OHE Newsletter
August / 21 / 2017
Danville Youth Health Equity Leadership Institute (YHELI) Supports George Washington High School Back to School Night in Danville, VA
Author:Augustine Doe | Office of Health Equity | August 8, 2017

After a year of implementing the YHELI program in Danville, the program administrators requested the participation of YHELI students in this year's Back to School Night on August 3, 2017 at George Washington High School.

The day started with the arrival of the students in advance of the event which started at 1:00pm. Five YHELI students dressed in the program uniform (YHELI shirts) and were easily identified as staff by the Library displaying the YHELI sign as well as the Office of Health Equity information. The YHELI students took no time engaging the new and returning students and their parents. They shared information about YHELI, what YHELI means to them and why parents should encourage their children to join YHELI.

In addition to staffing the YHELI information booth, the YHELI students divided their schedules at the booth allowing time to accompany their parents to receive their individual schedules while always maintaining at least two students at the table throughout the event. This is a manifestation of "Time Management," an element within the YHELI curriculum that was taught during the 2016 summer and fall YHELI sessions. The YHELI students ability to demonstrate leadership explaining the program details kept the parents engaged to request for their children, in both 9th and 10th grades to sign up for YHELI 2017-2018.    
In This Issue

SAVE the DATE: Recognizing World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10!

In recognition of World Suicide Prevention Day (Sept. 10) and National Suicide Prevention Month (Sept.) the Faith Communities Task Force of the National Action for Suicide Prevention  (Action Alliance) in collaboration with leaders in faith, business, government, healthcare, and social justice, invite you to participate in National Day of Prayer for Faith, Hope, & Life (www.faith-hope-life.org).

We encourage you to join during the weekend (9/8-9/10) leading up to World Suicide Prevention Day to recognize those whose lives have been touched by suicide.

It is the goal to reach as many people as possible with the invitation to come together collectively to call for Faith, Hope, and Life. Please share the National Day of Prayer Save the Date widely within your faith community and other networks.   
                                           
Thank you in advance for your willingness to shine light on this important issue and to pray for those who are struggling.

Courtesy of HHS Partnership Center
New Research Group Aims To Shed Light On Appalachian Health Disparities
Author: Erica Peterson | 89.3 WFPL | August 7, 2017

There's no dearth of research on health disparities in Appalachia. But a newly-formed group of researchers at Virginia Tech says there is a dearth of scientific research into why these disparities exist, and how environmental factors could be contributing.

In  a literature review published online last month in the journal "Reviews on Environmental Health," the Virginia Tech researchers call for more community dialogue on the issue, and more focused epidemiological research on environmental health effects in Appalachia.

"It's because they smoke, it's because they're poor, it's because they're overweight, it's because people engage in unhealthy behaviors," said Virginia Tech biological systems engineering professor Leigh-Anne Krometis, rattling off the list of reasons often given for the poor health of people living in Appalachia.
"And that's always part of it. But what studies have found is that when you go and do the epidemiological work, if you were going to predict, okay, we have 10 percent greater smoking in this community, we would predict this much more cancer. And what we find is that there's more than you would expect. So that gap between what you would predict and what you see is unexplained."

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Save The Date

Join the Office of Health Equity in Celebrating the State Office of Rural Health's 25th Anniversary! Like our page on Facebook to be informed with the newest information regarding this event becomes available.



Additional Resources

How to cope with Grief after a tragic event PDF


Archived Webinar: The Hope Squad Preventing Suicide 


Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) & United Negro College Fund (UNCF) are hosting an Innovation Summit.  Applications are open to HBCU students majoring in health information systems and health information technology. Event to be held in San Mateo, CA. Deadline is September 4, 2017.
Upcoming Webinars

August 22, 2017  Learning from Rare Events Infant Mortality Data
Sponsored by National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ)
2:00-3:00 pm ET  Learn More and Register
 
August 24, 2017  Promoting Health Equity Through Programs and Policies
Sponsored by The National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA)
3:00-4:00 pm ET  
Learn More and Register

 
August 31, 2017  The Important Role of Faith-based Organizations in Fighting Diabetes
Sponsored by Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) and National Institute of Health (NIH)
11:00 am -12:00 pm ET  Learn More and Register 

August 31, 2017  The Role of State Health Leaders in Addressing Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
Sponsored by National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ) and The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
2:00-3:30 pm ET  Learn More and Register  

Download our individual CLAS training flyer

 

For complete information regarding this series, scroll to the bottom of this email.
 
LINC Up For Courage: Awareness Breakfast to Benefit Cancer
Learn More and Buy Tickets