Communityangels?

I recently learned of Jobangels - a social network of people united by a single goal of reducing unemployment. Using the social media platforms, twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, Jobangels brings together people with job needs with those willing to help (click here for the complete story). Since January what started as a small group of people has grown into a national movement.

It got me to thinking how community health leaders could benefit from a similar type of effort. All too often we all work in separate silos, working silently on projects. We quietly cheer our successes and independently struggle with challenges. If community leaders could reach out to each other in this same fashion, then maybe we could grow our efforts to improve health.

Last month, we launched our LinkedIn Group Page to an overwhelming response (over 100 members the first day alone!). We will use this platform to connect those with questions or needs with information; to lend a hand and work toward a common goal, improving health.

If you have not yet joined take a moment and join today.

"Help is Here Express” Pulls into New Jersey

With New Jersey’s unemployment rate hovering around 8.3 percent, thousands of residents are facing the loss of health insurance. Many, however, may be eligible for patient assistance programs that help people without prescription drug coverage get the medicines they need for free or nearly free.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) will be among more than two dozen organizations participating in "Working Towards a Healthy Neighborhood,” a community health fair sponsored by the Civic League of Greater New Brunswick and the Georges Road Gateway Project. The event will be held

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is a free, nationwide service sponsored by America’s pharmaceutical companies that connects people in need to more than 475 patient assistance programs around the country, including about 200 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies. Since its 2005 launch, the program has helped more than 234,000 people in New Jersey and some 5.7 million nationwide.

PPA will have its signature orange mobile enrollment center, the "Help is Here Express,” at the fair, where specialists will help visitors research assistance programs and apply on the spot using one of the wireless computers on the mobile enrollment center.

"At a time when national unemployment is the highest in almost two decades, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance has become an important lifeline for a growing number of patients,” said Billy Tauzin, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which sponsors the PPA. "We want people in New Jersey and across the nation to know that help is available. No one is helped by a medicine that sits on the shelf and is out of reach financially.”

Bristol-Myers Squibb, whose Georges Road facility straddles New Brunswick and North Brunswick, plays an active role in neighborhood health improvement and revitalization efforts. In addition to being one of the health fair’s major partners, the company supports the Georges Road Gateway Project Task Force, which is working to guide redevelopment efforts and improve the quality of life along the Georges Road corridor.

"The Partnership for Prescription Assistance works with doctors, pharmacists, health care providers and community groups to help patients with limited financial resources gain access to medicines that can extend and enhance their lives,” said Janet Loesberg, executive director of Medical Education, Grants and Assistance at Bristol-Myers Squibb. "Helping to ensure patients can obtain the medicines they need is an important part of our corporate mission to extend and enhance human life.”

Now in its third year, the annual health fair of the Civic League of Greater New Brunswick brings together the city’s leading health care organizations to provide residents with health screenings and information on topics including breast cancer, prostate cancer, hypertension, lead poisoning, bicycle safety, dental health and smoking cessation.

"I believe it’s vital to promote access to medications that can help people live healthier lives,” said C. Roy Epps, president and CEO of the Civic League. "At the same time, we must also help people in the community get access to information that can promote wellness and healthy choices.”

People who are unable to attend the New Brunswick health fair and wish to learn more about the Partnership for Prescription Assistance can visit PPA’s web site (www.pparx.org) or call its toll-free number (1-888-4PPA-NOW), where trained operators field calls in 150 languages.

About the Partnership for Prescription Assistance

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is a nationwide effort sponsored by America’s pharmaceutical research companies to raise awareness about patient assistance programs and the need to effectively address the rising and alarming rates of chronic disease in the United States.

Jobangels? Could we be Community Health Angels?

I recently learned about jobangels - a movement started in late January 2009 by Mark Stelzner while he sat at his kitchen table eating cornflakes...or something like that.

The idea was that if we could each help just one person find a job then together we could make a dent in the rising unemployment rate. Using the social networking tools twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook - he provided a platform where each person could commit to a single goal: to help just one person, friend, family member, colleague or complete stranger find gainful employment (click here for the complete story). The idea resonated and this movement has linked thousands of employers with eager, committed employees.

It got me to thinking community health improvement efforts have a similar challenge. All too often we all work in separate silos, working silently on projects, quietly cheering our successes and struggling with our failures. If we could reach out to others in this same fashion, then maybe we could help each other.

This week we launched our LinkedIn Group Page to an overwhelming response (over 100 members the first day!). We will use this platform to connect those with questions or needs with information; to lend a hand and work toward a common goal, improving health.

If you have not yet joined take a moment and join today.

Kaiser Permanente Awards Community Grants

With the stresses and strains of the economic downturn, we are all looking for some good news. Four hundred non-profits received good news from Kaiser Permanente.

Kaiser Permanente Awards $13 Million in First-Quarter Grants

Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente has announced community-benefit grants totaling approximately $13 million to organizations working to expand access to safety-net specialty care and improve care for the elderly.

