.

Additional resources:

• The conference report for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) (also see www.rules.house.gov)

• An Inside Higher Ed article, “The Final Stimulus Bill,” which includes a matrix comparing funding provisions of the House, Senate and final bills

• An interesting visual representation of the Stimulus in The Washington Post

Evidence

I am thrilled that President Obama has been talking about — and that the legislation reflects a commitment to – use of evidence in public health and medical decision-making. It’s about time. It is really crucial that we use evidence to determine how best to intervene on a variety of public health topics. The Task Force spends a lot of effort reviewing the literature on a variety of topics, and local public health communities should use the evidence. To learn more about the Task Force and see our recommendations, visit the Web site for The Community Guide.

Duke vs. UNC and Florida vs. UNC

I don’t know why I could not get the Duke vs. UNC game in my hotel room in Atlanta, but I could not. Fortunately, my husband texted me scores every couple minutes. The outcome was wonderful, but I hated missing the excitement of the game. That Florida vs. UNC game was exciting too. What a finish!

Global fashion show

I’d promised Chris Deery and Rushina Cholera that I’d model in the Student Global Health Committee’s “Fashion Show Your Love” 2009. So I raced back from the airport, dropped my suitcases off and came back over to the School to model at 8 p.m. And I am so glad I did! Last year, it was a spectacular event, and it was wonderful this year as well!

I loved seeing our students, staff and faculty in dress from countries around the world and hearing the inspiring stories that accompanied the clothes. There was wonderful music, silent auction, food and great spirit. It’s good I have a day job, because I doubt anyone is going to hire me to model! My husband Bernard took this picture of some exuberant Health Behavior and Health Education students. Peggy Bentley, PhD, professor of nutrition and associate dean for global health, looked great. Here she is with Shrikant Bangdiwala, PhD, research professor of Biostatistics.

Hometown Heroes

I don’t know who nominated me, but last year, I was pleased to be selected as one of local radio station WCHL’s Hometown Heroes and was presented with a Village Pride Award. It’s always nice to be appreciated at home! I still don’t know who nominated me, but whoever it was, thank you! The station held a lovely luncheon Sunday for all the year’s heroes. Bernard and I met some very interesting people, including an accomplished young woman who is interested in public health. (Six degrees of separation does not apply to public health!)

I was delighted to see that Laura Linnan, ScD, associate professor of health behavior and health education, was one of the heroes. Laura does wonderful work.

At the event, Patti Thorp did a fabulous job of reminding all of us what it means to live in a community that is a community, and how we all will have to work at it even harder in these difficult times. It may be our neighbor who loses a job, a house, and his or her income. It might be one of us! The work our faculty, staff and students do in our communities has never been more important!

I am going to ask our communications staff to work with us to get more people from our School nominated this year. I know you, and there are a lot of heroes out there!

Good reading

Check out A Wellness Trust to Prioritize Disease Prevention by Jeanne Lambrew, PhD, our alumna who is now deputy director for the White House Office of Health Reform. She authored the report for the Brookings Institution, which has some of the best data I have seen on the case for prevention.

Atrium exhibit

We had the opportunity to host the National Library of Medicine’s global health exhibit, “Against the Odds,” this past week (Feb 6-13). ASPH provided interested member schools free access, and Maggie English coordinated the exhibit travel schedule for ASPH. It’s an awesome display that is now on display at East Tennesee State University in Johnson City.

Have a great week.

Happy Monday.

Barbara