Timely Information and Points (TIP) for public health community providers from the Center for Health Innovation, New Mexico's Public Health Institute. |
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Greetings from the Center for Health Innovation (CHI), New Mexico's Public Health Institute. You've been recognized as one of the leading public health professionals in our state, which is why you have been sent our newest publication TIPbits. Every month, we will be sending out timely information and points to aid your efforts to foster better public health in the state. Feel free to share them with your networks and community. Thanks for all you do for New Mexico, and let us lend you a helping hand with TIPbits!
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If your community or institution has a great program promoting health or cultural literacy, the Internet-based Journal of Consumer Health seeks contributions for its Health Literacy Column. If interested, contact Column Editor Susan Harnett for more information.
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Training & Professional Development |
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The NM Chronic Disease Prevention Council (CDPC) will hold a free “Grant Writing Done Right” webinar, geared for public health practitioners and with a focus on budget development, on Feb. 11, 1 –3:00 PM. Click here to register.
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Register now for the New Mexico Public Health Association (NMPHA) Annual Virtual Conference, Apr. 8-9 (Pre-conference Workshops: Apr. 7.
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The Indian Health Service (IHS) seeks applicants for its Scholarship Program at the Preparatory, Pre-Graduate, and Health Professions levels. Deadline is Feb. 28. Financial support covers tuition, fees, reasonable education expenses, and help with living expenses. For ABQ, TX, CO information, contact: Michelle Aguilar Bowser. |
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Great Resources for Policy or Practice |
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The 2020 New Mexico KIDS COUNT Data Book is now available on the NM Voices for Children website. Find the latest indicators (many by race/ethnicity) of how well children are doing in health, education, economic well-being and family/ community. See key policy recommendations, including a call for doing racial equity impact reporting on all debated legislation.
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A new health policy brief from Health Affairs gives a general overview of research on suicide risk and protective factors, highlights current suicide prevention strategies, and notes policy opportunities to improve multisectoral prevention efforts. This brief is part of Health Affairs’ series of policy briefs on social determinants of health.
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The Build Healthy Places Network suggests that for those working in food access and security, look at a Rural Health Information Hub article, a new facet of food insecurity, that shows medication adherence is related to food access and greater health disparities. Also, for those doing housing advocacy, see how COVID changed the housing discussion, and how others in the field got creative in 2020. Finally, read more on how community development can better support community organizing for racial justice and about five steps to make Opportunity Zones work for residents and bring in financial investment.
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More healthcare organizations are documenting patients’ social/economic needs and making referrals to social service organizations. These relationships require efficient technology platforms to support these collaborations, but little is known about platform performance. The Social Interventions Research and Evaluation Network (SIREN) reviewed nine commonly-used platforms and the experiences of early adopters, producing a guide, Community Resource Referral Platforms: A Guide for Health Care Organizations, on the technology features and functions, lessons learned and recommendations on how to implement a community resource referral platform.
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The Kaiser Family Foundation, in research on Vaccine Hesitancy Among Hispanic Adults, provides insights on what is known about vaccine hesitancy among Hispanic adults and potential messages/trusted messengers that might help ensure a robust vaccination effort for this group.
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Health Communication Tips |
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Weight Watchers (now WW International) has had major success in helping people change their health behaviors to lose weight. Gary Foster, Chief Scientific Officer for WW, noted four principles for communicating for behavior change.
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Simplicity—Foster notes that many health professionals seem to feel, “The more I’m trained, the more I know, the more I should tell you because it makes me feel good, like all this training is worth it. Nothing could be further from the truth.” Most people know what to do; they struggle with how to do it. The simpler the advice, the more likely it will be followed.
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Specificity—The more specific the goal, the more likely it will be reached. “I’ll eat healthier” is not a concrete goal, so it’s hard to identify the steps one must take to get there. “Plans work better than platitudes,” says Foster, since the specificity of a plan shows how it can happen and gives a benchmark for success—people can clearly see some progress. “If the goal is to eat apples at 3:00, it’s pretty clear whether that happened of not.”
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Ask How, not Why—If a client says they’re not following their plan, do not ask “why” they think that happened, as the response might just be a lack of willpower or motivation—which is harder to address. Rather, ask “how” the client stopped moving forward. For example, if someone says she had a rough week and ate a lot of cake, ask how that happened: “Where did the cake come from? Where was it? Did someone offer it to you? What time of day was it? What were you doing at the time?” Foster says, “Think about this as little links in a behavior chain….[Given the responses], at any point in this chain, those links can be interrupted,” and protective strategies proposed.
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Practice Self-Compassion—if you can’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to help others effectively. Think of this like the airplane analogy—when air pressure drops, put your oxygen mask on first so you can then help others. Self-compassion means you recognize that “nobody is perfect,” including yourself, and research shows that this quality improves your relationships with others, gives you a more positive outlook, lessens fears of failure, and helps you take care of yourself in stressful situations.
(NEJM Catalyst event Patient Behavior Change: Building Blocks for Success, 2018)
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