The more than four hundred grants include $900,000 each to the East Valley Community Health Center, Kern Medical Center, Latino Health Collaborative, Valley Care Community Consortium, and Venice Family Clinic as part of the California Specialty Care Access Initiative, which is designed to increase access and reduce demand for specialty care among uninsured and underinsured populations.

Read more

Missouri Organization Empowers Individuals to Make a Difference

The Heartland Foundation located in St. Joseph, Missouri supports forward-thinking projects that create opportunities for progress and change. At the Foundation's emPowerU campus housed in a transformed warehouse building located on a federally designated Brownfields site, the Research and Solutions Center offers a unique environment for diverse groups of all ages to gather, discuss and promote leading edge ideas designed to improve a community's health and vitality. From this innovative center, a continuum of multiple activities are introduced that lead to participatory projects that encourage civic engagement, promote health, build workforce development skills and address economic realities.

Projects tackle such issues as building strong educational systems through business partnerships, health improvement for school-age children, youth civic engagement, and community collaboration and transformation. Community members gather at the campus and throughout the region to discuss various issues confronting the community. Though topics may change, the guiding principle remains clear - through collaboration and new ways of thinking individuals can improve their communities and themselves.

Youth and adults return from their visits at emPowerU with a commitment to improving their community. After completing the emPowerU immersion and the Foundation's nationally-recognized emPower Plant curriculum, one group of students from the Benjamin Banneker Charter Academy of Kansas City planted an inner-city garden with Jump Starters funding support through a partnership with Heartland Foundation and Learn and Serve America. In less than five months the garden yielded over 500 pounds of produce for the Harvesters Food Network.

Heartland Foundation's work spans a 30-county region and beyond encompassing a four state area: Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Minnesota. For more information see heartlandfoundation.org.

Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter?

In this world of 24-7 access to information -- non-profits are rapidly jumping into the fray along side corporate America. Whether it is twittering about new projects or using Facebook as a platform to reach more people, new ways of networking seem to be popping up everyday.

Recently, The Washington Post published a controversial article on the benefits of using Facebook to raise funds and profile of non-profits. The authors stated:

The Facebook application Causes, hugely popular among nonprofit organizations seeking to raise money online, has been largely ineffective in its first two years, trailing direct mail, fundraising events and other more traditional methods of soliciting contributions.

This article has been received with mixed review. Many vocal bloggers suggested the authors do not "get-it." And that their conclusions were merely old news, and that to view these applications merely through the fundraising lens is limited. They argue that success is predicated on using these sites as a general communication platform, as well as a fundraising tool.

What do you think?


What have you found most useful? for networking? for fund raising? What works for you?

COMMENT HERE! And enter to win a STARBUCKS GIFTCARD!

Tell us what you think about the site.

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Creative community efforts to promote health

Building a healthy community is not a solitary process....we all need to pitch in, work together and create innovative ways to address health needs in our neighborhoods. In so many communities across the country, this is exactly what is quietly happening. The WINGS program in San Antonio provides free breast cancer screening, treatment services and supports to uninsured women. A Baltimore-based program, Birth Advocates helps low-income women navigate prenatal care and community resources. In Oklahoma City, the Mayor hoped the entire community will get into the program when he launched the "Oklahoma City is going on a diet" program - which provides resources, encouragement, and tools for individuals to set and achieve weight loss goals.

These are the types of programs we at LeadingHealthyCommunities.com seek to share with you on a wider scale. By documenting these programs, we hope to provide you with a blueprint for replication in your community. SO TELL US MORE!

What examples are you aware of from your community? Albeit your own organization's program or the running/walking, nutrition program and gardening program your son participates in after school. Help broaden the impact of these programs and share these examples today.

Let us spread the word....

Holidays

The holidays are often a time when we are most busy and least able to manage the additional stress. I was just reminded of this fact the other day when a woman contacted Leadinghealthycommunities.com asking about resources for her mother who had been recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her parents are without healthcare coverage and her father (who only worked part-time due to recent job layoffs) still earned too much money to qualify for state-assistance. She said her family could not afford to pay for her mother's care out of pocket. She was extremely worried about her mother who -- burdened with the guilt of expensive treatment, could not possible be in the right mindset to fight the cancer.



My immediate thoughts were -- who can afford to pay out of pocket for medical care....? Really? When you are talking about such high cost tre treatments, few could afford to pay out of pocket for their own care.

I directed her to a resource group, WINGS in San Antonio, Texas which specializes in helping "low-income" women get screening for breast cancer and if necessary subsequent treatment. And told her I would keep thinking about other resources for her (PLEASE SHARE ANY IDEAS WITH ME AND I WILL PASS IT ALONG). Ever since speaking with her, I have been thinking about the fact that there are so many families who are struggling with this very same problem.

At Leadinghealthcommunities.com we hope to try to make it easier for communities groups to start programs to promote health, expand access to care, or educate harder to reach populations. You can help by sharing information you may have on innovative health programs in your area. We would love to know about them.

Happy Holidays.

New Administration

With the election finally behind us, everyone - from a convenience store owner to the president-elect - is eager to get down to the business of running the country.

Much of the focus will be on the economy and helping Americans dig out from this economic crisis. However, health care will certainly feature prominently in discussions -- as we contemplate helping those who have lost their jobs and in turn their health coverage.

What are your thoughts on how the new Obama Administration can help you in your efforts to improve health? Have you thought about who you would like to see appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services? How can the new administration help you in your work in the community?

LHC Survey

One year after launching our website, Leadinghealthycommunities.com, we are gathering feedback from our case study partners on site utility, services and possible conferences and programs. Answer such questions as:

• Would you be interested in attending a conference which would allow you to network with community leaders, share resources, and learn from one another?
• How else could LHC present materials to better meet your needs?
• What additional content would be helpful to you in your work?

We would appreciate your taking a moment to complete this survey and share your thoughts. Your advice will be extremely helpful in guiding website expansions and improvements.

To participate in the survey click on the following link:

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2dgmua0flu0bxs3/start

Presidential Election '08

On your mark, get set, go....

Labor Day has traditionally marked the start of the "real" election season - when political rhetoric and policy debates reach a fever pitch. We at Leadinghealthycommunities.com are hopeful that health care will feature a prominent role in political discourse.

Health08.org [http://www.health08.org/index.cfm] a Kaiser Family Foundation website provides an ongoing analysis of health care issues addressed by the presidential candidates. The site provides links to useful articles, side-by-side comparisons of reform plans, and health reform video sound bites. The site helps visitors better understand the candidates reform plans and form their own opinions on the issues and candidates.

In summary:

The McCain health reform plan seeks to:

"Remove the favorable tax treatment of employer-sponsored insurance and provide a tax credit to all individuals and families to increase incentives for insurance coverage; promote insurance competition; and contain costs through provider payment changes, tort reform and other measures. "

The Barrack Obama plan would:

"Require all children to have health insurance, expand public programs such as Medicaid and SCHIP, and compel employers to offer employee health benefits or contribute to the cost of a new public program. A National health Insurance Exchange would permit small businesses and individuals without access to other public programs or employer-based coverage to enroll in a new public plan or in approved private plans."

While both plans propose new ideas around how Americans might obtain or pay for health care services, which plan do you feel might offer substantive change helping communities provide health care to their residents?

How might you change the system to lessen communities' burden caring for those without health care access?

Share your thoughts, information, and resources.

Proposed National Community Health Leaders Summit

LHC organizers are in the early stages of planning an annual meeting to discuss the challenges community health leaders face in launching health improvement efforts. This event would permit leaders from across the country to network, share resources, and learn from those who have trodden similar paths before.

Would you be interested in attending such an event?

What topics you might like to discuss? Would you be interested in hearing from experts, community leaders who have launched successful initiatives, or both?

What other ideas do you have to share?

Employers Involvement in Community Health

I recently came across an article, Employers Unlocking Health Care Expertise (Business Insurance, July 7, 2008) which explores how business are “helping themselves by helping others”. Employers, the author argues, are engaging local providers, coordinating on site health fairs and investing in health information technology and health improvement programs -- all with the hope of improving the health of current and future employees.

At the core of many of these efforts is a movement to increase “consumerism” in health care. Employers hope that providing community members with access to health information and performance data will empower individuals to make cost-effective healthcare decisions. Using tactics such as doctor and hospital report cards employers hope to improve transparency in the health care and keep overall costs low.

Are there any business-based community efforts like these in your area? Are these businesses working alone or as part of a coalition? Do the employers actively support the health related efforts or do they just provide financial support? Share your thoughts!

For more information on employer based efforts, visit the National Business Coaltion on Health.

New White House Administration

Now that the major political parties have finally selected their nominees for President of the United States, it's time to talk policy. Whoever wins, one thing is for certain, come 2009 there will be a new administration in the White House. Which begs the question, "What could a new president do to stimulate community health projects?"

What would you say to the new administration???

for example:

Are there barriers that could be removed to help encourage people to lead healthier, higher-quality lives, and improve the overall health of your community?

As a community collaborative leader are there issues of funding or technical support holding you back from fully implementing your improvement efforts?

Should the White House focus on community health in general or launch community initiatives specifically targeting issues like obesity, access, or workforce issues?


So what would it be? What would the next administration's White House Initiative on Community Health look like -- if you were in charge?

Welcome

Welcome to Healthy Community Conversations, a interactive exchange of ideas and opinions about health and health care in our communities.

Though our conversations we want to bring together wise, committed, and passionate people and provide them the resources and encouragement to make things happen. We will listen, learn, and remove roadblocks. In the end, help people in geographically diverse communities lead healthier, higher-quality lives.

Please share with us any topics you would like to explore.